On May 31, 2021 the final Meeting of the Coordination Group 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» (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.

Online event was attended by the representatives of all public authorities, civil society organisations and the Council of Europe.

“Let me express my deep gratitude to our key partners, namely the Supreme Court, the Office of the Government Agent before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) at the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, the Committee on Legal Policy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and its Subcommittee on Execution of Judgments of the ECtHR and Alternative Dispute Resolution, the High Council of Justice, as well as other judicial and executive agencies, non-governmental and international counterparts for their firm commitment to our joint efforts to improve the national system of the execution of the ECtHR judgments, ensure the protection of human rights and strengthen the rule of law in Ukraine. Once again, I would like to thank the HRTF for their financial contribution to this Project. And finally, I would like to thank the experts who have been involved in the Project for the invaluable input”, said in her welcoming speech Ms Lilit Daneghian-Bossler, Head of Justice Sector Reform Unit, Department for the implementation of Human Rights, Justice and Legal Cooperation Standards, Council of Europe.

The main objective of the event was to inform members of the Project Coordination Group about the results of the Project implementation (during 2020-2021) and the cooperation between the Project and its partners.

“We thank all those involved who are helping Ukraine to solve this rather difficult situation, which has historically been formed over several decades and which we now look forward to resolving. The Government and Parliament are working together to implement legislative changes”, mentioned Mr Andrii Kostin, Chair of the Committee on Legal Policy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

During the presentation on the Project activities within its implementation period, Senior Project Officer Marta Basystiuk, reported that the Project (as of the date of this event) organised 33 events, engaged over 2900 participants, prepared 31 expert documents, 9 publications and 3 sociological studies following the requests from national authorities.

She also informed on the key achievements in the context of the main Project’s components, namely non-execution of judgments; excessive length of judicial proceedings; ensuring judicial independence and access to justice; building effective procedures on interaction with the ECtHR.

Mr Pavlo Pushkar, Head of Division at the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the ECtHR (Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law of the Council of Europe) spoke about cooperation of the Project with the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the ECtHR: “It is very important that this huge problem is becoming solved step by step. That is why it is worth having a national strategy, which we talked about, and which will meet the requirements of the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights and the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. In this aspect, in the future it is necessary to continue work on improving the strategy and action plan, synchronization and consolidation of the general approach of the authorities concerning the issue of execution of decisions. On the part of the Council of Europe, taking into account these factors, we are ready to take part in the expertise and provide the necessary assistance to the authorities in order to make progress in this complex group of cases concerning Ukraine".

After the presentation, the project partners evaluated the cooperation and shared comments about the work done. The participants of the event were addressed by: Mr Ivan Lishchyna, Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine – Agent before the European Court of Human Rights, Mr Roman Babii, Chairperson of the Sub-Committee on Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and Alternative Dispute Resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Committee on Legal Policy, Ms Lina Hubar, Head of the Division of International and Legal Cooperation of the Supreme Court, Mr Rasim Babanly, Head of the Department of Analytical and Legal Work of the Supreme Court, Ms Tetyana Pustovoytova, Head of the International Cooperation Department of the National School of Judges of Ukraine, Mr Vladyslav Gurtenko, Head of the Division of International Cooperation of the High Council of Justice, Ms Olga Lopushanska, Deputy Executive Director for Government Relations, All Ukrainian non-governmental organisation «Ukrainian Bar Association», Mr Petro Stetsyuk, scientific consultant on legal issues of the Razumkov Center.

At the end of the meeting, all participants were invited to 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”, scheduled for June 11, 2021.