The Role of the European Convention on Human Rights Was Discussed During the Round Table on the Occasion of the 25th Anniversary of Its Implementation

"We have repeatedly emphasized the link between the Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and values that Ukraine defends in this war. Along with the protection of these values, a mechanism for bringing the perpetrators to justice is being sought to ensure the fundamental principle of inevitability of punishment. In this context, I would like to express my gratitude to the Council of Europe for its consistent position on the need to establish an international tribunal," said SC President Vsevolod Kniaziev during the round table "25 years of implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights: achievements and future challenges (judicial dimension)".

The President of the Supreme Court pointed out that the process of European integration was a challenge for all spheres of state activity, including the administration of justice. The Supreme Court is already taking measures that will accelerate the harmonization of the justice sector with the criteria to be met by the European Union member states. Thus, the Supreme Court has recently acquired the status of an observer in the Network of Presidents of the Supreme Judicial Courts of the EU member states and conducts an active dialogue with the supreme courts of these states.

"The European integration of the state is not so much a change in legislation as a change in the way of thinking, which can be achieved by bringing our way of thinking in line with the Convention and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights," - Vsevolod Kniaziev said.

According to the President of the Supreme Court, the mutual acceptance of the approaches of the ECHR and the Court of Justice of the European Union is becoming more and more widespread, more attention is being paid to the search for European consensus in certain legal issues. Certainly, there may be differences in some approaches, and not always the legal doctrines of different European states are fully consistent. However, such differences are not and cannot be of fundamental nature, and there is a complete consensus on fundamental issues.

"That is why the increasingly widespread application of the Convention, the ECHR case law, the adoption of individual and general measures to implement the judgments of this Court is not only the fulfillment of Ukraine's obligations under the Convention, but also confident steps towards European integration," the President of the Supreme Court stressed.

According to Vsevolod Kniaziev, this is facilitated, in particular, by strengthening the communication of the ECHR through the Superior Court Network and the Knowledge Sharing Platform.

Judge of the Criminal Cassation Court within the Supreme Court Arkadii Bushchenko noted that one of the significant changes in the national legal system, which took place under the influence of the Convention, was the adoption of the Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine in 2012. Its adoption was aimed, in particular, at eliminating the problems that became the grounds for applying to the European Court of Human Rights, so the Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine has largely incorporated the requirements of the Convention and the ECHR case law.

"The wordings of the Code make it unnecessary to refer to the ECHR case law in court decisions. Excessive citation of it complicates the understanding of the court decision rather than adds weight to the argumentation," - the judge remarked.

He also added that in case there is an ambiguous interpretation of the national law, judges should take into account the extent to which this or that understanding of the legislative norm would meet the requirements of the Convention. Therefore, the case law of the ECHR can be useful to justify a certain way of interpretation, as well as to form own standards in case of gaps in legislative regulation.

"The Convention has changed the ways judges think and is part of the legal community discourse, and the role of the ECHR is only strengthening in modern realities. The decision adopted by the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court on the petition for review of the decisions of national courts on the basis of the ECHR judgment in the case "Shabelnik v. Ukraine" represents a dialogue between the European Court and the highest court of Ukraine. This is a certain discussion on some aspects of the application of the Convention, which can be considered a significant progress. This case allows us to assert that the Ukrainian legal system and the judicial community have grown significantly in terms of understanding the Convention and its application", - said Arkadii Bushchenko.