On 9-10 December 2019, a two-day high-level regional international conference “Protection of Human Rights through Judicial Education: Best Practices and Improvement of Standards” took place. The National School of Judges of Ukraine has initiated the Conference in cooperation with the Supreme Court of Ukraine and support of the Council of Europe in the framework of the following structures:

• Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights;

• Project “Promoting social human rights as a key factor of sustainable democracy in Ukraine”;

• Project “Supporting the transparency, inclusiveness and integrity of electoral practice in Ukraine”;

• Project “Internal displacement in Ukraine: building solutions”;

• Project “Supporting constitutional and legal reforms, constitutional justice and assisting the Verkhovna Rada in conducting reforms aimed at enhancing its efficiency”;

• Project “European Union and Council of Europe working together to support freedom of media in Ukraine”.

The Conference included five sessions with the focus on practical implementation of ideas and values of rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms, experience sharing and best practices of the judicial education.

Representatives of fifteen judicial schools from Eastern and Western Europe, representatives of the Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law, experts of the Council of Europe and its institutions, trainers for judges participated in the Conference.

The Council of Europe international expert Monika Smusz-Kulesza presented from the Project “Promoting social human rights as a key factor of sustainable democracy in Ukraine” sharing the experience of Poland regarding the implementation of the European Social Charter. Ms Smusz-Kulesza gave a few examples which reflected modern realia:

• The Constitutional Tribunal of Poland referred to the European Social Charter only in 43 judgments out of more than ten thousand and only in two cases the judgments were addressed to the decisions of the European Committee on social rights.

• Courts of general jurisdiction of Poland referred to the European Social Charter only in their 25 judgments out of about 300 thousand.

• The Court of Appeals included the provisions of the European Social Charter in 24 cases out of 70 thousand judgments.

The international expert made a few recommendations for Ukraine including mandatory lessons about the European Social Charter and introduction of a special subject for trainings for professional judges.  In addition, the draft 2019 Kyiv Recommendations on the Content and Methodology of the Judicial Trainings on the Implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights, case-law and execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights was presented. The draft will become a foundation for final recommendations of the Regional International Conference.