The Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine (HACU) has received a statement from Serhiy Vlasenko, a defense counsel for former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, on the reconsideration by the Supreme Court of the HACU's decision to strip Vlasenko of his parliamentary powers, the HACU's press service has reported.
The court's press service told Interfax-Ukraine on Wednesday the statement from Vlasenko on the reconsideration of the case came on Tuesday, March 12. A court judge has to check this statement within three days regarding its compliance with the requirements of the Code of Administrative Proceedings.
"If the statement complies with procedural norms, then the issue of submitting the case to the Supreme Court of Ukraine will be resolved. Such a decision is taken by a panel of five judges of the HACU within 15 days," the press service reported.
Thus, the court said, the judges have to decide the fate of Vlasenko's statement by April: whether the Supreme Court considers it or refuses to consider it, finding no reason for such a review.
As reported, Vlasenko has already submitted a respective statement to the Supreme Court.
"The possibility of the reconsideration of the HACU's decision arose due to the fact that it directly contradicts the earlier decision of the same court regarding the moonlighting of [Head of the State Agency for Investment and National Projects Vladyslav] Kaskiv. The court then decided that Kaskiv couldn't be deprived of his mandate, because he was not present at a meeting of the committee for rules of procedure on his issue. Besides, that decision was made by two of the five judges who, in similar circumstances, now deprived me of my parliamentary seat," Vlasenko said.
He said he was confident that the Supreme Court could review the HACU's decision under exceptional circumstances in accordance with Clause 1, Part 1, Article 237 of the Code of Administrative Proceedings of Ukraine.
"The Ukrainian codes are written in such a way that the decision to transfer the case to the Supreme Court should be made by the Higher Administrative Court itself. Accordingly, I understand that there is no hope for a fair review of the case. Nevertheless, I still decided to go through all legal procedures in the country," Vlasenko said.
As reported, Vlasenko is a defense counsel for Tymoshenko in a number of criminal cases. He has repeatedly stressed that he is a defense counsel, rather than a lawyer of the ex-premier.
On February 22, Vlasenko said that he had appealed to the Council of Lawyers of Ukraine to cancel his advocacy certificate in order to avoid any "political insinuation." He said that, according to the current legislation, a lawyer's right for advocacy was cancelled from the day of filing an appeal to cancel his advocacy certificate. He added that still he has the right to defend Tymoshenko.
On March 6, the Higher Administrative Court of (HACU) stripped Vlasenko of his parliamentary powers, satisfying a lawsuit lodged by Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Rybak. The speaker said in the lawsuit that Vlasenko combined his parliamentary powers with advocacy.
Vlasenko said that he planned to challenge the HACU's decision at the European Court of Human Rights.
