Zelensky places judge Tupytskiy on two months’ leave

Ukrainian President
Zelensky signed on Dec. 29 a decree to place on two months’ leave of absence
Oleksandr Tupytskiy, the scandal-plagued chief justice of the Constitutional
Court of Ukraine. Zelensky said he signed the decree “in order to renew justice
and resolve the constitutional crisis.” He reached his decision after legal
experts at the President’s Office reviewed the request by the Prosecutor
General’s Office to place Tupytskiy on two months’ leave.

The two months’
leave was endorsed by Fedir Venislavskiy, the president’s representative to the
Constitutional Court. “This is not a dismissal. This is not a halting of his
authority as a judge. This is a temporary measure,” Venislavskiy said, as
reported by the president’s website. Presidential spokesman Mykhaylo Podoliak
said the two months’ leave can be extended indefinitely, “until a mandatory
dismissal related to an obvious conflict of interest and the inability to
fulfill the requirements of a judge by an individual suspected of a crime.”

The
Constitutional Court ruled on Dec. 28 that the president doesn’t have the
authority to place on leave Tupytskiy, which is exclusively its prerogative.
The court said on Dec. 29 that it is planning a special session in response to
the president’s decree.

Zenon Zawada: The president’s decree is fully in line with our assessment
yesterday of
the situation surrounding Tupytskiy. We view him being placed on two months
leave as the latest episode in a show to distract the public and deflate a
scandal involving a judge who is otherwise backed and protected by Ukraine’s
pro-Russian players. It’s worth examining the words of Venislavskiy, who is in
essence assuring the public (and the key political players) that Tupytskiy
won’t be dismissed.

We believe it’s likely that Tupytskiy will return to his bench. If not,
it will be because the pro-Russian forces have recruited someone just as
reliable during the two months of Tupytskiy’s absence. In which case, Tupytskiy
will be allowed to join his alleged partner in crime, Judge Viktor Tatkov, in
taking refuge abroad.