Protection of Human Rights in Wartime: SC President Discusses Current Issues of Cooperation with ECtHR President

As part of his working visit to Strasbourg, Supreme Court President Vsevolod Kniaziev held a working meeting with ECtHR President Síofra O'Leary and ECtHR judge in respect of Ukraine Mykola Hnatovskyi.

Vsevolod Kniaziev thanked the President of the ECtHR for the commitment to Ukraine and for participating in the international conference dedicated to the 5th anniversary of the Supreme Court, which was devoted to the implementation of the rule of law. He also expressed his gratitude for the long-awaited and particularly important decision of the ECtHR on the admissibility of the case of Ukraine and the Netherlands v. Russia, which was recently adopted.

Síofra O'Leary assured of their support and solidarity with the people of Ukraine. According to her, Europeans admire the way Ukraine is coping with all the challenges provoked by the war and moving forward despite everything. She pointed out that Ukraine was among the top five countries by the number of complaints to the ECtHR. More than 10 thousand complaints are pending before the Court, but this number is gradually decreasing, and this is good news. The President of the ECtHR said that Ukrainian judiciary appeared to be strong in the face of challenges, and currently the ECtHR was playing an even greater role for Ukraine than before.

Vsevolod Kniaziev spoke about the work of the Supreme Court concerning ECtHR judgments: the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court reviews the decisions of national courts if the ECtHR has found violations of conventional provisions by Ukraine, and the Supreme Court is also involved in the process of drafting amendments to legislation that must be updated to comply with the ECtHR judgments. It is good to hear, he said, that the number of complaints against Ukraine is decreasing, which means that the Supreme Court is on the right track.

In addition, the President of the Supreme Court highlighted the procedural problems of national legislation that arise when reviewing decisions of national courts after the ECtHR judgment, and also focused on current ECtHR cases that were currently widely discussed in the Supreme Court. Vsevolod Kniaziev assured that despite all the difficulties faced by the courts of Ukraine during the war, continued cooperation with the ECtHR was of utmost importance.

The President of the ECtHR assured that they would continue to do their job to facilitate the work of the Ukrainian judiciary in these difficult and dark times.

Photo courtesy of the European Court of Human Rights.