On 9 December 2020 the Committee hearing "Problems of the execution by Ukraine of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights" was held by the Committee on Legal Policy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. The event was organized with the support 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.
The event brought together more than 70 participants, including members and representatives of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, representatives of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, Supreme Court, High Council of Justice, State Judicial Administration of Ukraine, Council of Judges of Ukraine, Prosecutor’s General’s Office of Ukraine, representatives of civil society as well as international organizations, including experts and representatives of the Council of Europe.
The Committee hearing was aimed at discussing the status of the execution by Ukraine of certain judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, paying particular attention to the Yuriy Nikolayevich Ivanov/Burmych cases, as well as the requirements of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe for their implementation. What is more, this hearing was concluded with recommendations for coordinated actions on priorities, which require urgent reaction by the Ukrainian authorities.
In his opening statement, Mr Christophe Poirel, Director of Human Rights of the Directorate General Human Rights and Rule of Law of the Council of Europe, highlighted that “71% of the cases against Ukraine are on the high-level agenda of the Committee of Ministers, i.e. in the enhanced procedure of supervision. This indicates the extent of systemic and structural problems that have not been resolved for decades”. He also underlined that now is the moment for action and stronger involvement of national parliamentarians on the Human Rights issues and in ensuring better implementation of European Human Rights’ standards in the national legislative process, notably through the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).
Ms Lilit Daneghian-Bossler, Head of Justice Sector Reform Unit of the Council of Europe Justice and Legal Cooperation Department, stressed on the recommended actions for the full execution of the Yuriy Nikolayevich Ivanov/Burmych judgments that were formulated at the Third Annual Forum on the execution of national judgments in Ukraine. She noted that the issue of non-execution or delayed execution of judgments are of paramount importance and encouraged the Ukrainian authorities to take resolute action and adopt a comprehensive legislative package aligned with the requirements of the Council of Europe.
Mr Pavlo Pushkar, Head of Division of the Council of Europe Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, highlighted that without the execution of the ECtHR judgments, it would not be possible to enforce the rights under the European Convention on Human Rights and assure the rule of law and access to justice. Thus, the European Convention on Human Rights, based on the principle of subsidiarity, would remain inoperational. Amongst the variety of grave structural and systemic problems, Mr Pushkar highlighted the three high priority areas, namely: 1) non-execution of judicial decisions; 2) poor conditions of detention and lack of effective remedies; 3) the moratorium on the alienation of agricultural land.
ADDITIONAL WEB LINKS FOR THE EVENT:
http://kompravpol.rada.gov.ua/news/main_news/73588.html
https://supreme.court.gov.ua/supreme/pres-centr/news/1038030/
http://www.nsj.gov.ua/ua/news/komitetski-sluhannya-shodo-vikonannya-ukrainou-rishen-espl-/
