The SC President Took Part in the XII Annual Conference of Chief Justices of Central and Eastern Europe

The chief justices of 16 countries joined to participate in the event within the framework of cooperation with the Institute of the Central and Eastern European Law Initiative (CEELI Institute).

This year's conference was devoted, inter alia, to discussions on access to justice, the role and responsibilities of chief justices and the institution of mediation, judicial communication and interaction with the media, judicial ethics and disciplinary responsibility of judges and court staff.

Vsevolod Kniaziev had the honor to make the first report at the event, thanking the American and European colleagues, as well as international partners for the steady support of Ukraine and a clear position on condemning Russian aggression.

The support of member states and the CEELI Institute for denial for the representatives of the Supreme Court of Russia to participate in the conference was also crucial.

“We are not alone with this problem and have strong support of the world community: the USA, Canada, the European Union and other countries. We greatly appreciate the support of everyone who offered their help. War crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Russian military should not go unpunished,” - stressed the SC President.

During his speech, Vsevolod Kniaziev also informed the participants of the event about the situation in which the judicial system of Ukraine finds itself after the outbreak of a full-scale war, mentioning the premises of the courts which were damaged and destroyed as a result of Russian aggression, and also spoke about the course of the procedure for business trips of judges of local courts located in the territories where hostilities are taking place and whose territorial jurisdiction has been changed.

“In the conditions of the war, funding for all other lines, except the line on the provision of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, has been reduced tenfold. At the same time, the amount of damage inflicted on the judicial system currently reaches several tens of millions of dollars, and we do not have enough funds to restore the destroyed and looted courts,” the SC President said.

In addition, Vsevolod Kniaziev spoke about the recently introduced amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine aimed at determining the specifics of criminal proceedings under martial law. These changes consist in expanding the procedural capabilities of the pre-trial investigation bodies to carry out a number of urgent investigative actions and apply precautionary measures.

In order to unblock the work of the judiciary in the absence of a full-fledged High Council of Justice, the Parliament transferred some of the HCJ powers to the President of the Supreme Court, the State Judicial Administration and the Council of Judges of Ukraine. In addition, a draft law which would allow the courts to consider cases online is under discussion by the parliamentary committee.

The SC President also called on the European Community to support Ukraine in its European integration aspirations.

“Unfortunately, the process of European integration is taking place at a very tragic time. But the people of Ukraine are united by this goal and are united in their European choice,” Vsevolod Kniaziev stressed.

In their speeches, the chief justices of the supreme courts expressed their support and solidarity with Ukraine.

The CEELI Institute declared its readiness to provide expert support to the judges of Ukraine in matters of war crimes and other topical issues.

The Supreme Court is grateful to the USAID Justice for All Program, with the support of which the SC President participated in the conference.

Note. The conference annually brings together chief justices to share experiences, develop strategies and best practices to strengthen the integrity of judges, accountability, improve judicial governance and combat corruption in the courts.

The conferences were held by the supreme courts of the Czech Republic (2011), Albania (2012), Montenegro (2013), Georgia (2014), Croatia (2015), Serbia (2016), Hungary (2017), Lithuania (2018) and Slovakia (2019), Azerbaijan (2020) online.

Among the most notable achievements of the conferences is the signing in 2015 of the Statement of Principles of the Independence of the Judiciary (Brijuni Statement) following the work of the Conference in Croatia (the Brijuni islands). The Statement was signed by the leaders of 19 countries and has been translated into six languages. In 2022, the signatories of the Statement were joined by the Supreme Judicial Chamber of Moldova.