Supreme Court Delegation Paid a Study Visit to the Supreme Court of Canada

Within the framework of a working visit to Ottawa (Canada), the delegation of the Supreme Court, at the invitation of the Chief Justice of Canada, Richard Wagner, visited the Supreme Court of Canada and met with the judges of the Court.

The Ukrainian delegation got acquainted with the work of the highest court in the judicial system of Canada, which is the last instance where decisions in civil, criminal or administrative cases can be appealed, as well as with the history of this judicial institution, which has been in operation since 1875.

The Supreme Court of Canada consists of 9 judges. They shared with Ukrainian colleagues their vision of fair justice, which is the key to increasing the level of citizens' trust, and also dwelled on the unity of case law and its evolution in view of social contexts.

The President of the Supreme Court Vsevolod Kniaziev told the Canadian judges about aspects of the administration of justice during the war, about new threats to judges and court staff that arose after the full-scale invasion, as well as about the restrictions on the constitutional rights and freedoms of people and citizens in the temporarily occupied territories.

The Canadian colleagues assured the representatives of the Supreme Court that they would continue to support the judiciary of Ukraine. And the representatives of the Ukrainian delegation thanked them for their help and cooperation in order to bring victory closer.

In addition, as part of the visit to Canada, the President of the Supreme Court Vsevolod Kniaziev together with the Chief Justice of Canada Richard Wagner spoke on the air of the two largest Canadian television channels, CBC and CTV, and also gave a press conference for local media.

Vsevolod Kniaziev thanked the government and citizens of Canada for comprehensive assistance provided to Ukraine. He emphasized that the full-scale war, caused by Russia's aggression, had been going on in Ukraine for eight months, and our country had become an outpost of the struggle for democratic values. We have to pay a high price for our ideals, for our European and Euro-Atlantic choice. Therefore, Ukraine needs the maximum support of democratic states, in particular Canada. The need is especially urgent in the military, economic and humanitarian spheres.

The SC President called for support of Ukraine's initiatives to freeze Russian assets and send them to compensate for the damage caused by Russia, as well as to create a special international tribunal to consider the crimes of aggression of the Russian Federation and bring the perpetrators to justice.

Vsevolod Kniaziev paid a special attention to the difficulties in the work of the Ukrainian judiciary and shared the stories of judges defending the Motherland with weapons in their hands, he also told about cases of tragic deaths of such judges.

The Chief Justice of Canada, Richard Wagner, declared the full support of Ukraine by the Canadian judiciary, solidarity with the Ukrainian people and expressed his admiration for the judges who continued to administer justice in the context of war.

During the working visit, the representatives of the Supreme Court met with the Ambassador of Ukraine to Canada Yuliia Kovaliv, as well as the Ambassador of Ukraine to the Republic of Poland Vasyl Zvarych. Vsevolod Kniaziev informed the ambassadors about the situation in the judiciary of Ukraine, as well as about the problems that Ukrainian judges had to solve during martial law on a daily basis.

The delegation included President of the Supreme Court Vsevolod Kniaziev, Judge of the Commercial Cassation Court within the Supreme Court, Deputy Chairman of the Competition Commission for the selection of candidates for the positions of members of the High Qualifications Commission of Judges of Ukraine Ivan Mishchenko and Head of the Division of International and Legal Cooperation of the Supreme Court Lina Hubar. The working visit takes place at the invitation of the International Organization for Judicial Training (IOJT) and the National Judicial Institute (NJI).