CoE Project

Continued Support to the Criminal Justice Reform in Ukraine

Kyiv, December 10, 2018 — Where does the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) stand in the system of Ukrainian legislation? What features does the European Convention have in the context of prosecutorial activities? How to comply with human rights standards in trials in absentia? These and other issues were discussed on December 5-7, 2018 in Kyiv during a three-day training course for prosecutors of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. More than 40 participants joined the training “Application of the European Convention on Human Rights in the prosecutorial activities” guided by national and international consultants of the Council of Europe.

The training agenda was developed with regard to the specific issues reflected in the case-law of ECtHR and relevant to prosecution activities. It aims at enhancement of implementation of the relevant standards into the day-to-day work of the prosecutors.

“Since the European Convention is a part of the national legislation of Ukraine, including criminal procedure legislation, it is easier for us to convince prosecutors that the application of provisions of the Convention is not a purely theoretical issue, but something that directly concerns their daily work”, — Eric Svanidze, international consultant of the Council of Europe, ex-prosecutor and former member of the Committee for the Prevention of Torture from Georgia, notes in terms of the event.

According to Ihor Ponochovnyi, Head of the Prosecutor’s Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the relevance of the topic of the event, first of all, is explained by the fact that the Ukrainian prosecution authorities still have little experience in applying provisions of the Convention and the case-law of ECtHR. The prosecutor additionally underlines: “Now we feel the lack of a unified approach to understanding the concepts and terms that we use in our work. However, having ratified the European Convention on Human Rights, Ukraine assumed a number of obligations to comply with generally accepted principles and norms of international law and international standards in the field of human rights and freedoms. It is the awareness of representatives of the law-enforcement and governmental structures that determine how and to what extent these obligations will be fulfilled.”

During the relevant thematic blocks, the international training consultants Jeremy McBride (Barrister from London and international consultant of the Council of Europe) and Eric Svanidze presented the provisions of the European Convention in the context of prosecutorial activities. To consolidate the theoretical material, participants were offered practical exercises by Nazar Kulchytskyi, a legal practitioner and a former Government Agent before the European Court of Human Rights.

“On the issue of the European Convention application, Ukraine has evolved from complete rejection to reconciliation. Now prosecutors and courts try to apply the case-law of the European Court. However, unfortunately, in most cases, the application is not entirely correct. Therefore, the importance of such practical exercises cannot be overestimated. They will help the prosecutors to use the Convention in their work and provide an understanding that the Convention is a corridor of opportunities, within the framework of which prosecutors should act, and not to see it as a reason for restricting someone’s rights”, — the consultant emphasized. He also assured that in the future understanding of the Convention requirements should reduce the number of violations by Ukraine in the context of the law enforcement activities.

The participants spent the last day of the training together with Martin Polaine, an international consultant of the Council of Europe and a British lawyer with 30 years of experience. He spoke about international standards of criminal proceedings in absentia, reviewed general principles and standards of international cooperation in criminal proceedings, and offered practical work with cases on international legal assistance in criminal matters.

“What I heard and saw today is very encouraging. I saw the movement in the right direction, towards international cooperation, with the application of all international norms and best practices, — the expert shared his impressions. — Of course, the implementation of criminal justice and law-enforcement authorities reform still has a lot of challenges but their overcoming is relevant not only for Ukraine but also for many countries of Europe and the world.”

The training participants asked questions, actively joined discussions during group work and noted in the end that such events develop the protection of human rights during the investigation of crimes, contribute to the search for innovative ways to solve working problems, positively affect the work of law-enforcement agencies and, as a result, the entire legal system of Ukraine.

The training is part of the on-going support provided by the Council of Europe to the Ukrainian prosecution authorities in the framework of the “Continued support to the criminal justice reform in Ukraine” Project, funded by the Danish Government.