The court is guided by the experience of the USSR when making decisions on peaceful assemblies in Chernihiv

The Kyiv Administrative Court of Appeal did not uphold the claim of DemAlliance and recognized the ban on peaceful gatherings in Popudrenko Square (the site of the Chernihiv Euromaidan) as lawful.

The Kyiv Court of Appeal did not satisfy the appeal of the Chernihiv DemAlliance against the decision of the Chernihiv District Administrative Court of November 23, 2013 in the case of the administrative claim of the Chernihiv City Council against DemAlliance on the restriction of the right to peaceful gatherings in Popudrenko Square. This was the first Chernihiv Euromaidan, which was dispersed by the authorities on November 25.

The panel of judges of the Administrative Court of Appeal did not hear the appellant’s arguments and the grounds of the appeal at all. Unfortunately, the judges of the Court of Appeal still use in their practice the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated July 28, 1988 No. 9306-XI “On the Procedure for Organizing and Holding Meetings, Rallies, Street Marches and Demonstrations in the USSR”.

The Supreme Administrative Court of Ukraine, in the Reference on the Study and Generalization of the Practice of Application of Legislation by Administrative Courts during the Consideration and Resolution of Cases in 2010–2011 Regarding the Exercise of the Right to Peaceful Assembly (Assemblies, Rallies, Marches, Demonstrations, etc.), gave an exhaustive answer that the application of this legal act is erroneous and indicated:

“Since the norms of this Decree establish the permitting (registration) procedure for holding peaceful assemblies and grant the right to authorities and local self-government bodies to prohibit their holding, while the norms of the Constitution of Ukraine provide for a notified procedure for holding assemblies (by notifying authorities) and grant the authority to prohibit a peaceful assembly only to the court, the specified act is not subject to application by courts when resolving cases of the category under consideration.”

When studying the court case materials, it is worth taking into account the recommendation of the Plenum of the Supreme Administrative Court of Ukraine, enshrined in the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Administrative Court of Ukraine No. 6 dated 05.21.2012: “Acts on additional regulation of the procedure for holding assemblies, rallies, street marches, demonstrations, etc., adopted by local government bodies and other bodies, may be applied only if they do not establish additional restrictions on the right to peaceful assembly granted by the Constitution of Ukraine.”

It turns out that the recommendations of the Supreme Administrative Court of Ukraine are of no use to the judges of the appellate instance; they have their own “practice.”

During the court hearing, the defender of DemAlliance cited such decisions of the European Court of Human Rights as “St. Michael’s Parish v. Ukraine”, in which the European Court of Human Rights noted that the restriction of the right to freedom of assembly is possible only in the case of an “urgent public need” and must be “necessary in a democratic society”.

“Of course, the court decisions and the city council’s lawsuit lack the motivation for such a necessity”, – eyewitnesses of the events of the dispersal of the Chernihiv Euromaidan say to DemAlliance.

“We can continue to cite decisions from the practice of the European Court that protect the rights of citizens to peaceful assemblies, but the decision of the appellate court is not subject to criticism, it will be promptly appealed, since it is unfounded and does not meet the requirements of the present and the law.

Thus, the peaceful assembly, which began to be held by the Chernihiv organization of the Democratic Alliance party on November 23, 2013 in the Popudrenko square in Chernihiv, was not prohibited and meets the requirements of the law regarding the procedure for their holding,” says the lawyer of the Democratic Alliance, attorney Viktor PALNYUK.

“The Court of Appeal upholds the line of the ruling party on the suppression and restriction of the freedom of peaceful assembly. The court did not take into account any argument, even the fact that Popudrenko Square does not have an address. We will fight and even reach the European Court, while simultaneously developing a reform of the judicial system,” emphasized Ihor ANDRIYCHENKO, the head of the Chernihiv DemAlliance.