Oleksandr Lavrynovych, the head of Ukraine's High Council of Justice, has started an inquiry into possible misdeeds of the judge in Kyiv whose ruling enabled a forceful takeover of Globus shopping mall last month. If the judge is found guilty by the council, he can potentially be stripped of powers. His decision, however, has to be reversed through an appeals process, which in this case is ongoing.
The judge under
investigation, Taras Oksiuta, ruled on Sept. 16 to restore Olena Morris as a director of LR Globus, the company that manages Globus
shopping mall on behalf of its beneficiary owners. The judge ruled in
the plaintiff’s favor despite the fact that she had never formally
held the job before. The ruling was also made based on witness
testimony from one side, while documents and witnesses representing
the defense were ignored, according to the text of the ruling in the
government database of court decisions.
Lavrynovych is
investigating possible professional misconduct in the judge’s ruling.
Meanwhile, the the Kyiv
branch of the Interior Ministry started a separate investigation on
Oct. 4 into the accusations against owners of the mall about poor
state of the actual building, lack of financing by the owners for
health and safety, as well into accusations of mistreatment of
workers servicing the mall.
Globus has a history of
complaints from tenants about disrepair that causes damage to goods
and hampers business. Nineteen tenants even conducted a protest on
Aug. 1 by closing down their shops for business temporarily to force
the mall owners to pay attention to the problem. Leonard Sebastian,
representative of the beneficiary owners, however, said on Sept. 26
that the condition of the mall remains “satisfactory.”
Lavrynovych’s inquiry into
the work of the judge was started after Andriy Portnov, the
president’s top legal adviser, filed a request to the High Council
of Justice to investigate the case, the council’s press service said.
Portnov, in his request, said that the ruling of the judge caused
“unlawful intrusion into the internal activities and business of LR
Globus.”
The court ruling was the
formal basis for a Sept. 21 forceful entry into the shopping mall of
Morris, accompanied by some 50 law enforcers. Late in the night, they
took over administrative and computer center of the $200 -million
shopping mall in the heart of Kyiv and locked out official
representatives of the beneficiary owners, London & Regional
Properties, according to their account of events.
“We want our shopping
center back that we legally and beneficiarily own,” said Leonard
Sebastian, managing director of London & Regional Properties, the
British owner of the mall, on Sept. 26. “We will go to the highest
level to recover our property. We have investments in 16
jurisdictions and have not had such precedents.”
The Kyiv prosecutor’s
office said on Sept. 26 that it has opened a criminal probe into the
matter. The case is now under investigation.
Meanwhile, Andriy
Semydidko, head of the Anti-Raider Union of Entrepreneurs of Ukraine,
a group that specializes in fighting forceful takeovers, said the
judge whose ruling enabled the takeover of Globus mall was on his
group’s radar since 2006 for similar rulings.
Lavrynovyh’s statement on
Oct. 5 corroborated this finding. Oksiuta could not be reached for
comment.
“(Portnov’s) request
also notes that the aforementioned judge has a number of similar
ongoing cases, which gives grounds to state that there have been
attempts, with the help of this court, to replace the management of a
number of companies,” Lavrynovych was quoted by his press service
as saying. “The final conclusion about potential violation of oath
in the judge’s actions will be made by the end of the probe by the
High Council of Justice.”
The High Council of
Justice is the highest body in the judicial system which controls the
professionalism of judges. Its 20 members are appointed by the
president, the parliament and representatives of the judicial power
branch, including the prosecutors and professional legal
associations.
Kyiv Post deputy chief
editor Katya Gorchinskaya can be reached at
gorchinskaya@kyivpost.com.
