On 16 June 2017 the conference “Reform of the procedural legislation as a step towards effective justice” took place in Odessa, Ukraine. This fourth event on discussing draft law of the President of Ukraine “On amendments to the Commercial Procedural Code of Ukraine, the Civil Procedural Code of Ukraine, the Code of Administrative Procedure of Ukraine and other legislation” was jointly organized by the Judicial Reform Council, the All-Ukrainian non-governmental organization “Ukrainian Bar Association” and by the Council of Europe project “Support to the implementation of the judicial reform in Ukraine”.

Judges, practicing lawyers, academia and civil society discussed the general concept and special features of civil, commercial and administrative proceedings in draft procedural codes, implementation of “e-justice”, application of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and of the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights. Ms Lorena Bachmaier Winter, Professor of Law at the Complutense University (Madrid) and the international expert of the Council of Europe, informed the participants of the conference about the standards and recommendations of the Council of Europe concerning judicial proceedings.

The amendments to the procedural codes were drafted by the Judicial Reform Council. They involve changes to the main institutes of legal proceedings in Ukraine, including the system and stages of legal proceedings, and, among other things, regulate the powers of the new Supreme Court as a cassation court. Four public discussions of the suggested amendments to the procedural legislation were organized in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv and Odessa, and were attended by judges, lawyers, academia, representatives of civil society and international organizations. A publication of presentations of speakers and of an outline of the Council of Europe standards concerning judicial proceedings will be prepared and disseminated in Ukraine.

The Council of Europe project “Support to the implementation of the judicial reform in Ukraine” aims at ensuring independence, fairness and effectiveness of the judiciary by supporting Ukraine in the implementation of its justice sector reform in accordance with Council of Europe standards and recommendations.

WEB LINKS TO THE EXPERT DISCUSSION EVENT

http://apladm.od.court.gov.ua/sud9105/pres-centr/news/357000/ - Odessa appellate administrative court