The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted a draft law on the liquidation of the District Administrative Court of Kyiv and the creation of the Kyiv City District Administrative Court. 310 deputies voted "for", two abstained.
The Council also voted to send the draft law to the President for immediate signature, reports BBC News Ukraine The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, submitted this bill to the Verkhovna Rada on April 13, 2021, with the status of "urgent".District Administrative Court of Kyiv is a court of first instance that hears disputes regarding the election process, adoption, passing or dismissal from public service, cases of appeals against decisions of state authorities or local self-government bodies located in the city of Kyiv. This court is known for its high-profile decisions and scandalous judges. In particular, he canceled the new version of the Ukrainian spelling and the renaming of Moskovskiy prospect to Bandera prospect in Kyiv, recognized the nationalization of "PrivatBank" as illegal.
Among other high-profile verdicts - the ban on Ulyana Suprun to perform the duties of the Minister of Health; renewal of Roman Nasirov as head of the State Fiscal Service and a number of others. In the spring of this year, he took into consideration a lawsuit from Viktor Yanukovych regarding his return to the post of president of Ukraine. Experts considered this as a possible part of the plan to return the ex-president to power with Russian troops, notes BBC News Ukraine.
The head of the court, Pavlo Vovk, and several other judges of this court are suspects in the criminal case of creating a criminal organization and seizing power. In the so-called "Vovka Films" - recordings from the office of the head of the Kyiv District Administrative Court, Pavel Vovka, made public by NABU in 2019 and 2020 - Vovka discusses how he is going to put pressure on various authorities with the help of court decisions in order to get the decisions he needs. Vovk also tells his colleagues that the Constitutional Court "belongs" to them. The US State Department announced the introduction of sanctions against Pavlo Vovka, as well as two of his closest family members.