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 Project wrap-up meeting

Ukraine: Support to the implementation of the judicial reform

Wrap-up meeting © CoE

On 23 February 2018 in Kyiv the wrap-up meeting of the Council of Europe project “Support to the implementation of the judicial reform in Ukraine” took place to mark the end of the implementation of the Project. The project partner institutions were invited to participate and share their feedback about the work of the Project. The event was attended by representatives of the Supreme Court, the High Council of Justice, the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine, the National School of Judges of Ukraine, the Council of Judges of Ukraine, the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine, the Administration of the President of Ukraine and the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine.

The participants discussed the results of the project implementation and exchanged their views on further co-operation activities between the judiciary projects of the Council of Europe and the Ukrainian authorities.

During the meeting, some of the analytical materials prepared within the Project were presented and distributed to the participants, namely:

Results of the sociological survey on the trust to the judiciary in Ukraine (Report in Ukrainian)
Results of monitoring the activities of the Public Integrity Council (Report in Ukrainian)
Progress of the execution by Ukraine of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in the cases “Oleksandr Volkov v. Ukraine” and “Salov v. Ukraine” (report in Ukrainian )
Draft Concept on introduction of remedies from lengthy judicial proceedings in Ukraine (Report in Ukrainian ) and others.

The project “Support to the implementation of the judicial reform in Ukraine” was carried out in Ukraine by the Justice and Legal Co-operation Department of the Council of Europe from 1 February 2016 to 28 February 2018. The Project was a part of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine 2015 – 2017 and its overall objective was to ensure 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. The Project organised more than 100 events with the involvement of more than 4200 participants. International and national experts of the project produced more than 60 analytical documents, including assessment of pieces of legislation, research papers on the Council of Europe standards and practices concerning different aspect of functionary of the judiciary, or reports with the results of monitoring practices of the relevant judicial institutions in Ukraine in the context of the Council of Europe standards.

Kyiv, Ukraine 23 February 2018