UOC lawyer reveals details of case against Myltsi Monastery
Believers have filed more than 150 applications to join the court proceedings as third parties.
The Commercial Court of Volyn Region is considering a lawsuit filed by local authorities seeking the seizure of property belonging to the UOC’s St Nicholas Myltsi Monastery. Archpriest Nikita Chekman said officials are demanding that the monastery complex be returned to the state, putting the brotherhood at risk of eviction.
The case was initially assigned to Judge I. O. Harbar. He had previously ruled in a case against the UOC community of the Dormition Cathedral in Volodymyr, a decision that effectively paved the way for the community’s eviction from the cathedral. Since the judge had already expressed his legal position in a similar dispute, the monastery’s lawyers filed a motion seeking his recusal. The court rejected the request, but Harbar later recused himself.
The dispute is now being heard by a panel of three judges. The court itself initiated this format “in view of the category and complexity of the case, the nature of the disputed legal relations, as well as the significant public interest in the subject of the dispute.”
Believers are also actively joining the proceedings. Parishioners of the monastery are filing applications with the court to participate in the case on the monastery’s side as third parties. To date, more than 150 such applications have been submitted.
The faithful stress that “the future court ruling will directly affect their rights, obligations, and legitimate interests.” Lawyers have asked believers to pray for the monastery brotherhood and community.
Earlier, the UOJ reported that the Volyn Regional Military Administration had filed a lawsuit seeking to evict the UOC brotherhood from Myltsi Monastery.
