Medvedchuk Lost His Appeal: the Court Did not Restore his Right to Practice Law.

Viktor Medvedchuk, who is accused of state treason and is vladimir putin’s godfather, was denied reinstatement of his right to practice law in Ukraine. The Sixth Appellate Administrative Court upheld the decision of the Kyiv District Administrative Court.

This information comes from the appellate court’s decision, provided to the public initiative “Golka” by the plaintiff’s attorneys, Ilya Kostin and Roman Tytykalo.

“The plaintiff’s thesis ‘Ukraine obtained its independence not through national liberation struggle in 1991, but through an agreement with Moscow. The new economic and political reality prompted the Russian elite not only to grant Ukraine independence but also to push towards it’ contradicts the content of the preamble of the Constitution of Ukraine and its Article 5. The panel of judges agrees that with this thesis, the plaintiff effectively denies the obvious fact of Ukraine’s national liberation struggle for independence, which took place at various stages of Ukrainian history and involved a wide range of people, including well-known historical figures such as Ivan Mazepa, Mykhailo Hrushevskyi, Yevhen Konovalets, Stepan Bandera, as well as others (including Yuriy Lytvyn and Vasyl Stus, whose defense was entrusted to Viktor Medvedchuk himself),” the court’s decision states.

The panel of judges who issued the decision consists of Lyubov Kostyuk, Ninel Marynychak, Mykhailo Kobal.

Excerpt from the decision of the Sixth Appellate Administrative Court

Why does the Law on Advocacy need to be changed?

Illia Kostin

lawyer who voluntarily enlisted in the Armed Forces

In the Bar Association, there is still a monopoly of Medvedchuk's allies, with Lidia Izovitova heading this organization. According to the European Commission's report for the past year, Ukraine needs to reform its legislation concerning lawyers. Why should it be changed? This "Law on Advocacy" was adopted during the time of traitor Yanukovych and his accomplice, traitor Portnov, who welcomed it greatly. This very law has allowed Medvedchuk's associates since 2012 to hold all lawyers hostage. Considering that our legal profession supplies personnel to the prosecution and courts, we are jeopardizing judicial reform. Changing the law is the task of the relevant committee led by Denis Maslov, a member of "Servant of the People" party, but they haven't even started this process," emphasized lawyer Ilya Kostin, who voluntarily joined the Armed Forces.

At the end of May, military units began collecting data on lawyers who went to serve on the front lines. According to Ukrainian law, it is impossible to combine military service and legal practice. As of 2024, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has not yet resolved this issue, and lawyers who have not suspended their practice and have gone to defend the country face disciplinary action.

This benefits the current leadership of the Bar Association, which takes a pro-Russian stance and is preparing for elections. The Bar Association’s leadership has never responded to cases of collaborationism or even participation in torture by some lawyers in temporarily occupied territories, while at the same time exerting pressure on those lawyers who went to serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Since 2014, the leadership of the Bar Association has never expressed a position regarding lawyers who continue their practice in occupied territories following the rules of the occupiers.

Previously, the public initiative “Holka” investigated the connections of Telegram channels and discovered a Kremlin network that discredits judicial reform and the civil sector controlling its implementation. The most reposts in this network are from lawyer Rostyslav Kravets, who appeared on the “Breakfast with 1+1” program on March 14. Earlier, the same program invited MP Oleksandr Dubinskyi, which caused an outcry in the media community. Dubinskyi is accused of treason.