SAPO: The ex-head of the Supreme Court did not influence the process of selecting members of the High Qualification Commission of Judges

During the investigation, the special anti-corruption prosecutorʼs office did not find that the former head of the Supreme Court Vsevolod Knyazev or any of the participants in the bribery case influenced the process of selecting members or candidates of the Competition Commission of the Higher Qualification Commission of Judges (HQCJ).

The head of the SAPO Oleksandr Klymenko sent this answer to the request of the Chairman of the Supreme Council of Justice Hryhorii Usyk.

However, the tapes of the National Anti-corruption Bureau (NABU) show that Vsevolod Knyazev and his "assistants" planned to influence the Competition Commission of the HQCJ at the final stage of the competition.

This caused a public outcry, as the question arose as to whether the previous competition was transparent and without influence.

SAPO notes that the investigation is still ongoing, therefore, if additional information appears regarding the impact on HQCJ, it will be forwarded to the High Council of Justice.

The case of Vsevolod Knyazev

On May 15, it became known that Knyazev was caught taking a bribe of almost $3 million. The bribery was connected with decisions in favor of businessman Kostyantyn Zhevago in the case of the Poltava Mining and Processing Plant. In the Supreme Court, a "back office" was created under the leadership of Vsevolod Knyazev — the bar association helped judges make the right decisions for money.

What did Zhevago want? In 2002, the businessman purchased 40.19% of the shares of the Poltava Mining and Processing Plant from four companies. In 2020, the former shareholders wanted to return these shares through the court, but the court refused them. In 2022, the Court of Appeal still declared the contract of sale of shares of the plant invalid. In order to prevent the loss of shares, in early March, Zhevago turned to the "back office" of the Supreme Court. Already on April 19, the Supreme Court made a decision in favor of Zhevago — it recognized that the businessman legally purchased the Poltava plant.

• On May 16, the Supreme Court expressed its lack of confidence in Knyazev and released him, later Knyazev was suspected, and now the court arrested him.
• The Higher Qualification Commission of Judges is a body responsible for the formation of the judicial corps. The Supreme Court of Ukraine conducts a competition for judges in all courts of Ukraine: checks candidates and conducts exams. The commission consists of sixteen members — they are elected or appointed by the congress of judges, representatives of law schools, lawyers, the human rights ombudsman and the head of the state judicial administration.
• The creation of the High Council of Justice and the High Qualification Commission of Judges is one of the requirements for starting negotiations on Ukraineʼs accession to the EU.