Public opinion is the highest authority
The Kyiv Law Society has honored The Day . A few days ago Oleh Bereziuk, the head of the society, presented editor Larysa Ivshyna with an Honorary Award for her newspaper’s significant contribution to building a lawful state and developing democracy in Ukraine.
The Kyiv Law Society was founded in 1877 at the Kyiv Imperial University of St. Volodymyr (now Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University). During the period of struggle for Ukraine’s independence in the early part of the 20th century, its traditions were continued by the Ukrainian Law Society, which was founded in 1917 and supported by the Central Rada. It ceased to exist immediately after the liquidation of the Ukrainian National Republic.
The society was revived in 1999. Its members are practicing lawyers and scholars, whose goal is to assist the building of a lawful state, develop the Ukrainian school of jurisprudence, conduct scholarly research work, deepen cooperation among lawyers, and broaden international ties. The members of the Kyiv Law Society have an excellent track record: they win every court case, even “hopeless” ones. People turn to the society when money fails to work.
“As a rule, people appeal to us after exhausting all approaches, both legal and illegal ones,” Oleh Bereziuk said. “For example, one of our famous cases involved the arrest in 2004 of the mayor of the city of Vyshhorod in Kyiv oblast and some of his deputies. The arrests were obviously politically motivated. Of course, it was not easy to prove that our defendants’ activities did not constitute a crime. The Public Prosecutor’s Office agreed with us and the case was closed. Right now we are working on the case of Lieut.-Col. Filimonov, a chief criminal investigator of high-priority cases, who is being prosecuted in Odesa for the unlawful prosecution of certain individuals. For now we have proved that he acted within the law. Our belief is supported by the verdicts of two judges, who pronounced our defendant not guilty. We involved some scholars, lawyers, and parliamentarians in this case, and appealed to the Prosecutor-General, the Minister of Internal Affairs, and President Yushchenko. Now this case is being studied by the Supreme Court, and I hope it issues a fair decision.”
The Kyiv Law Society’s Honorary Award was established several years ago. It is usually awarded to politicians and journalists who are strengthening the beginnings of a modern pluralistic and democratic society in Ukraine. “ The Day satisfies all our criteria because it is constantly publishing interesting and multi- sided views on the hottest issues of Ukraine’s political and legal development,” said the head of the Kyiv Law Society. “It is very important for journalists to objectively inform the public about the activities of officials or branches of power, because all politicians and bureaucrats rely on public opinion. To achieve that, we need the daily work of lawyers and journalists. In this matter, one cannot say which of them are more important.”
