The Council of Europe continues supporting the Ukrainian authorities in addressing rule of law and human rights challenges in the context of the ongoing war resulting from the military aggression by the Russian Federation. Upon request from the Ministry of Justice, the Council of Europe prepared expert comments to the Draft Law “On Support for Criminal Proceedings and Enforcement of Punishments, Which Are Precluded as a Result of Armed Aggression, Temporary Occupation of the Territory of Ukraine”, which will serve, among other things, to execute the Kurochenko and Zolutukin v. Ukraine judgment from the European Court of Human Rights, in the current context.

The Draft Law, which was developed to address certain challenges arising in the criminal justice due to the temporary occupation of the parts of Ukrainian territory by the Russian Federation. In general, the Draft Law was positively assessed taking into account that it contains provisions that are seeking to respond to significant difficulties for criminal proceedings resulting from the temporary occupation of parts of Ukraine and that its provisions could be relevant for circumstances both before and after 24 February 2022.

At the same time, there are some shortcomings to be addressed. Particularly, it is stressed that the provisions dealing with the suspension and closure of cases should not be inconsistent with the inapplicability of statutes of limitation to offences engaging the prohibition of ill-treatment under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. It is also emphasized that consideration should be given to adopting other measures to ensure the effective investigation and prosecution of offences connected with the aggression and temporary occupation of Ukraine since 24 February 2022.

The full text of the expert comments can be downloaded here.

The expert comments were prepared within the framework of the Council of Europe Project “Human Rights Compliant Criminal Justice System in Ukraine”, which is part of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine 2018-2022.