The President of the Supreme Court pays a working visit to Strasbourg

During his working visit to Strasbourg (France), the President of the Supreme Court, Stanislav Kravchenko, held several meetings with representatives of the Council of Europe institutions.

The President of the Supreme Court and Head of the Department of Implementation of Human Rights, Justice and Legal Co-operation Standards of the Directorate General for Human Rights and the Rule of Law of the Council of Europe Frédéric Dolt, Secretary of the Council of Europe’s European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) Simona Granata-Menghini, Head of the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights Clare Ovey discussed the urgent need to staff the judiciary as soon as possible, the problems of ensuring the administration of justice in times of war and the consideration of criminal proceedings for war crimes and new categories of war-related cases, as well as the execution of national court decisions.

Stanislav Kravchenko stressed that despite the current difficult conditions and the excessive workload caused by a large number of cases and a significant reduction in court staff, Ukrainian judges are well aware that judicial proceedings should be conducted in strict compliance with the guarantees provided by national legislation and in accordance with international standards.

The discussion also touched upon the need to establish a special international tribunal for the crime of Russian aggression against Ukraine and to introduce a mechanism of compensation for damage caused as a result of the aggressive war.

The President of the Supreme Court expressed his gratitude to the Council of Europe for its active assistance and reliable support to Ukraine and its judicial system, in particular during the full-scale war. 

Stanislav Kravchenko also thanked the representatives of the Venice Commission for their significant contribution to the development of Ukrainian legislation and ensuring the independence of the judiciary, including providing expert assessments of draft laws developed to implement judicial reform in Ukraine. 

The parties also discussed a wide range of issues related to the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine for 2023-2026 'Resilience, Recovery and Rebuilding', including the training of Ukrainian investigators, prosecutors and judges.

The meeting of the Supreme Court delegation with Mykola Hnatovskyy, Judge of the European Court of Human Rights in respect of Ukraine, and Anna Austin, Jurisconsult of the European Court of Human Rights, Tigran Karapetyan, Head of Division on Transversal Challenges and Multilateral Projects at the Department for the Implementation of Human Rights, Justice and Legal Co-operation Standards, focused on the creation of a joint ECHR and SC Knowledge Exchange Platform­ - an innovative online tool for searching relevant ECHR case law in key areas covered by the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. This platform provides users with convenient access to up-to-date information on the case law of the Court.

The President of the Supreme Court also met with the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the Council of Europe, Borys Tarasiuk, and representatives of the Cooperation Programme Department. The meeting was attended in particular by Lilja Gretarsdottir, Head of the Cooperation Programmes Division of the Department for the Implementation of Human Rights, Justice and Legal Co-operation Standards, Mariana Chicu, Head of the Unit on Ukraine, Moldova and Armenia of the Cooperation Programmes Division, Ganna Khristova, Project Manager, and Andrii Kavakin, Milica Djunic and Bozhena Malanchuk, Project Coordinators of the Unit.

Following the visit, a Memorandum of Cooperation was signed between the Supreme Court and the Council of Europe on the implementation of the project "Support to the functioning of justice in the war and post-war context in Ukraine". The document was signed by the President of the Supreme Court, Stanislav Kravchenko, and the Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, Erlend Falk.