The Supreme Court did not accept for consideration the cassation appeal of the Kakhovka City Military Administration of Kherson Oblast and left it without action. The case concerns the challenge to the decisions of the Odesa District Administrative Court and the Fifth Administrative Court of Appeal dated 21 November, which found unlawful the order of the head of the Kakhovka MVA, Vitaliy Nemerts, dated 31 May 2024 insofar as it suspended the employment contract with an official of the executive committee of the Kakhovka City Council.
This was reported by the Center for Journalistic Investigations citing the Supreme Court’s ruling of 18 December.
It was noted that the MVA’s cassation appeal did not meet procedural requirements. In particular, it did not state the grounds for cassation, did not provide evidence of sending the appeal to the other participants in the case, and also did not pay the court fee in full — 6,228.64 hryvnias.
Earlier, courts of first and appellate instance annulled the order of the head of the MVA, which unconditionally suspended employment contracts with all officials who remained in the temporarily occupied territory. At the same time, the list also included officials with elective positions, which at that time contradicted the Law of Ukraine “On the Organization of Labor Relations under Martial Law”. For security reasons, the name and position of the plaintiff who is in the occupation are not disclosed.
In the courts of all instances, the Kakhovka MVA tried to prove the lawfulness of its actions, but it did not provide lawful grounds for suspending the employment contract. The Supreme Court also noted the absence of arguments that would provide grounds for cassation review, and gave the MVA time to remedy the identified deficiencies.
In addition, the administration did not confirm the fact of sending the cassation appeal to the other participants in the process and did not pay the court fee. The court allowed these violations to be corrected. If the requirements of the ruling are not fulfilled within ten days, the cassation appeal will be returned to the applicant. The Supreme Court’s ruling came into force upon signature and is not subject to appeal.
In the event of final enforcement of the court decisions, the official should be paid about 300,000 hryvnias in average wages from the budget of the Kakhovka city community, and court costs and payment for legal assistance should also be compensated.
The Southern Interregional Department of the State Labor Service indicated to the leadership of the Kakhovka MVA as early as August 2024 the illegality of suspending the employment contract with an elected official, but that requirement was ignored there. Likewise, the decision of the Odesa District Administrative Court regarding the immediate payment to the plaintiff of average wages for one month of forced absence was also not enforced.