The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine voted to ban pro-Russian political parties.
302 members of parliament voted in favor of the law amending some legislative acts of Ukraine to ban political parties (7172-1), the head of the “Servant of the People” party, Olena Shuliak, wrote on Telegram.
"Apart from armed aggression and occupation of Ukrainian territories, Russia is actively infiltrating propaganda via the political parties Russia controls. This is one of the elements of a hybrid war. The current list of reasons for banning such political parties is insufficiently detailed to counter hybrid threats effectively and does not consider such a dangerous aspect of their activities as the spread of the aggressor state’s propaganda," she wrote.
MPs expanded the list of the grounds for banning (forcible dissolution, liquidation) the political parties.
Now the list includes “popularization or propaganda of the bodies of the aggressor state (occupying state), its officials, persons and organizations controlled by the aggressor state (occupying state) and justification, recognition of legality or public denial of armed aggression against Ukraine, the annexation of Ukraine’s territory by the state-aggressor (occupying state), violation of territorial integrity, the sovereignty of Ukraine. "
By law, the Ministry of Justice is obliged to immediately file an administrative lawsuit on the ban (forced dissolution, liquidation) if there is a violation of the requirements for the establishment and operation of political parties.
It is determined that cases banning political parties are considered urgent and are being processed in shortened terms. This is due to the fact that the activities of a political party of anti-Ukrainian nature, aimed at undermining the sovereignty or territorial integrity of Ukraine, have the potential to cause irreparable harm to the state and citizens of Ukraine, which requires prompt consideration of the termination of its activities.
The court of original jurisdiction for the cases on banning political parties is the Administrative Court of Appeal of the city of Kyiv (it is the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal).
“However, as this court is located in Kyiv and its operations could be disrupted, it is proposed that during martial law, these cases will fall under the jurisdiction of the Administrative Court of Appeal in Lviv (the Eighth Administrative Court of Appeal). The Administrative Court of Cassation, as a part of the Supreme Court, would have the appeal and final jurisdiction,” she added.
The texts of all court decisions (rulings, decisions) in this category of cases and agendas and information about court hearings will be published through announcements on the official websites of the Ministry of Justice and the Verkhovna Rada.
There are also exemptions from court fees for filing lawsuits and appeals in this category of cases.
"Failure to pay the court fee, if the sides are not exempt from paying it, can be used to delay the trial. As the number of cases banning political parties will not be large, the losses to the budget due to the exemption from paying the fees will be insignificant. There are also other measures set up to speed up the proceedings. For example, the transfer of selected case materials to the court of appeal in electronic form," Shuliak explains.
As the courts in the relevant districts will be determined as the courts of original jurisdiction in this category of cases, both the court of original jurisdiction and the court of appeal will use collegiality while trying these cases, which will ensure balanced and moderate consideration of cases by experienced judges, with guarantees for the appropriate level of access to court and judicial protection for defendants.
At the end of March, the members of parliament registered a bill that will determine the procedure and consequences of banning 11 parties whose operations were terminated by the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.
On March 20, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine decided to terminate the operations of “Opposition Platform — For Life,” “Opposition Block,” “Shariy Party,” and others.