Summer School on Electoral Law was organized by the Council of Europe in cooperation with all-Ukrainian non-governmental organization “Election Law Institute” in the city of Yaremche, Ivano-Frankivsk region, Ukraine, from 17 till 28 July, 2016.

The Summer School was held for 44 university graduates and PhD students from top national universities with law faculties, as well as representatives of academia, civil society organizations monitoring the elections, representatives of different electoral stakeholders involved into the process of organization and conduct of elections.

This Summer School was aimed at improving knowledge of young Ukrainian election experts about European electoral heritage and good practice in electoral matters, as well as about the mechanisms of application of these standards during organization and conduct of elections in Ukraine. 

Мårten Ehnberg, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, in opening remarks pointed out that «a comprehensive reform of the electoral system ensuring full representation of all citizens of Ukraine remains an overarching priority and a longstanding recommendation of the Council of Europe. Adoption of the Electoral Code of Ukraine is still on the agenda. The role of experts, lawyers, think tanks, human rights advocacy groups and defenders, analytical centres and representatives of civil society organizations, in particular, those monitoring election process, is very important in the process of comprehensive electoral reform. The Council of Europe does believe that the participants of the Summer School on Electoral Law will become drivers for change in the electoral field of Ukraine within the nearest future».

Yuriy Kliuchkovskyi, President of all-Ukrainian non-governmental organization “Election Law Institute”, informed the participants that “the Summer School will include lectures, seminars, trainings, role plays, round table discussions, which will be conducted by the well-known Ukrainian election experts and practitioners. The Summer School participants will also have the possibility to deepen their knowledge of the European Court of Human Rights case law in electoral matters and to discuss it with Mr. Dmytro Tretyakov, lawyer at the European Court of Human Rights Registry, as well as to learn about the specifics of the electoral system and process in Switzerland from Mr. Beat Kuoni, Legal Counsel at the Federal Chancellery of Switzerland”. Mr. Kliuchkovskyi expressed his hope that “the Summer School participants will deepen their knowledge of the international electoral standards and European electoral heritage and will further disseminate and implement it in Ukrainian electoral practice”.

The program of the Summer School covered such issues as international electoral standards and principles, sources of electoral law, types of electoral systems, reform of the electoral legislation, different stages of election cycle, namely, territorial organization and management of elections, formation and organization of work of election commissions, nomination and registration of candidates, pre-election campaign and political parties finances, election dispute resolution and the ECHR case law in electoral matters, organization and conduct of voting, tabulation of voting results and establishment of election results, electoral violations and mechanisms of accountability.

Follow us on Twitter @UkraineCoE.