Back Protection of social rights in administrative proceedings: support of the Council of Europe

Protection of social rights in administrative proceedings: support of the Council of Europe

The Council of Europe projects "Promoting social human rights as a key factor of sustainable democracy in Ukraine" and "Internal Displacement in Ukraine: Building Solutions" joined the organisation of the III International Scientific and Practical Conference "Social Rights and their Protection by Administrative Court" initiated by The Cassation Administrative Court within the Supreme Court.

The online conference took place on September 4, 2020 and engaged more than 300 participants.

"The sphere of social rights protection is one of the most difficult subject under the competences of administrative courts. Therefore, such events are extremely important, as it is a great opportunity to discuss the practice that exists in Ukraine and the application of Council of Europe standards, in particular the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Social Charter, as well as the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and the practice of the European Committee of Social Rights", – said in her welcoming speech Olena Lytvynenko, Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine.

The event was attended by representatives of the Supreme Court of Ukraine, The Cassation Administrative Court within the Supreme Court, the Pension Fund of Ukraine, National School of Judges of Ukraine, international organisations, foreign courts, lawyers and others.

Alla Fedorova, national consultant of the Council of Europe, raised the issue of European standards for the protection of the social rights of internally displaced persons and focused on the problems of application of the revised European Social Charter by the courts of Ukraine: "Internally displaced persons are considered to be one of the most vulnerable groups, who often face problems in the realisation of social human rights. Unfortunately, so far no international legal agreement on internal displacement has been adopted. Therefore, the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement and the UN Principles on housing and property restitution for refugees and displaced persons remain universal documents. It is clear that we cannot ignore the European Social Charter, which is a document that explains in details the issues of social protection, which is extremely important in terms of refugees and internally displaced persons".

Moreover, Monika Smusz-Kulesza, international consultant of the Council of Europe, made a presentation "European Social Charter as an international instrument for the protection of social rights in administrative justice: best practices, challenges and opportunities": "No other document in Europe protects social rights as thoroughly as the European Social Charter does. This document, which is considered the European Social Constitution, guarantees the protection of everyday social human rights: the right to housing, the right to economic and social protection for vulnerable groups, such as older persons, persons with disabilities, children, migrants and internally displaced persons”.

Based on the results of the III International Scientific and Practical Conference, conference materials will be published with the support of the Council of Europe Project "Promoting social human rights as a key factor of sustainable democracy in Ukraine", as well as a publication on legal positions of the Supreme Court on the protection of social rights will be published with the support of the Council of Europe Project "Internal Displacement in Ukraine: Building Solutions".

You can find the report and video (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4) of the III International Scientific and Practical Conference "Social Rights and their Protection by the Administrative Court" by following the link.

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The Council of Europe Project "Internal Displacement in Ukraine: Building Solutions" is working closely with the Supreme Court to improve the judicial protection of the rights of internally displaced persons in line with Council of Europe standards. In cooperation with the Supreme Court, the Project supported the publication of the Ukrainian and English versions of the 2019 Supreme Court Report, which included, inter alia, the Supreme Court's practice on internally displaced persons.

Currently, with the support of the Project "Internal Displacement in Ukraine: Building Solutions", the 3rd edition of the Practical Guideline “National Judicial Practice on Internal Displacement: Application of Council of Europe Standards” has been finalized. Previous versions of this Guideline are actively used by the judiciary and the legal community of Ukraine.

About 80 judges successfully completed an 8-week distance course on internal displacement HELP, organized and conducted jointly by the Project the National School of Judges of Ukraine.

Council of Europe Project "Promoting social human rights as a key factor of sustainable democracy in Ukraine" is being implemented since 1 August, 2019 for two years in sphere of the development and protection of social human rights, namely persons with disabilities (article 15 of the European Social Charter (Charter), elderly persons (article 23 of the Charter), children and young persons (articles 7, 15 of the Charter).

The project aims to bring Ukrainian legislation and practice in line with European standards, improving reports on the implementation of the European Social Charter to the European Committee of Social Rights, and raising awareness of social rights in general and the European Social Charter system in particular of professional target groups (lawyers, social workers/civil servants, students, lawyers, judges) and public.

The latest conclusions of the European Committee of Social Rights on Ukraine are available here.

Kyiv, Ukraine 28 September 2020
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