Lavra to sue Ministry of Culture for terminating lease agreement

Assumption Cathedral of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. Photo: 5ua

On March 23, 2023, Archpriest Nikita Chekman, a lawyer for the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, filed a lawsuit with the Kyiv Economic Court on the inadmissibility of terminating the lease agreement with the Reserve unilaterally. As Father Nikita told the UOJ, an application was also filed with the court to secure a claim that would allow avoiding the unlawful eviction of monks from the territory of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

The lawyer added that the monastery and its representatives have repeatedly applied with lawyer requests to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the Reserve, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, trying to find out the results of the activities of the Interdepartmental Working Group, which allegedly found violations by the monastery of the terms of the contract. The departments reported that the requested information was classified as “Confidential” and therefore could not be provided.

“Consequently, the Reserve accuses the Monastery of violating the terms of the Agreement, but at the same time deprives even the opportunity to officially provide its explanations on this matter. It was this injustice that served as the basis for applying for judicial protection,” says Father Nikita.

The lawyer also said that in the case of Lavra, the third auto-distribution of the composition of the court has already taken place: one judge recused himself, citing a violation of the personal specialization of judges during the auto-distribution; the second judge is on sick leave, in connection with which the case has been assigned to another judge for the third time.

In the application for securing the claim, the lawyers pointed out the need to prohibit the National Reserve "Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra" from taking any actions aimed at impeding the religious community in the use of property in accordance with the agreement until a court decision is made on the case.

The court documents also noted that the unilateral illegal termination of the contract would lead to the deprivation of the right to housing for monks under martial law, who are registered officially, in accordance with the procedure established by law, and live at the address of the location of the real estate, which is the subject of the contract. The eviction of monks can take place exclusively on a voluntary basis, i.e. with the consent of the person or on the basis of a relevant court decision.

According to open information reflected on the official website of the Judiciary of Ukraine, the National Reserve "Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra" did not apply to the court with claims to remove obstacles to the exercise of the right to use and dispose of property and deregister the place of residence of monks who do not want to voluntarily leave the territory of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, and ask not to interfere them with their worship, not to close churches and caves.

The lawyer of the Lavra stated that any eviction of the monks and the implementation of obstacles to the use of property in accordance with the contract until the entry into force of the court decision will be considered by the monastery as a criminal offense, in particular arbitrariness.

The deprivation of the right to use religious buildings and structures by the monastery in accordance with the agreement will not allow worship in churches.

“Restoration and capital works in religious buildings and structures were carried out thanks to the donations of believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, whose right to worship will be violated in the event of destruction or damage to property, its transfer to third parties, the provision of permits to other religious organizations to conduct worship,” summed up Archpriest Nikita.

As the UOJ reported, human rights activist Oleh Denisov said that monks from the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra can be evicted only by virtue of an enacted court decision.

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