Sorting out declaration issues: updates on the new selection interviews for the High Council of Justice

The ongoing selection process for candidates to the High Council of Justice under the President’s quota continues.

Last week, on May 29 and 31, the Ethics Council interviewed detective Davydchuk and judge Kapustynskyi.

Dmytro Davydchuk – Senior Detective at NABU:

In 2021, Davydchuk’s wife became the owner of an apartment in the Parkland residential complex, over 80 square meters in size and valued at over 1.5 million hryvnias. The official incomes of the Davydchuk family would not have been sufficient to purchase such a property. Davydchuk explained that the apartment was bought by his wife’s parents as a wedding gift. Interestingly, his wife became the official owner after Davydchuk and she had already renovated and lived in the apartment for two years, starting in 2019.

In 2020, Davydchuk’s wife purchased a land plot in Kyiv, in the same residential complex, 25 square meters in size, for 28,000 hryvnias, which is notably low for such a property. Davydchuk explained that the plot was undeveloped, bought from the developer, and divided; there are now 14 garages on the plot.

It remains to be seen if these explanations will satisfy the Ethics Council. Members were also curious why Davydchuk did not mention in his declaration that he was fined in 2022 for a traffic violation (the candidate claimed the penalty was settled at the time of submission). They also questioned the basis for his discharge from the Armed Forces of Ukraine. However, Davydchuk declined to discuss this during the broadcast.

More details here.

Maksym Kapustynskyi – judge of the Enerhodar court in Zaporizhzhia Region:

In his 2022-2023 declarations, judge Kapustynskyi listed his actual place of residence and registration in occupied Enerhodar, even though he was in another location at the time. He explained that this was done for safety reasons, as he had been serving in the Armed Forces since 2021 and lived in military units.

Additionally, in his 2022-2023 declarations, judge Kapustynskyi did not specify separate sources of his income, combining his salary from the State Judicial Administration and his payments for military service. “Was it necessary to declare them separately?” the candidate asked.

The Ethics Council members were puzzled by the origin of funds for the apartment Kapustynskyi’s father supposedly gifted him in 2015. Known records show the father’s income from 1998 to 2010 was slightly less than 250,000 hryvnias. The candidate explained that the apartment was also bought with his mother’s income and contributions from other family members.

Additionally, there are known facts about Kapustynskyi delaying cases of drunk driving under Article 130 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, his involvement in criminal proceedings, and the inconsistency of his income with his expenses in 2015-2016. However, these issues were not addressed during the interview.

You can watch Kapustynskyi’s conversation with the Ethics Council here.

We will continue to monitor the progress of the interviews for the High Council of Justice candidates under the President’s quota. We hope the Ethics Council will select worthy candidates who can be responsible for forming a decent judiciary in Ukraine.