UPIC: International Co-operation in Criminal Matters in Ukraine

The UPIC project started on 1 December 2005 and will last 36 months. The project is jointly funded by the European Commission and the Council of Europe.

International cooperation – both police and judicial cooperation – is a sine qua non in the fight against crime and in particular against organised and other forms of serious crime. This project will help Ukraine strengthen the legal basis for international co-operation (ratification and implementation of international treaties, improvement of national regulations), institutional capacities (training of and development of tools for key institutions responsible for international co-operation) as well as direct co-operation with counterpart institutions from other European countries.
 

Activities

Training Seminar on Recognition and Execution of Foreign Judgments, 18-19 June, Truskavets, Ukraine

The Training Seminar was organised for the practitioners from the Ministry of Justice, Office of the Prosecutor General and Judges involved in international co-operation in criminal matters. The objective of the Seminar was to provide an opportunity to the participants to enhance their knowledge in the following areas:
-Transfer of prisoners
-Conditionally sentenced or Released Offenders
-International Validity of Criminal Judgments
-Confiscation-execution of requests under the Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime.

Agenda: English | Ukrainian

International Conference on Economic Crime (Warsaw, Poland, 30 June - 1 July 2008)

Within the framework of the joint project of the Council of Europe and the European Commission on the International Co-operation in Criminal Matters in Ukraine (UPIC), with contribution of the joint project against Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing in Ukraine (MOLI-UA 2), the Council of Europe organised an International Conference on Economic Crime. Discussions focused in particular on money laundering and tax evasion.

Agenda: English | Ukrainian | French

Study Visit to Italy and Switzerland, 7-11 April 2008

The Italian and Swiss Authorities officially agreed to host the Ukrainian Delegation and the visit covered the institutions engaged in international co-operation in criminal matters located in Rome, Bern and Geneva. Ten participants from the Ministry of Justice, Office of the Prosecutor's General, Ministry of Interior and Supreme Court took part. They visited a number of institutions in both states which  provided them with a good understanding of how international co-operation functions in both jurisdictions, their experiences and the roles and responsibilities of different agencies involved in the process.

Training Seminar on Confiscation, Extradition and MLA
25-27 February 2008, Kyiv, Ukraine

Agenda
List of participants

Workshop on Co-operation manual
28 February 2008, Kyiv, Ukraine

Agenda
List of participants

Languages Training for MOJ and OPG officials
October 2007-June 2008
 Kyiv and regions, Ukraine

UPIC Project: International Conference on Extradition
5-6 November, Kyiv, Ukraine

Agenda: English | Ukrainian

 UPIC Project: Study Visit on Judicial Co-operation
United Kingdom, 1-5 October 2007

Agenda: English | Ukrainian

 Human Trafficking Legislative Workshop
[27 May 2007, Kyiv, Ukraine] Within the framework of the Project on International Co-operation in Criminal Matters in Ukraine - UPIC, a Human Trafficking Legislative Workshop took place in Kyiv, Ukraine on 24 May 2007. The Workshop was organised with the Ukrainian drafting committee to look into more detail at the CoE Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (CEST 197) and also at the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Woman and Children to the UN Convention on Translational Organized Crime. An objective of this workshop was to review and update the Draft law on trafficking in human beings for purposes of ratification by Ukraine of the CoE Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings.

 Human Rights and Judicial Co-operation Training Seminar
[29-31 May 2007, Kyiv, Ukraine] Within the framework of the Project on International Co-operation in Criminal Matters in Ukraine a Human Rights and Judicial Co-operation Training Seminar took place in Kyiv from 28 to 31 May 2007. The Training Seminar was organised for justice officials, prosecutors and judges and was divided into two parts. The first part was dedicated to Human Rights and focused on European Convention on Human Rights, with special accent on articles which can affect the judicial operation under the framework of relevant Council of Europe Conventions. The presentations included reference to relevant case law of the European Court of Human Rights. The second part was dedicated to Judicial Co-operation with focus on the following issues: confiscation, asset recovery and asset repatriation, expert witnesses, temporary transfer of prisoners, transfer of proceedings and extradition.

Agenda: English

 Conference on International Co-operation under the provisions of the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime
[6-7 February 2007, Kyiv, Ukraine] The objective of the Conference was to strengthen the capacity of Ukrainian authorities to implement the Convention on Cybercrime, in particular with regard to the provisions on international cooperation. It was expected that by the end of the Conference· Awareness would have been raised within the Ministry of Interior, State Security Service of Ukraine, Ministry of Justice, Office of the Prosecutor General and Courts on threats of Cybercrime in general and on specific provisions of the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime;
Ukrainian authorities had the knowledge to undertake legislative and technical measures allowing for effective international cooperation.

Agenda: English | Ukrainian
List of participants
Conclusions

 International Conference on the Implementation of the Second Additional Protocol to the European Convention on mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters

[7-8 December 2006, Kyiv, Ukraine] The aim of this conference was to support Member States’ efforts to ratify and implement the second additional protocol to the European Convention on mutual assistance in criminal matters (ETS 182), in particular by:

-Strengthening capacities of relevant institutions to make use of the opportunities offered by ETS 182, thus improving their capacities to react adequately to cross border crime
-Strengthening networking and experience exchange regarding the implementation of this protocol between officials responsible for international co-operation from participating countries.
This conference was an opportunity for relevant national experts to thoroughly examine the variety of means available under ETS 182 in order to improve co-operation in criminal matters. In addition, national experts discussed the issues at stake in the implementation of ETS 182 and the aspects to be considered in the process of review of their legislation and institutional capacities.

List of participants
Agenda: English | Ukrainian
 

Start Up Conference
Kyiv, 24 February 2006

The UPIC start up conference was attended by approximately 90 officials from the Ministry of Justice, Office of the Prosecutor General, Ministry of Interior, Intelligence Service and other interested parties.
 

The Conference was opened by Dmytro Kotliar, the Deputy Minister of Justice, Helene Chraye (European Commission) and Roman Chlapak (Council of Europe).
Official representatives from the Ministry of Justice, Office of the Prosecutor General and Ministry of Interior were also in attendance. The conference achieved its purpose, namely to make a wider audience aware of the project, its aims and objectives. More importantly, the conference set the basis for their co-operation to facilitate the project’s implementation over the next 3 years.

Ministry of Justice of Ukraine website