The current state of ECHR judgments execution and measures for their implementation were discussed during the visit of representatives of the Ukrainian judiciary to the institutions of the Council of Europe

Despite the war, Ukraine continues to take measures to enforce the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights.

Recently, the Ukrainian delegation paid a working visit to Strasbourg (France). The delegation included Oleksandra Yanovska, Supreme Court Judge of the Criminal Cassation Court, Rasim Babanly, First Deputy Chief of Staff - Head of the Department for Analytical and Legal Work of the Supreme Court, representatives of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine and the High Council of Justice, and the Commissioner for the ECHR.

The purpose of the visit was to discuss measures aimed at enforcing the judgments in the group of cases "Oleksandr Volkov v. Ukraine", in particular in the context of the Law of Ukraine "On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine 'On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges' in connection with the Decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine of 18 February 2020 no. 2-р/2020 on ensuring the continuity of the administration of justice by the highest court in the judicial system of Ukraine", according to which the judges of the Supreme Court of Ukraine elected to office before the entry into force of the Law of Ukraine "On Amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine (on justice)" continue to serve as judges of the Supreme Court.

The Ukrainian delegation also met with Borys Tarasiuk, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the Council of Europe, who spoke about Ukraine's activities in the organisation. Borys Tarasiuk focused on the International Register of Damage Caused by the Aggression of the russian federation against Ukraine, established by the Council of Europe, and spoke about the steps being taken to ensure that this mechanism is effectively used to compensate for the damage caused by the russian federation.

The meeting with ECHR Judge Mykola Gnatovskyy from Ukraine and representatives of the ECHR Secretariat was devoted to discussing the relevant aspects of ECHR case law on the disciplinary liability of judges.

The visit also included a working meeting between representatives of the judiciary and the government with a representative of the Venice Commission, Taras Pashuk, who spoke about the Commission's current work on judicial independence and standards in this area and the inadmissibility of their violation.

Milan Nikolic, a representative of the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ), informed the Ukrainian delegation about the tools developed by the CEPEJ to deal with the backlog of cases in the courts and drew attention to the measures to be taken to monitor and overcome the problem of excessive workload of judges.

The participants also discussed institutional mechanisms to overcome the problem of excessive length of court proceedings in the context of the Merit/Naumenko v. Ukraine case.

The discussion identified further steps necessary for the development of Council of Europe standards in the field of justice in Ukraine. In particular, the discussion focused on disciplinary practice, the development of judicial careers and the current competitive procedures for the selection of judges, as well as measures to address the problem of excessive length of court proceedings.