On February 12, 2020 the Steering Committee Meeting of the Council of Europe project «Further support for the execution by Ukraine of judgments in respect of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights», funded by the Human Rights Trust Fund and implemented by the Justice and Legal Co-operation Department of the Council of Europe, took place.

Online event was attended by the representatives of public authorities, civil society organisations and the Council of Europe.

«This event is extremely important in the context of the Project implementation and evaluation of what has been done. There is a great opportunity among national partners to focus on the results achieved in cooperation, as well as to discuss priority areas that will be covered and implemented with the support of the Project in close cooperation with the legislative, executive and judicial branches», said in her welcoming speech Olena Lytvynenko, Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine.

The main objectives of the event was to inform about the results of the project «Further support for the execution by Ukraine of judgments in respect of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights» and to discuss plans and further cooperation activities between the Project and its partners until June 2021.

«It is important that the Project's activities meet the needs of the country, so this event will provide an opportunity to hear views on the realization and implementation and suggestions for further work of the Project», said Mr Andrii Kavakin, Project Coordinator of Justice and Legal Cooperation Department af the Council of Europe.

During the presentation on the activities in 2020, Senior Project Officer Marta Basystiuk, reported that the Project organised 24 events, engaged over 2500 participants and conducted 18 expert documents following the requests from national authorities.

She also informed on the planned activities in 2021 in the context of the main Project’s components, namely:

• Non-execution of judgments;
• Excessive length of judicial proceedings;
• Ensuring judicial independence and access to justice;
• Building effective procedures on interaction with the EctHR.

«This project is extremely important with regard to execution of the European Court of Human Rights judgments as well as observance of Ukraine’s obligations to the Council of Europe. I would like to point out that the Project is a platform for communication not only with the Council of Europe, but also with the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, monitoring bodies of the Council of Europe and units setting standards for the Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights», commented Mr Pavlo Pushkar, Head of Division at the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the ECtHR (Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law of the Council of Europe).

After the presentation, the project partners evaluated the cooperation in 2020 and shared comments on the priorities of work for 2021. The participants of the event were addressed by: Mr Ivan Lishchyna, Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine – Agent before the European Court of Human Rights, Mr Andrii Kostin, Chair of the Committee on Legal Policy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Ms Lina Hubar, Head of the Division of International and Legal Cooperation of the Supreme Court, Ms Tetyana Pustovoytova, Head of the International Cooperation Department of the National School of Judges of Ukraine, Ms Olena Ignatchenko, Head of the Department of Analytical work and International Cooperation of the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine, Mr Vladyslav Gurtenko, Head of the Division of International Cooperation of the High Council of Justice, Ms Olga Lopushanska, Deputy Executive Director for Government Relations, All Ukrainian non-governmental organisation «Ukrainian Bar Association», Mr Oleksandr Drozdov, Chairman of the Committee of the National Association of Advocates of Ukraine on Free Legal Aid.