Court hearing on the Lower Lavra case postponed due to the judge's recusal

A court hearing at the Northern Economic Court of Appeal in the case over the right to use the Lower Kiev-Pechersk Lavra has been postponed. The reason was the recusal of one of the members of the panel of judges after the monastery’s lawyers claimed that he had a biased position towards the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

According to the Lavra’s lawyer Archpriest Nikita Chekman, during the hearing the monastery’s defense recused one of the judges. According to the lawyers, the judge took a biased position against the UOC. After that the judge decided to recuse himself.

Due to the change in the composition of the panel, the consideration of the case was suspended. There will be an automatic allocation procedure to determine the new composition of the court. The new date and time of the court session will be announced later.