UOC appeals in court against DESS’s "expertise" of Church Statute

The Kyiv Metropolis of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church appealed in court the "religious expertise" of the Statute on the UOC governance to determine church-canonical connection with the Moscow Patriarchate, conducted by the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS). The Kyiv District Administrative Court has opened proceedings on the Metropolis's lawsuit against DESS, reports the Legal Department of the UOC.

The Legal Department noted that the "expertise" that allegedly established that the UOC remained part of the Russian Orthodox Church was "conducted in violation of the law by biased and hostile to the UOC experts, who arbitrarily changed the subject and object of the study, resorting to manipulations".

Church lawyers are convinced that "such actions show the lack of objectivity and the intention to truly establish the real state of affairs regarding the church-canonical connection". They emphasized: "According to its statutory documents, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is independent and self-standing in its governance and structure, and its governing bodies – the Council and Synod – are located in Kyiv."

"Given the absence of any action on the part of representatives of State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience, aimed at eliminating the violation of legal requirements, the Kyiv Metropolis of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has taken legal action in order to protect its rights.” the Legal Department commented. "We hope that in the near future, the court will make a corresponding decision, which will put an end to the use of unlawful expertise for the purpose of gross interference in the internal affairs of Ukraine's largest religious denomination, as well as manipulations aimed at defiantly violating the right to freedom of religion for 12 thousand religious organisations of the UOC and millions of believing citizens of Ukraine."

As earlier reported, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra submitted a similar lawsuit to the Kyiv District Administrative Court, but the lawsuit was not registered by the court.