Court upholds UOC parish appeal in Voloshky over OCU switch dispute

The Northern Commercial Court of Appeal. Photo: Sud.ua

The Northern Commercial Court of Appeal has upheld an appeal in the case concerning the change of canonical subordination of the St. Nicholas religious community of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the village of Voloshky of the Kovel district, Volyn region, reports Lawyer Archpriest Nikita Chekman on his Telegram channel on October 21, 2026.

The subject of the dispute was the decisions of the so-called general meetings of October 8, 2023. According to the lawyer, on their basis the community was resubordinated to the OCU, a new version of its statute was approved, and registration actions were carried out.

The key issue in the case, as Chekman explained, was the right of those who voted for the change of subordination to make decisions on behalf of the community. The UOC side's position was that such decisions can be made only by members of the religious community, not by all residents of the village. The mere fact of residing on the territory of a settlement does not give the right to decide questions of the internal governance of a religious organization.

The court of first instance denied the claim on May 29, 2025. Following the appellate review, the appeal was upheld. The lawyer considers the case important for protecting the rights of UOC communities and stresses that the question of changing subordination must be resolved in compliance with the law, the community's statute, and the rights of its actual members.

As the UOJ reported, a court returned a seized church to a UOC community in Ivankiv.

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