On June 11, 2021 the final conference of the Council of Europe project “Further support for the execution by Ukraine of judgments in respect of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights” (the Project), funded by the Human Rights Trust Fund and implemented by the Department for the implementation of human rights, justice and legal co-operation standards of the Council of Europe, took place.

The main objective of the event was to inform the Ukrainian authorities, civil society, and international organisations about the results of implementation of the Project, to discuss the results and obstacles, lessons learned and possible steps to be taken in the future.

The conference was the final event of the Project main objective of which is to support Ukraine in providing accessible, full and effective justice through the execution of judgments in which violations of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights are established.

The Project started on November 1, 2019 and will be implemented by the end of June 2021.

The event was attended by over 100 participants: representatives of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, judges and representatives of the Supreme Court, members and representatives of the High Council of Justice, the Council of Judges of Ukraine, the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine, National School of Judges of Ukraine, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, the State Treasury Service of Ukraine, the Pension Fund of Ukraine representatives of civil society, diplomatic institutions and international organisations; representatives and consultants of the Council of Europe.

Mr Chirstophe Poirel, Director of Human Rights, Directorate General Human Rights and Rule of Law said in his welcoming remarks: ‘This event marks the completion of the project that supported Ukraine in the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights for two years. The final conference is an excellent opportunity to exchange our opinions on lessons learned, discuss future plans for Ukraine concerning the execution of the ECtHR judgments, as well as challenges and ways to address them’.

Mr Steen Norlov, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine noted ‘The present Project is an example of effective technical cooperation through which the Council of Europe continues to actively support the efforts of the Ukrainian authorities in implementing the mechanisms designed to address a number of systemic and structural issues’.

During the discussion of project results concerning the issues of non-execution of national judgments, excessive length of court proceedings, and access to justice, Mr Bogdan Lvov, Vice President of the Supreme Court, President of the Commercial Cassation Court within the Supreme Court noted “Consistent, effective and thorough support of the judiciary in its efforts to meet European standards and, in particular, support in strengthening the capacity of the Supreme Court. I consider our cooperation successful’.

Mr Andrii Kostin, Chair of the Committee on Legal Policy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, stressed the impact of the Project’s cooperation with the legislative branch: “Our cooperation shows great respect for the positions and decisions made, and most importantly, the support of ideas for addressing the complex chllenges facing us. The Council of Europe always offers a wide platform for discussion and invites experts to provide a range of views and suggestions".

Mr Ivan Lishchyna, Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine, Government Agent before the European Court of Human Rights noted the effectiveness of cooperation between the Government and the Project: "The Council of Europe Office in Ukraine is, without exaggeration, the main partner among international organizations in resolving the issue of execution of ECtHR judgments. One of the main achievements is the adoption of the National Strategy for addressing the problem of non-execution of judgments, when debtors are a state body or state enterprise, institution, organisation, for the period up to 2022 and the Plan for its implementation".

During the presentation on the Project activities within its implementation period reported that the Project organised 35 events, engaged over 3100 participants, prepared 31 expert documents involving 10 international and 14 national experts, published 9 publications and 3 sociological studies.

In addition, in the context of the main components of the Project, the participants were addressed by the Mr Ruslan Sydorovych, national consultant of the Project, Mr Andrii Bychenko, Head of Sociological Research Department of the Ukrainian Centre for Economic and Political Studies named after Oleksandr Razumkov and Mr Adis Hodzic, international consultant of the Project.

Mr Pavlo Pushkar, Head of Division, Department for Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights of the Council of Europe told about Project’s contribution to the agenda of execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights concerning Ukraine and the right to a fair trial. He noted: ‘Projects of cooperation are limited in their activities. They cannot perform the functions of the state instead of state. Therefore, it is extremely important to take all the developed material without delay and take measures for its implementation. Without ensuring the execution of judgments against the state, it is impossible to ensure the stability, stability and independence of the legal system".

After the presentation, the project partners evaluated the cooperation and shared comments about the work done. Among other things, Mykola Onishchuk, Rector of the National School of Judges of Ukraine expressed the importance and success of the joint work: "I would like to thank the Council of Europe for its systematic, long-term and extremely fruitful cooperation, despite the fact that what has been analyzed and recommended is not being implemented so quickly. But the one who moves will master the road”.