Greetings. As a lawyer with many years of experience, I have analyzed the court decision you provided. Here is a detailed analysis:
1. The subject of the dispute is the verification of the legality of an acquittal regarding tender committee officials accused of abuse of office and official negligence during the procurement of refrigeration equipment.
2. The court of cassation upheld the position of the lower courts that the prosecution failed to prove the guilt of the persons beyond a reasonable doubt. The Supreme Court noted that the tender committee acted collegially, and the engagement of external consultants for the preparation of documentation was provided for by the internal Regulation. Importantly, the court recognized as erroneous the appellate conclusion regarding the absence of the status of an official for the tender committee secretary, since the performance of organizational and administrative functions under a special mandate automatically confers such status upon a person. However, this legal error did not affect the final result, as the prosecution failed to prove the existence of intent and a specific purpose (obtaining an undue advantage) in the actions of the accused. The court also confirmed the correctness of declaring a number of prosecution evidence inadmissible due to procedural violations in their acquisition and the lack of proper justification for losses. As a result, the prosecutor’s cassation appeal was dismissed, as the lower courts provided an exhaustive assessment of all circumstances of the case.
3. The Supreme Court left the ruling of the appellate court unchanged and the prosecutor’s cassation appeal unsatisfied.
Note: In this decision, the Supreme Court confirmed its established position regarding the determination of the status of an official (in particular, the secretary of a tender committee), referring to previous resolutions of the Criminal Cassation Court and the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court, emphasizing that the status is determined by the scope of authority, not by the job title.
