Alexander Lavrinovich

Birth date: 28.06.1956

Place of birth. Education. Resident of Ovruch, Zhytomyr region. In 1978, he graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv as a diploma engineer-physicist. He received a second higher education from 1994 to 1998 at the Yaroslav Mudry National Law Academy. Lavrinovich is a two-time Doctor of Science (Technology and Law). The topics of his defended dissertations were 'Intensification of High-Performance Ceramics Processing with Laser Beams' (1988) and 'Election Legislation of Ukraine and Problems of Its Improvement' (2001).

Career. From 1978 to 1991, he worked at the Institute of Hard Materials of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (with a break for military service). From 1990 to 1992, he taught at the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute.

In 1989, he became an active member of the People's Movement of Ukraine. From 1990 to 1998, he was elected as the deputy chairman of the People's Movement of Ukraine. He was a member of the Political Council and the Central Office of the People's Movement of Ukraine (until 2003). He initially carried the party card under No. 2, and after the re-registration of the party - under No. 4. In 1990, he became a member of the Central Election Commission, and in 1991 - its deputy chairman. In 1993, he held the position of CEC chairman.

In 1994, he was first elected as a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. He joined the faction of the People's Movement of Ukraine and held the position of deputy chairman of the Committee on Legal Policy and Judicial Reforms. In the next parliamentary session, he also belonged to the faction of the Movement, serving as secretary of the Committee on Legal Policy. In October 2001, he resigned his deputy mandate after being appointed State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice. Following the 2002 elections, he was part of the passing list of 'Our Ukraine' (No. 60), but declined to work in the Verkhovna Rada.

In May 2002, Lavrinovich was appointed Minister of Justice in the government of Anatoliy Kinakh. He retained the portfolio in the government of Viktor Yanukovych. As a minister, he held positions in the National Security and Defense Council, the Supreme Council of Justice, the State Council for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, and other state advisory bodies. In February 2005, he lost his portfolio following the appointment of the 'orange' government of Yulia Tymoshenko.

At the time of his second appointment as Minister of Justice (November 1, 2006, immediately after the resignation of his 'orange' colleague Roman Zvarych), Lavrinovich held the position of First Deputy Minister in the Cabinet and head of the legal support department of the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ukraine (since August 2006). In both his previous and last positions, he was significantly involved in the conflicts between President Viktor Yushchenko and the ruling coalition.

After the early parliamentary elections, he became a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in the VI session year on the list of the Party of Regions. He held the position of First Vice-President of the VRS, deputy faction leader of the Party of Regions led by Yanukovych, and deputy committee chairman of the VRS on legal policy.

From March 2010 to July 2013, he was Minister of Justice in the government of Mykola Azarov.

On July 2, 2013, Lavrinovich was elected by the Ukrainian Parliament to the High Council of Justice of the country.

From July 4, 2013, to April 10, 2014, he was chairman of the High Council of Justice; his candidacy was supported by 15 out of 16 Council members.

On July 26, 2022, Alexander Lavrinovich was suspected of high treason for his role in preparing the Kharkiv agreements of 2010, which extended the presence of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Crimea and later facilitated the Kremlin's takeover of the peninsula in 2014. On that day, he was included in domestic and international wanted lists.

Views and Assessments. He advocated for transferring the penal system and the civil registration institute from the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the Ministry of Justice, in accordance with Ukraine's obligations to the Council of Europe. In an interview, he stated: 'The Ministry of Justice has never set itself the task of competing with someone for specific powers... The state no longer has the right to decide whether someone should live or not live in this or that place, work or not work in this or that company, register or not register. Nowadays, the rule of law does not boil down to issuing permits or prohibitions, but to establishing the will of the citizens.' The attempts were unsuccessful, in the minister's view, due to the 'interest' of some deputies and possibly the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

He assessed the possibility of creating a single economic space (EES) skeptically. He expressed concerns about the package of documents on the EES at the time, which angered Yanukovych.

Lavrinovich believes that the practice of creating temporary parliamentary investigative committees in the Verkhovna Rada should be abandoned: 'no powers - no sense in creating ambitious but lawless bodies...' Although he himself chaired the committee investigating the 'Gongadze case' as a deputy.

He claims that the greatest danger to the independence of the judiciary lies in the self-serving motives of some representatives of the judiciary. He recognizes the existence of corporate solidarity in the court system, which is very difficult to overcome. He advocates for introducing strict qualification examinations for candidates for judges.

He believes that the passing thresholds for parties and blocs at parliamentary elections should be at least 7%.

Regarding his 'Rukh' past, he said in an interview with 'Zerkalo Nedeli': 'I do not participate in party life and do not plan to do so in the future. But I will never write a statement about my exit from Rukh. Because Rukh is not a political party for me, but a part of my biography. It is an era that has passed, and in which I participated.' He does not hide that he had quite difficult relationships with Vyacheslav Chornovil. It is said that Lavrinovich was among the few members of the 'Regions' faction who were 'allowed' to manage without official membership in the PR. However, the former minister of justice has been the deputy chairman of the Party of Regions since the spring of 2008.

After the defeat of the Party of Regions in the early parliamentary elections of 2007 and its transition to the opposition, Lavrinovich became the Minister of Justice in the shadow government of party leader Yanukovych.

Scientific Activity. Lavrinovich is the author and co-author of several scientific works (in the field of laser and constitutional law) and legislative initiatives.

Awards. Honored Lawyer of Ukraine. Awarded with the Orders 'For Merits' of I, II, and III degrees and Yaroslav the Wise IV.

Family Connections. Wife - Svetlana Grigorieva (born 1956) - chief consultant of LLC Pravo. Sons Maxim (managing partner of the law firm 'Lavrinovich and Partners') and Vitali.

26.07.2022.