On December 7, 2020 the online Round Table on assessing  the Monitoring and Evaluation Report on the functionality of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Human Rights mechanism was held with the support of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law (Justice Sector Reform Division).

The event was organised in the framework of the project ‘Further support for the execution by Ukraine of judgments in respect of Art.6 of the European Convention on Human Rights’ funded by the Human Rights Trust Fund and implemented by the Justice and Legal Co-operation Department of the Council of Europe.

It was attended by the members of Ukrainian Parliament, representatives of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Council of Europe experts, parliamentarians from other member states of the Council of Europe. More than 40 participants joined the online discussion in total.

The main objectives of the event were as follows:

• Discussion of the mechanisms and the new working methods of the Verkhovna Rada to oversee the implementation of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) judgments in Ukraine;
• Discussion of the Necessary Reform of the Execution Mechanism.

«It is an extremely important event in terms of identifying ways to remedy the situation with implementation of ECtHR decisions in Ukraine and the implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights in general», said 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) and event moderator.

During the round table participants have also discussed content and recommendations of the Monitoring and Evaluation Report on the functionality of the Sub-Committee on the execution of ECtHR judgments and Alternative Dispute Resolution of the Committee on Legal Policy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

«Having read the report closely I feel triggered to focus on two issues that did strike me. My first point in focus concerns the status of the European Convention on Human Rights under Ukrainian law and the role of the Verkhovna Rada. My second point relates to the financial aspects for Ukraine of the execution of judgements of the EctHR» commented the Report Mr Mart van de Ven, Former member of the Committee on Legal and Human Rights of the PACE, Former Senator of the Netherlands.

Overall, the participants addressed legislative challenges faced by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, focusing on the capacity building for the specialized Sub-Committee in the oversight of the execution of the ECtHR judgments. Moreover, the participants gained knowledge about the work of other countries’ Parliaments and discussed the ways for improving the human rights approach through a better application of the Council of Europe standards.

On December 11, 2020 above mentioned Round Table was followed by the Online Conference «Institutional cooperation for execution of the ECHR judgments in Ukraine» organised within the project «Further support for the execution by Ukraine of judgments in respect of Art.6 of the European Convention on Human Rights».

This event was attended by more than 70 participants from Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, Supreme Court, civil society organisations as well as by the Council of Europe expert team, representatives from the Parliaments of other member states of the Council of Europe.

The aim of this online event was to discuss the content and recommendations of the above mentioned Report in order to agree on the role of each institution and define a strategy on how to advance in the implementation of the ECHR judgments through institutional cooperation.

During the conferention lawyer and expert of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Mr Sergyi Zayets presented the above mentioned Report and Professor of Middlesex University (London) Dr Alice Donald focused on the recommendations of this Report.

Institutional cooperation for the implementation of the ECtHR judgments in Ukraine was in the focus of the discussion and it gathered the following speakers : Chairperson of the Sub-Committee on Execution of ECtHR Judgments and Alternative Dispute Resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Committee on Legal Policy Mr Roman Babii, Agent before the European Court of Human Rights, Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine Mr Ivan Lishchyna, Head of the Department of Analytical and Legal Work at the Supreme Court Mr Rasim Babanly and lawyer of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union Ms Olena Semiorkina.

Following the discussions of the mentioned online events, the Guidelines Report was prepared, which, among other things, lays down the main conclusions of the produced Monitoring and Evaluation Report.