Filatov, Alexey Valerevich

Education, legal career

Alexey Filatov was born in Kiev in 1976. After receiving secondary education in 1993 he entered the Institute of International Relations of Kyiv National University. T. Shevchenko , studied at the Department of International Law. In 1998, he received a diploma with honors, becoming a master of international law and a referent translator from Spanish . Then he got the right to practice law ^[1] .

From 1998 to 2001 he worked as an assistant in the Department of International Law at his native institute . Until 2003, he was engaged in private law practice, and then began to work in the law firm "Vasily Kysil & Partners". He specialized in commercial, corporate and investment disputes. He acted as an adviser and expert on issues of Ukrainian law in cases considered by foreign courts and international arbitration ^{[1] [2]} .

Alexey Filatov was a member of the International Bar Association (IBA ), the Council of Users of the London International Arbitration Court , the Ukrainian Association of International Law , the Ukrainian Bar Association, the Kiev Regional Bar Association ^[1] .

In 2013, he advised Boris Lozhkin during the sale of his UMH group media holding to Sergey Kurchenko ^[3] .

He speaks Ukrainian , Russian , Spanish and English ^[1] .

Work in the Presidential Administration of Ukraine

In July 2014, Alexey Filatov was appointed to the post of Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine. A month before, the department was headed by Boris Lozhkin. In connection with the transition to the civil service, Filatov suspended his participation in law associations ^[1] .

In the Presidential Administration, Alexey Filatov became the curator of the judicial reform. For the first year of Filatov’s activity in Ukraine, the law “On ensuring the right to a fair trial” was adopted, the High Council of Justice resumed its work, and the Higher Qualification Commission of Judges was re-formed ^[4] .

In addition, at his post, Filatov dealt with legal issues arising in the AP, supervised the units representing the AP and the head of state in the courts, and coordinated the work of units involved in the design of the regulatory framework ^[4] .

Filatov spoke about the essence of the judicial reform, which he oversees, in an interview with the Left Bank . The main changes were proposed in bill No. 1656, but in addition to this, the Presidential Administration plans to amend the Constitution of Ukraine :

In bill 1656, we addressed issues regarding the judicial system and the status of judges , their recruitment, career and judicial responsibility, as well as the principles of legal proceedings and the role of the Supreme Court . Next, we will solve issues related to the improvement of the judicial process, then questions about the legal profession and the prosecutor’s office, separately dwelling on the issues of providing free legal assistance, as well as issues of enforcement of court decisions.

- ^[5]

However, later Filatov said that in the event of a judicial reform in the country, there would be nowhere to get eight thousand new judges ^[6] .

November 1, 2018 is included in the sanctions list of Russia ^[7] .

On May 11, 2019, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko issued a decree dismissing Alexey Filatov from the post of deputy head of the APU ^[8] .

Accusations of Conflict of Interest and Pressure on Judges

In June 2015, the former chairman of the Kiev Court of Appeal, Anton Chernushenko, stated that Filatov had repeatedly given him instructions on what decisions the court should make:

I was called repeatedly to the Presidential Administration and gave specific instructions for making decisions. Such calls were made by Filatov ^{[9] [10]} .

In particular, according to Chernushenko, Filatov demanded a decision on the arrest of Ukrgasvydobuvannya property ^[11] . Regarding the case of the murder of Georgy Gongadze, Filatov “brought to my attention the position of the president that it would be desirable to leave the first-instance court’s sentence as it is,” Chernushenko told reporters, adding that the criminal case was brought against him because of failure to comply with “ order of the Presidential Administration ” ^{[12] [13]} . Part of the evidence provided by Anton Chernushenko regarding communication with Filatov was confirmed by journalists, some facts (for example, the number of the office in which the negotiations took place) were not confirmed ^[14] . The official investigation carried out in relation to Filatov by the Presidential Administration was inconclusive ^[4] .

Representatives of the legal community of Ukraine pointed out, however, that there was a conflict of interest in the work of Alexey Filatov in the Presidential Administration, as well as pressure on the courts, not only the Court of Appeal, but also the Higher Administrative and Supreme Economic Courts of Ukraine . According to Dmitry Loshakov, Managing Partner of Capital Law Firm,

We talked about how Filatov too quickly took the place of Andrei Portnov and even beat the latter in the art of telephone law in the judicial system. On far-fetched occasions, meetings are adjourned, the composition of the court is changing. All this testifies to the enormous pressure that is being put on the court ^{[15] [10]} .

On July 13, 2015, the Verkhovna Rada Committee for the Prevention and Combating of Corruption appealed to President Petro Poroshenko and Attorney General Viktor Shokin with a request to verify the facts of illegal actions and abuse of authority by Alexey Filatov, who is also the coordinator of judicial reform in Ukraine ^[16] .

In 2009, he was a finalist of the “Legal Prize of the Year” according to the newspaper “Legal Practice” in the nomination “Best Intellectual Property Lawyer” ^[17] . In 2010, he was rated “30 most successful lawyers” in Ukraine according to the Focus publication ^[18] .

Father Valery Pavlovich, mother Evgenia Dmitrievna ^[19] . There is a sister Anastasia ^{[20] [21]} .

• Profile on liga.net (Russian)