5.  The applicant was born in 1970 and lives in Poltava.
6.  On 18 April 2003 the applicant’s employer, Grebinkivska District State Administration (“the Administration”), received a statement from the Grebinkivskyy District prosecutor’s office dated 17 April 2003 (“the prosecutor’s statement”). The document analysed the amount of preventive social work performed by the applicant in connection with minors in 2002 and concluded that the applicant, as the head of the juvenile service department of the Administration, had no knowledge of the relevant law and displayed an irresponsible attitude towards her professional duties. The document contained a demand that the applicant be disciplined.
7.  On 21 April 2003 the Administration examined the prosecutor’s statement and decided to give the applicant a warning against the use of excessive formalism in her work. On 14 May 2003 the Administration informed the prosecutor’s office of the actions taken in consequence of their consideration of the prosecutor’s statement.
8.  On 10 April 2004 the applicant brought civil defamation proceedings against the Grebinkivskyy District prosecutor’s office, Prosecutor Mr B., the Poltava Region prosecutor’s office and the State Treasury of Ukraine, alleging that the prosecutor’s statement contained untrue information relating to her professional activity and that this negative evaluation of her attitude to work had damaged her honour, dignity and professional reputation. She asked the court to order the Grebinkivskyy District prosecutor’s office to retract the prosecutor’s statement and to pay her compensation for non-pecuniary damage.
9.  On 8 December 2005 the Pyryatynskyy District Court of Poltava Region applied defamation law as contained in the Civil Code of 2003, the Prosecutor’s Office Act and the Information Act. It considered the case on its merits and allowed the applicant’s claim in part.
10.  On 17 July 2006 the Poltava Regional Court of Appeal did not challenge the approach of the first-instance court in considering the case under civil law defamation provisions. However, it disagreed with the application of the Civil Code of 2003 and applied the old Civil Code of 1963. It partly allowed the claim and increased the level of compensation awarded to the applicant for non-pecuniary damage.
11.  On 20 September 2006 the State Treasury of Ukraine appealed against the decision to the Supreme Court.
12.  On 6 February 2008 the Supreme Court of Ukraine quashed the above decision of 17 July 2006 and closed the proceedings, finding that the case should not have been examined in civil proceedings. The court indicated that the prosecutor’s statement should have been contested either before a superior prosecutor (in accordance with section 22 of the Prosecutor’s Act) or before “a court”. The Supreme Court also ruled that, according to paragraph 4 of Resolution no. 7 of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of Ukraine dated 28 September 1990, entitled “on the application of legislation by the courts regulating defence of honour, dignity and reputation of citizens and organisations” (“the Resolution”), it was not possible to file a civil defamation claim in respect of statements contained in courts’ decisions or decisions of various investigative bodies.