UOC appeals in court "expertise" of its Statute by DESS

Lawyer of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra Archpriest Nikita Chekman. Photo: screenshot of the Pershy Kozatsky video

Lawyer of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, Archpriest Nikita Chekman, filed a lawsuit with the Kyiv District Administrative Court on the illegality of the “religious expertise” of the Statute on the governance of the UOC, which was carried out by the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience. The lawyer announced this in his Telegram channel.

Father Nikita requests the court to recognize as illegal and cancel the DESS orders “On ensuring the conduct of a religious examination of the Charter on the governance of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church” dated December 23, 2022, and “On approval of the Conclusion of the religious examination of the Charter on the governance of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in terms of its having a church-canonical connection with the Moscow Patriarchate” of January 27, 2023.

The lawyer emphasizes that “the examination was carried out with numerous violations of the law” and was performed by “biased persons who had repeatedly expressed a negative attitude towards the UOC.”

“We look forward to a legal, impartial, and fair trial,” Father Nikita added.

As the UOJ reported earlier, Archpriest Nikita Chekman said that he was preparing a lawsuit that would challenge the conclusions of the "religious expertise" organized by the State Committee for Ethnic Policies regarding the governance of the UOC.

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