On 16 September 2016, a conference on the liability of judges in the light of the new legislation of Ukraine was held in Kyiv. The event was jointly organized by the Council of Europe project “Support to the implementation of the judicial reform in Ukraine” and the High specialised court of Ukraine for civil and criminal cases.

The conference was attended by the judges and representatives of the Supreme Court of Ukraine and high specialised courts, the Government Agent before the European Court of Human Rights, representatives of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, members and representatives of the High Council of Justice, High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine, Council of Judges of Ukraine, representatives of the National School of Judges of Ukraine, Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, as well as by civil society and international organisations.

The main issues discussed during the event were the criminal liability of judges for the delivery of knowingly arbitrary decisions, and the disciplinary liability of judges for human rights violations found by the European Court of Human Rights. 

In their presentations experts and representatives of the Council of Europe drew attention to the standards and recommendations of the Council of Europe on disciplinary, civil and criminal liability of judges, as well as to the relevant case-law of the European Court of Human Rights.

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.

WEB LINKS ON THE ROUND TABLE

http://sc.gov.ua/ua/golovna_storinka/vidpovidalnist_suddiv_u_svitli_novogo_zakonodavstva_ukrajini.html - High Specialized Court of Ukraine for Civil and Criminal Cases 

http://www.arbitr.gov.ua/news/2595/ - High Commercial Court of Ukraine

http://nsj.gov.ua/ua/news/u-fokusi-nove-u-zakonodavstvi-pro-vidpovidalnist-suddiv-/ - National School of Judges of Ukraine