On 7 September 2016 a high-level presentation of the last version of the draft law “On the High Council of Justice”, together with the presentation of the Opinion of the international experts of the Council of Europe on the compliance of this draft law with the Council of Europe standards, took place in Kyiv, Ukraine. The event was organized by the Project of the Council of Europe “Support to the implementation of the judicial reform in Ukraine” jointly with the Judicial Reform Council.

The presentation was attended by the Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of Ukraine Mr Filatov, the Head of the Supreme Court of Ukraine
Mr Romaniuk, the Head of the High Council of Justice Mr Benedysiuk, the Head of the Council of Judges in Ukraine Ms Simonenko, the Head of the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine Mr Kholodniuk, members of the Parliament of Ukraine, judges and representatives of the Supreme Court of Ukraine and high courts, members of the High Council of Justice and the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine, representatives of other state authorities, civil society organisations, international organisations, as well as the Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine Mr Mårten Ehnberg, the Head of Justice Sector Unit 1 of the Justice and Legal Co-operation Department of the Council of Europe
Ms Daneghian, and the Council of Europe expert Mr Reissner, who is the president of the district court of Floridsdorf (Vienna, Austria) and a member of the Consultative Council of European Judges.

The participants discussed major provisions related to the composition and procedures of the new High Council of Justice, its powers and possible future internal regulations, as well as the appeal proceedings against the decisions of this authority. The international expert and representatives of the Council of Europe drew the participants’ attention to the advantages of the draft law and outlined the issues which might require further improvement.

The event was preceded and followed by consultations between the representatives of the Judicial Reform Council and the expert of the Council of Europe. The final Opinion prepared by Mr Gerhard Reissner and Ms Lorena Bachmaier Winter, professor of Law at the Complutense University Law School of Madrid, will be forwarded to relevant Ukrainian authorities.

The Council of Europe project “Support to the implementation of the judicial reform in Ukraine” is funded by a contribution from the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and is a follow-up to previous efforts of the Council of Europe as regards the reform of the judiciary. It aims at further approximation of the Ukrainian system of judiciary to the standards and recommendations of the Council of Europe.