The President of the Supreme Court Discussed with the Representatives of the Council of Europe Further Ways of Cooperation and the Implementation of ECtHR Decisions

During a two-day visit to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, the President of the Supreme Court Valentyna Danishevska held a number of working meetings. Possible ways for the Supreme Court to cooperate with the Council of Europe were discussed with Lilja Gretarsdottir, the Head of Cooperation Programmes Division within the Directorate General for Human Rights and the Rule of Law of the Council of Europe.

Lilja Gretarsdottir noted that the basic principle for all projects under the auspices of the Council of Europe was not to harm, because the legal tradition and mentality of a country was an extremely delicate matter. She gave assurances of their readiness to support the reform process in Ukraine through further cooperation with the Council of Europe.

Valentyna Danishevska emphasized the important role of Council of Europe projects for Ukraine. After all, the activities of the projects make it possible to respond to the challenges that arise today. For example, last year, the Council of Europe project made it possible to assess the level of public confidence in the judiciary. Confidence is a category that is very often manipulated by other branches of government to justify the need for judicial reform.

The execution of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights by Ukraine were discussed by the President of the Supreme Court with the representatives of the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the ECtHR within the Directorate General for Human Rights and the Rule of Law of the Council of Europe. The meeting was attended by Clare Ovey, Head of the Department for the Execution of ECtHR Judgments, Pavlo Pushkar, Head of Division of the Department for the Execution of ECtHR Judgments, Viktor Nikitiuk, Deputy Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the Council of Europe, Lilit Daneghian, Deputy Head of the Division for Cooperation Programs within the Directorate General for Human Rights and the Rule of Law of the Council of Europe, Andriy Kavakin, Project Coordinator of the Division and Lina Hubar, Head of the Division of International and Legal Cooperation of the Supreme Court.

The participants of the meeting discussed the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights against Ukraine which concern judges of the Supreme Court of Ukraine, and possible ways to implement these decisions.

Valentyna Danishevska emphasized that the judges of the Supreme Court were involved in the activities on the execution of the judgments of the ECtHR, and amendments to the legislation were being prepared taking into account those decisions. In addition, the Supreme Court reviews and analyzes ECtHR judgments in cases concerning Ukraine. These reviews are sent to the courts of first and appellate instances. It is important that the judges are not only aware of this or that decision of the ECtHR, but also know how to apply the relevant practice.

Pavlo Pushkar thanked the Supreme Court for its cooperation and support of measures on the execution of the ECtHR judgments organized by the Council of Europe.