orthodoxrights.org

February 11, 2016. The religious community of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church  (Moscow Patriarchate) in the village Mil’cha of Dubno district, Rivne region, was able to challenge in the court the decision of the village council, which has helped the community of Kiev Patriarchate to seize illegally the temple. The judge issued a ruling according to which the decision of the village council of Mil’cha about changing the postal address of the church is recognized as an excess of functions, as the Union of the Orthodox Journalists reports.

The litigation continued for nearly six months. The last point in the application was put when on the proposal of the chairman of the village council the members of the executive committee of the council were invited to the court as witnesses. On the 3^rd of February, the day of the hearing, they made controversial statements that they didn’t take this decision at all, and the new address of the church is essentially not appropriated.

“Now in assigning postal addresses to the buildings in the Ukrainian legislation there is a gap. Such issues are usually resolved at the local level through the adoption of appropriate order assigning postal addresses, otherwise is used the principle analogy of law. “On the 11^th of February, the Village council Mil’cha gave a new postal address to the church building, at the demand signed by ten persons who are not the owners of the building and do not have any documentation on it“, commented the lawyer of the case Ekaterina Ivanyuk.