IV International scientific and practical conference “Protection of electoral rights by administrative courts in Ukraine”* was held online on 1 – 2 July 2021 and attended by more than 100 participants, including representatives of the Ukrainian judiciary, as well as judges from Georgia, Republic of Moldova, Germany, Lithuania and Austria, representatives of international organisations, lawyers and representatives of academia. The event was aimed at discussing the specifics of mechanism for protection of voting rights of citizens and election dispute resolution, as well as to exchange European experiences and good practices on election dispute resolution. The participants of the conference have agreed to develop recommendations based on the results of the conference for improvement of electoral legislation, as well as practice of its application, in order to further ensure the protection of voting rights of Ukrainian citizens.

In the welcome remarks, Ms Valentyna Danishevska, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, stated: “When considering election related disputes, the courts guard the free will of citizens and protect their fundamental right to vote. According to the established positions of the European Court of Human Rights, the functioning of an effective system of protection of electoral rights in courts is the main guarantee of free and fair elections in the country.”

Mr Steen Nørlov, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, noted: “The Council of Europe provides its support to Ukrainian reforms, in particular, electoral reform, in order the European electoral standards and good practices are embedded in Ukrainian legislation and practice. This might include issues related to election management, election dispute resolution, regulation of political parties’ activities and financing, media coverage of elections, ensuring balanced political participation and representation of women and men, and many more. On behalf of the Council of Europe, I would like to reassure you that we stand ready to continue providing any further necessary support and assistance in improving electoral legislation and practice in Ukraine.”

The conference participants also addressed issues of the ECHR case-law on electoral matters. Dmytro Tretyakov, lawyer at the Registry of the European Court of Human Rights, presented the ECHR case-law on issues related to political parties’ formation, activities and restrictions on political parties’ activities in election and intra- election period. Iryna Kushnir, manager of the Council of Europe project “Support for judicial institutions and processes to strengthen access to justice in Ukraine”, made a contribution on the ECHR case-law on freedom of expression in light of the electoral process.

The discussion at the conference were held within the format of three sessions dedicated to the following topics:

• Session 1: Elections as a form of democracy: the substantive and legal aspect
• Session 2: Judicial protection of fundamental electoral rights of citizens
• Session 3: Peculiarities of proceedings related to the election process

During the discussion, specific focus was also made on the following issues:

• the effectiveness of the mechanism for election dispute resolution
• tools to ensure the sustainability and unity of judicial practice in the consideration of election disputes
• problematic issues of application of the Electoral Code of Ukraine
• national case-law on election disputes resolution during the 2020 local elections in Ukraine.

During the conference, the results of the Council of Europe research on “Review of the national court practice on election dispute resolution as regards the compliance with gender quota requirements during the 2020 local elections” was presented and discussed. The research is based on the analysis of 80 court cases and 139 judicial acts. The full text of the research will be published soon.

*The conference was organised by the Supreme Court in cooperation and with the support of Council of Europe projects "Supporting the transparency, inclusiveness and integrity of electoral practice in Ukraine" and “Supporting constitutional and legal reforms, constitutional justice and assisting the Verkhovna Rada in conducting reforms aimed at enhancing its efficiency”, as well as the OSCE Project Coordinator in Ukraine, German Foundation for International Legal Cooperation, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, National University of Ostroh Academy and National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine.

**Materials and video recordings of the international online conference “Protection of electoral rights by administrative courts in Ukraine” are available following the link: https://supreme.court.gov.ua/supreme/pokazniki-diyalnosti/konferencii/konferentsia_2021_06_30