Sometimes it allows the accused to evade punishment
In recent weeks, reports about the announcement of suspicions against former and current officials of the Kyiv City State Administration (KCSA) have regularly emerged in the information space. Most often, capital city officials are charged with negligence and embezzlement of budget funds, but residents of Kyiv are unlikely to see real verdicts anytime soon.
This forecast was made during the broadcast of “Kashтан.Інтерв’ю” by Kyiv lawyer, managing partner of the law firm “Vidar,” Stanislav Borys.
“Due to a number of factors, a criminal proceeding can last from three to ten years from the moment it begins until a verdict is rendered that has entered into legal force. For instance, there are criminal cases that have passed through the first instance and the appellate instance, and from the cassation instance, the court has identified violations that cannot be corrected. It is at this stage that it sends the case back for reconsideration to the first instance court, and everything starts over,” he said.
As Borys noted, unfortunately, in some cases, this helps the accused avoid punishment due to the expiration of the statute of limitations for criminal liability.
At the same time, according to the lawyer, there are many examples where the guilty still face legitimate punishment.
“Quite often, such cases even end with an admission of guilt and, for example, an agreement between the suspect and the investigation, whereby the suspect admits guilt and compensates for the damage caused. Essentially, this saves state funds and court time for prosecution,” explained Borys.
Watch the full conversation with Stanislav Borys in the new episode of “Kashтан.Інтерв’ю”.