Piskun forever?

Kyiv’s Shevchenkivsky Court has ruled to reinstate Sviatoslav Piskun as Prosecutor General of Ukraine. The court handed down this ruling last Friday during the second hearing of this case. “Under Article 160 of the Code of Administrative Judicature of Ukraine, Mr. Sviatoslav Piskun’s suit has thereby been upheld,” Judge Ihor Moroz announced. The court also repealed the decree on the dismissal of Piskun from the prosecutor general’s office. The court order is subject to appeal in the Appellate Court within 10 days. The court also rejected the request of Minister of Justice Serhiy Holovaty to drop the Piskun case. Earlier, Holovaty had filed a request to drop the case because it is of a constitutional and legal nature and the subject of constitutional jurisdiction. Last week the minister of justice stated that Piskun may have struck a deal with the judges about his reinstatement as prosecutor general. The presidential decree states that Piskun is being dismissed according to paragraph 11, part I, article 106 of the Constitution. According to this paragraph, the head of state can appoint the prosecutor general with the Verkhovna Rada’s consent and dismiss him from office.