Case description
Oleksandr Barannik, ex-judge of the Court of Appeal of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, was accused of failing to submit e-declarations for 2015-2018. The appellate instance imposed a fine on the ex-judge, but later this verdict was overturned due to the scandalous decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine to abolish criminal liability for false declaration or intentional failure to submit a declaration.
Barannik assured that he had not committed a crime: he could not fulfill his duty, having refused an electronic signature. Allegedly, he filled out all the declarations on paper and then sent scans to the NACP. However, Barannik did not send the consent to the processing of personal data to the NACP, although this was provided for by the procedure. Because of this, the National Agency could not accept Barannik's declarations.
Barannik's argument was that the obligation to obtain the electronic signature for filing e-declarations violated his constitutional right to a name and to use his own signature. Importantly, until the end of 2013, the ex-judge had no problem using the electronic signature.
The actions of the judge were qualified under Art. 366-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The first instance acquitted Barannik, but the prosecutor filed an appeal against such a decision.
The HACC Appeals Chamber overturned the acquittal; it found Barannik guilty and imposed a fine of UAH 45,900 on him with a ban on holding certain positions for 2 years.
However, on October 27, 2020, Article 366-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine was declared unconstitutional, so subsequently, ex-judge Barannik filed a cassation appeal with a request to overturn the decision of the appellate instance. The Supreme Court decided to overturn Barannik's sentence and close the criminal proceedings.
Earlier, the HACC had already considered the cases of two other ex-judges of the same court concerning the failure to submit declarations due to the refusal to obtain the electronic signature. Under the same circumstances, the HACC found Zoya Ponomar and Nadiia Posunsia guilty and fined them UAH 51,000.
