In Khmelnytsky region, Court of Appeal dismisses UOC priest's claim for use of church

The Khmelnytsky Court of Appeal overturned the decision of the court of first instance and dismissed the claim of the rector of the Holy Dormition Church of the UOC in Letychiv, Khmelnytsky region, who sought to remove obstacles to the use of religious and commercial buildings, as well as to cancel the decisions of the state registrar to change the information on the ownership of this property. The Court of Appeal concluded that the rights of the plaintiff as an individual in the disputed legal relations were not violated.

According to Ukrinform, the rector of the Holy Dormition Church of the Letychiv Deanery of the UOC said that he was the head of the relevant religious community, established in 1991. In 2012, the Letychiv village council issued certificates of ownership to this religious community for the church building, a service house and a gatehouse.

However, in May 2024, the state registrar made changes to the State Register of Real Property Rights, indicating the new owner of the property as the religious community of the Holy Dormition Church of Letychiv of the Khmelnytsky Diocese of the OCU. The priest of the UOC stated in court that such actions of the registrar were unlawful, as they created obstacles to the use of the church by the rightful owners, and therefore he asked the court to cancel the relevant registration decisions and remove the obstacles.

Initially, the Letychiv District Court of the Khmelnytsky region granted the claim of the UOC priest. However, the defendant in the case, the religious organization «Religious Community of the Holy Dormition Church of Letychiv» (OCU — ed.), filed an appeal, insisting on dismissing the claim. The motivation for the appeal was that in 2023 the religious community came under the canonical jurisdiction of the Office of the Khmelnytsky Diocese of the OCU and changed its name. Thus, the state registrar acted legally and on the basis of proper documents, making the appropriate changes to the register.

The Court of Appeal found that the disputed real estate is owned by the religious community, and the land plot is communal property and was provided to this community for permanent use. Thus, the rights of the plaintiff as an individual were not violated, which led to the reversal of the initial decision and dismissal of the claim.

As we reported earlier, an incident involving the eviction of the sisters of the Baturyn Krupytsia St. Nicholas Convent of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Chernihiv region) occurred in the Hetman’s Capital National Historical and Cultural Reserve. According to representatives of the monastery, the actions were carried out without a court decision and with the participation of law enforcement agencies, despite the existence of a valid agreement for the use of the premises and the official registration of the nuns at their place of residence.