117 administrative judges from 30 Ukrainian administrative courts of appeal and district administrative courts participated in trainings on election dispute resolution which took place in Vinnytsia, Kyiv, Chernivtsi, Kramatorsk, Kharkiv, Dnipro and Odessa throughout February – March 2019. During these trainings, judges deepened their knowledge of electoral legislation and discussed national court practice on election related matters in light of the European electoral heritage and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights.
Throughout these trainings, the judges examined the practical aspects of application of the national electoral legislation by the judiciary considering international standards and principles of democratic elections. The participants also deliberated on recent court practice in election disputes which occurred during ongoing electoral process.
The trainings were designed on the basis of the training curriculum developed throughout 2018 under the auspices of the National School of Judges of Ukraine by a group of national judges, with expert and technical support of the Council of Europe. The “peer-to-peer” approach, whereas judges developed the training curriculum and trained their colleagues, was well perceived and highly appreciated by the participants of all the seven trainings.
During the final event in this series of trainings which took place in Odessa, the participants were welcomed by Mårten Ehnberg, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, who underlined the importance of the judiciary in ensuring human rights, democracy and rule of law during ongoing Presidential and upcoming Parliamentary elections in Ukraine.
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The trainings were organised with the support of the Council of Europe projects on “Supporting the transparency, inclusiveness and integrity of electoral practice in Ukraine” and “Supporting constitutional and legal reforms, constitutional justice and assisting the Verkhovna Rada in conducting reforms aimed at enhancing its efficiency”
