On 14 – 22 February 2019, the Council of Europe Project "Supporting Ukraine in execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights" (the Project), which is funded by the Human Rights Trust Fund of the Council of Europe, organised and supported several events in Kyiv, Ukraine.

On 14 February 2019, the Project organised a round table “Progress of Ukraine in the execution of the group of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights Oleksandr Volkov v. Ukraine: ensuring independence and accountability of the judiciary”. The event was held with the participation of the Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine - Agent before the European Court of Human Rights, judges of the Supreme Court, members and representatives of the High Council of Justice, the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine, Administration of the President of Ukraine, other Ukrainian authorities and civil society organisations. During the round table, the participants discussed the progress of Ukraine in the execution of the group of ECtHR judgments in question, and exchanged their opinions on further steps that Ukraine should assume in order to address the outstanding measures. Mr Pavlo Pushkar, Head of the Division at the Department for the execution of ECtHR judgments, informed the participants on the priority measures awaited by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe for the execution of the group of judgments in question, and Mr Lilian Apostol, an international expert of the Council of Europe, delivered a presentation on standards and good practices of the Council of Europe in affording restitutio in integrum in cases concerning disciplinary liability of judges.

More information about the event in Ukrainian is available in Ukrainian at the link:  High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine

On 18 February 2019, the Project, jointly with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, organised a conference "The Ministry of Justice of Ukraine and International Partners – implementing changes together! Results of 2018”. During the conference, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, together with international technical assistance projects, reported on the results achieved in the justice sector reform in 2018, and discussed the priority areas of co-operation in 2019. The event was attended by representatives of Ukrainian authorities, international and civil society organisations, embassies, as well as mass-media. The Project actively supported the panel discussion dedicated to the non-enforcement of national judgments in Ukraine, which is a biggest problem of the Ukrainian justice sector as found by the ECtHR group of judgments Yuriy Nikolayevich Ivanov v. Ukraine and Burmych and others v. Ukraine.

On 20-22 February 2019, the Project organised an official visit of judges of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court to Strasbourg, France. The purpose of the visit was to further familiarise the judges with the functioning of key institutions of the Council of Europe, with a focus on the European Court of Human Rights (the ECtHR) and the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the ECtHR, and to discuss the role of the Supreme Court in the implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights along with the execution of judgments of the ECtHR. In the course of the visit, members of the delegation had meetings with judges and lawyers of the ECtHR, with representatives of the Justice and Legal Co-operation Department, Department for the execution of judgments of the ECtHR, of the Council of Europe European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission), Council of Europe European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ), Consultative Council of European Judges (CCJE) and other Council of Europe institutions.

More information about the event in Ukrainian is available in Ukrainian at the link: Supreme Court

22 February 2019, the Project, jointly with the Supreme Court, organised a round table “Enforcement of judgments of national courts: current issues and possible solutions”. The event was held with the participation of the President and judges of the Supreme Court, Deputy Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine, Head of Board of the Pension Fund of Ukraine, Deputies Minister of Justice of Ukraine, as well as representatives of other Ukrainian authorities and of the Association of Private Bailiffs of Ukraine. The round table aimed at discussing current issues with regard to enforcement of judgments of national courts, and at developing the relevant solutions. When opening the round table, Ms Olena Lytvynenko, Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, underlined that “the issue of non-enforcement of national judgments in Ukraine is of great importance to the Council of Europe. The rule of law, which is one of the pillars of the organisation, requires the timely enforcement of judicial decisions. Judicial independence and the right to a fair trial would become theoretic and illusory, if the final domestic judgments, or the judgments of the European Court are not enforced. That is why the Council of Europe considers that the enforcement of a court judgment is an integral part of the fundamental human right to a fair trial within a reasonable time, in accordance with Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights.”

More information about the event in Ukrainian is available at the link: Supreme Court