Chairman of the Poltava Court of Appeal Sergei Galenkin was dismissed from his position as a judge.
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The corresponding decision was made today, June 27, by the High Council of Justice. This is reported on the GRP website.
The basis for bringing the chairman of the Poltava Court of Appeal to disciplinary liability was the complaint received on November 21, 2023 by the director of NABU Semyon Krivonos about Galenkin’s behavior, which “discredits the title of judge or undermines the authority of justice.”
The complaint noted that NABU detectives recorded extra-procedural communication between Galenkin and a lawyer and other judges regarding two administrative proceedings for drunk driving.
By its decision, the VRP changed the decision of the Third Disciplinary Chamber of the High Council of Justice dated January 31, 2024, No. 283/3dp/15-24, which imposed a more lenient disciplinary sanction on Galenkin – a severe reprimand with deprivation of additional payments for three months.
Today, during the consideration of the NABU complaint against the decision of the disciplinary chamber, members of the GRP noted that Galenkin’s actions did not comply with the standards of judicial ethics, therefore the Third Disciplinary Chamber applied too lenient a punishment to him:
- First, the rapporteur on this case, a member of the VRP Vitaly Salikhov, proposed to apply a disciplinary sanction to Galenkin in the form of a month’s suspension from justice with mandatory referral to the National School of Judges to undergo a refresher course on the application of judicial ethics and further qualification assessments. However, this proposal was supported by only four of the 12 GRP members present;
- An alternative proposal put forward by VRP member Roman Maselko – to dismiss Galenkin from his position – received eight out of 12 votes.
Galenkin’s dismissal was supported by the Chairman of the Council of Justice Grigoriy Usik, members of the VRP Roman Maselko, Nikolai Moroz, Tatyana Bondarenko, Oksana Kvasha, Elena Kovbiy, Olga Popikova and Yulia Bokova. Four were against – the Chairman of the Supreme Court Stanislav Kravchenko, Vitaly Salikhov, Sergey Burlakov and Alexey Melnik, who had previously supported the first proposal.
This decision of the SRP can still be appealed in accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 52 of the Law “On the High Council of Justice”.
Source: Racurs
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