On August 6, the High Council of Justice adopted a decision dismissing Vsevolod Kniaziev, ex-head of the Supreme Court, from his position as a judge. Kniaziev himself and his representatives did not appear at the HCJ hearing.
He was dismissed due to the decision of the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv. Thus, according to the contract found during the search, he rented a 4-room apartment in the Lypky district for UAH 1,000. The court recognized almost a million hryvnias underpaid to the market value of the lease as an unlawful gift.
Although Kniaziev failed to appear at the hearing, he sent recusal applications regarding all members of the HCJ, since Heorhii Usyk, head of the HCJ, had given interviews in which he spoke about the former as guilty of receiving a bribe. According to Kniaziev, the head of the HCJ expressed the position on behalf of the entire body, hence the recusal application. However, all his applications were not granted.
Kniaziev came up with a separate ground for recusal regarding HCJ member Mykola Moroz. The latter was a member of the first Disciplinary Chamber of the HCJ, which in June 2024 decided to send a motion for Kniaziev’s dismissal to the HCJ. Therefore, according to Kniaziev, Moroz has already expressed his opinion on his case. This statement was dismissed.
Kniaziev can appeal this decision of the HCJ to the Supreme Court, so he still has a chance to remain a judge of the Cassation Administrative Court as part of the Supreme Court.
