The Constitutional Court of Ukraine (CCU) recognized as constitutional the law of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament), which obliges to rename the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC MP). It should change its name and indicate that its center is located in Moscow.
The CCU press service writes about it.
When making its decision, the Constitutional Court was guided by the decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in the case of Ilyin and others v. Ukraine. At that time, the ECtHR indicated that the stateʼs desire to demand from a religious organization a name that would not mislead believers is a justified restriction of its right to freely choose its name.
The full text of the decision will be published on the CCU website on December 28.
- In January 2019, the Ministry of Culture determined which churches and religious associations of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC MP) should change their name in accordance with the law.
- The UOC MP claims that their center is in Kyiv, not in Moscow.
- On April 22, the District Administrative Court of Kyiv satisfied the application of the Moscow Patriarchate to secure a lawsuit in the case of annulment of the order of the Ministry of Culture, according to which the UOC MP should make changes to its name. The Ministry of Culture filed an appeal against this decision. At the end of July, the Sixth Appeals Administrative Court refused the Ministry of Cultureʼs appeal against the decision to suspend the renaming of the UOC MP.
- On December 16, 2019, it became known that the Supreme Court allegedly upheld the court decision that suspended the renaming of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate). However, the Ministry of Culture assured that the Supreme Court did not make such a decision.