The subject of this dispute is the issue of whether a probation authority has the right to file an appeal against a ruling of a court of first instance, which denied a motion to cancel the release from serving a sentence with probation.
**** When rendering this decision, the Court was guided by the legal position formulated by the Joint Chamber of the Criminal Cassation Court, which officially departed from the previous conclusions of other chambers of the Supreme Court. The key argument was that probation authorities are not included in the list of persons defined by Part 1 of Article 393 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine who have the right to appeal decisions rendered in the course of executing a sentence. The Court emphasized that current procedural law does not vest subjects whose competence includes the execution of a court decision with the right to appeal rulings issued as a result of the consideration of their own petitions or motions. The law grants the right to such an appeal only to the convicted person, their defense counsel, their legal representative, and the prosecutor. Consequently, the Supreme Court emphasized that previous judicial practice, which allowed for appeals by probation authorities, is no longer in effect. As a result, the Court concluded that the appellate court rightfully returned the probation authority’s complaint due to the latter’s lack of a procedural right to such an appeal.
The Supreme Court upheld the appellate court’s ruling on the return of the appeal and dismissed the cassation appeal filed by the head of the probation authority.
