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Back Ensuring the uniformity of judicial practice in the light of legal views of the Supreme Court and standards of the Council of Europe was discussed on 20 November 2020

Ensuring the uniformity of judicial practice in the light of legal views of the Supreme Court and standards of the Council of Europe was discussed on 20 November 2020

On 20 November 2020, the online Conference “Ensuring the uniformity of judicial practice: legal views of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court and standards of the Council of Europe” took place in Ukraine. The event was co-organised by the Supreme Court, the National School of Judges of Ukraine, and two Council of Europe projects, namely “Further support for the execution by Ukraine of judgments in respect of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights” that is funded by the Human Rights Trust Fund and “Support to the implementation of the judicial reform in Ukraine”.

The Conference brought together over 550 participants, including judges and representatives of the Supreme Court, heads and judges of appellate and district courts, representatives of the National School of Judges of Ukraine, representatives of other judicial bodies, representatives of the legislative and executive branches of state power, representatives of international organizations, practicing lawyers, academia, as well as representatives and experts of the Council of Europe.

The Conference aimed to discuss the achievements and challenges of the judiciary in ensuring the uniform application of the law by the national courts. The focus of the event was also on examining the recommendations of the experts of the Council of Europe for improving access to justice in Ukraine and ensuring the right to an impartial trial, as well as determining the cases of significant interest in the context of the access to the court of cassation.

When opening the event, Ms Hanne Juncher, Head of Justice and Legal Cooperation Department of the Council of Europe, stressed that “the primary role of a supreme court to resolve contradictions in the case law. The supreme court must ensure uniformity of the case law so as to rectify inconsistencies and thus maintain public confidence in the judicial system”. Ms Olena Lytvynenko, Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, noted that “the topic of the discussion is of paramount importance to the Council of Europe as the equal and uniform application of the law ensures the generality of the law, equality before the law and legal certainty that are the fundamental aspects of the rule of law”.

Mr Pavlo Pushkar, Head of Division of the Department for the Execution of  Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights of the Council of Europe, delivered a presentation on the practice of the European Court of Human Rights as guidance for the formation of consistent and coherent case-law of the national courts and the influence of the process of implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights as well as the execution of judgments concerning Ukraine.

During the Conference, the international experts of the Council of Europe projects, namely Ms Lorena Bachmaier, Professor of Law at Complutense University (Madrid, Spain), and Ms Nina Betetto, President of the Consultative Council of European Judges and Judge of the Supreme Court of Slovenia, presented their analytical documents with conclusions and recommendations on topics related to the uniformity of judicial practice, which is in line with the Council of Europe standards.

The video from the Conference is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NCi-NwXPVM