Ukraine: Support to the implementation of the judicial reform

Project title

Support to the judicial reform in Ukraine

project duration

The project duration is 31 months: 1 June 2018 to 30 December 2020.

Project budget

Euro 1,110,000 (reduced to Euro 860,000)

Project partners

Supreme Court, Ukrainian National Bar Association, High Council of Justice, High Qualification Commission of Judges, Office of the President of Ukraine, Ministry of Justice.

Key issues to be addressed

the reform of the judiciary in terms of the practice derived from the adopted legislation (2016-2020), including uniformity of judicial practice and functioning of the new courts and judicial institutions.
changes in the system of the bar including the introduction of the obligatory representation in courts by advocates and strengthening of the system of the free legal aid.

Brief description of project

The project is being implemented in Ukraine in co-operation with Ukrainian counterparts – the Judicial Reform Council, the Supreme Court, the High Council of Justice, the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine, the Council of Judges of Ukraine, and others. The project is managed by the Justice and Legal Co-Operation Department of the Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law.

Project objectives

To support Ukraine in the completion of the judicial reform and in the implementation of the newly-adopted legislation with the aim of ensuring functioning and organisation of judiciary, bar and free legal aid system under newly established legislation are in compliance with the Council of Europe standards.

Project components

1 – Support to the legislative development

Aim of the component: to provide advice to the Ukrainian authorities in developing legislation on functioning of the judiciary and bar, including through the provision of expertise/assessments/opinions/recommendations

2 – Support to the development of functioning of courts and judicial institutions under the reformed legislation

Aim of the component: to support the development of functioning of courts and judicial institutions, namely, the High Council of Justice, under new legislation so as new court practice, practice of the High Council of Justice within the new powers, issues of publicity with regard to judges, practice of management of the judicial dossier are in line with the CoE standards

3 – Support to the development of bar in Ukraine

Aim of the component: to support development of the new legal institute of the obligatory representation in courts by advocates and of the free legal aid system on civil and administrative cases so as respective procedural aspects and quality of legal advices are in line with the CoE standards and the best European practise

Expected results

The amended legislation in Ukraine allows the judiciary and the bar in their practice to adhere to Council of Europe standards .
Functioning of courts and judicial institutions under the reformed legislation framework follows the standards of the Council of Europe and the relevant European practices.
The involvement of the bar in litigation in terms of procedure and practice comply with the Council of Europe standards.

Project News

Back 2nd meeting of the interagency working group for developing solutions to the systemic problem of excessive length of pre-trial and judiciary proceedings in Ukraine

Ukraine: Support to the implementation of the judicial reform

2nd meeting of the interagency working group for developing solutions to the systemic problem of excessive length of pre-trial and judiciary proceedings in Ukraine

Representatives of the Council of Europe project “Support to the implementation of the judicial reform in Ukraine” took part in the second meeting of the interagency working group for developing solutions to the systemic problem of excessive length of pre-trial and judiciary proceedings in Ukraine

On 13 July 2017 the Government Agent before the European Court of Human Rights organised a second meeting of the interagency working group aimed at developing solutions to the problem of lengthy civil and criminal proceedings in Ukraine, and drafting recommendations on possible preventive and compensatory remedies.

Representatives of the Council of Europe project “Support to the implementation of the judicial reform in Ukraine” participated in the meeting as the members of the above interagency working group. The event was also attended by the representatives of the Parliament of Ukraine, the Supreme Court of Ukraine, the High Specialised Court of Ukraine for Civil and Criminal Cases, the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine, the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine, the Office of the Prosecutor General, the National Police of Ukraine and civil society organisations.

During the second meeting, the participants discussed the Draft Concept on solving the issue of the lengthy civil and criminal judicial proceedings in Ukraine and exchanged ideas on possible preventive and compensatory remedies at the national level. The Draft Concept was developed by the Centre for Judicial Studies on request of the Council of Europe Project “Support to the implementation of the judicial reform in Ukraine”. Also, the second meeting was attended by the expert of the Council of Europe, who presented the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights and the official documents of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe outlining effective remedies in the Council of Europe member states with regard to the issue of the lengthy judicial proceedings.

The inter-agency working group for developing solutions to the systemic problem of excessive length of pre-trial and judiciary proceedings in Ukraine was established by Order of the Minister of Justice of Ukraine of 21 March 2017 no. 884/7. The working group consists of representatives of the legislative, executive and judicial branches of power. The first meeting of the inter-agency working group was organised by the Government Agent before the European Court of Human Rights and the Council of Europe project “Support to the implementation of the judicial reform in Ukraine” on 23 March 2017. Please click here for more information about the first meeting of the working group.

According to the official statistics of the European Court of Human Rights and of the Government Agent before the European Court of Human Rights, in Ukraine the problem of the lengthy civil and criminal proceedings is the second largest systemic problem (after the non-enforcement of domestic judgments) raised in the applications to the European Court of Human Rights in cases against Ukraine.

The Council of Europe project “Support to the implementation of the judicial reform in Ukraine” aims at ensuring further compliance of the Ukrainian system of judiciary with the standards and recommendations of the Council of Europe. One of the components of the Project is dedicated to supporting Ukrainian authorities in ensuring efficient execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights.

Ukraine 13 July 2017