The European Commission, in its 2023 Report, noted that Ukraine, despite the ongoing aggression by the Russian Federation, has made significant progress in several areas. Nevertheless, the same Report indicates that despite improvements in the legislative sphere, “only limited progress was made in the field of prevention of torture and ill-treatment in prisons and other forms of detention, where a cultural change within state authorities needs to materialize and further measures are required to prevent and ensure accountability for such acts” and that “...the ill-treatment investigation mechanism during the pre-trial and prison sentence stage suffers from a lack of efficiency”.

The issue of effectively investigating alleged cases of ill-treatment involving law enforcement agencies remains pertinent for Ukraine not only in the context of addressing systemic problems confirmed by European Court of Human Rights judgments but also in the context of the current challenges faced by the country due to the aggressive war waged by the Russian Federation against Ukraine.

The Council of Europe has been supporting Ukraine in this journey for many years now through cooperation projects, with key players in the field of torture investigation within law enforcement as beneficiaries – the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), the Office of the Prosecutor General, and the National Police of Ukraine (NPU).

On July 16-18, 2024, 30 representatives from these bodies participated in the Workshop on Effective Investigation of Ill-Treatment Cases. Together with Council of Europe experts and practitioners in this field, they addressed the following issues:

• The mechanism of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). ECHR standards and their importance during wartime and post-war periods.
• Key principles of interpreting the ECHR and how to apply them in practice.
• Catalog of Convention rights and their relevance to the work of the SBI, NPU, and prosecutors.
• Article 3 of the ECHR. Scope of application. Definition and differentiation of concepts. Essential components and guarantees under Article 3 of the ECHR (regarding law enforcement agencies, prisons, and state custody).
• Torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement and military personnel in the context of war. Relevant trends and new practices in cases of torture and ill-treatment. Challenges and obstacles in investigating war crimes involving torture, caused by the war.
• The duty to conduct effective investigations. Have the duties changed under wartime conditions? Criteria for effective investigation.
• Current national practice in investigating cases of ill-treatment.
• Joint responsibility for a fair trial under Article 6 of the ECHR.
• Model case "Kaharlyk": evidence, interagency cooperation, working with victims, court proceedings.
• Features of organising the mechanism for addressing violations of Article 3 in Ukraine. The role of the SBI, NPU, and prosecutors.
• How to work with ECtHR decisions? Implementing ECtHR judgments under Article 3 of the ECHR.
• Cooperation in the process of implementing the Custody Records system.
• The Istanbul Protocol. Documenting and reporting the results of medical examinations.

Participants actualized their knowledge on all these topics through practical work in mini groups and case-studies. The workshop also helped support another crucial element of effectiveness – the coordination of actions among the relevant players in the field of investigation.

The workshop was held within the framework of the Council of Europe projects “Strengthening Ukrainian Law Enforcement Agencies During War and Post-War Period” and “Fostering Human Rights in the Criminal Justice System in Ukraine” in cooperation with the State Bureau of Investigation, the Office of the Prosecutor General, the Department of Main Inspection and Human Rights Compliance of the National Police of Ukraine, and the Prosecutors’ Training Center of Ukraine.