UKRAINE, Feb. 27 — On Feb. 24, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appointed Kateryna Minaieva as a new judge to the second Kharkiv Administrative Court of Appeal. Earlier, the Public Integrity Council found her to be a noncompliant candidate.

According to the Public Integrity Council’s conclusion, Minaeva’s “way of life” doesn’t correspond to her declared income, and her properties have undeclared sources, which contradicts professional ethics and the integrity of a person who is supposed to be a judge. 

The document said that Minaieva registered expensive property in the names of relatives, but neither she nor her family had the corresponding declared income. She also has relatives and other informal connections with judges in Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia, who could have influenced her career development.

The Integrity Council said that Minaieva received a jurisprudence degree from Zaporizhzha National University in 2017. Her doctoral advisor was the husband of Judge Olha Minaieva, who is a relative of Kateryna’s first husband.

Also, the woman visited Crimea after the Russian occupation in 2014. She was also one of the judges to forbid people from peaceful protests in 2013, during Euromaidan.

On Aug. 15, the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine recommended 42 candidates for positions as judges of administrative courts of appeal, including Minaieva, despite the Public Integrity Council’s conclusions. Earlier, Minaieva served as a judge at the Zaporizhzhia District Administrative Court.

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