SC President commends Council of Europe's leadership in the process of establishing special international tribunal and mechanism of compensation for damages caused by war

No war crime committed by Russian troops in Ukraine should go unpunished. Today, all criminal proceedings for such crimes are considered in national courts, but in order to bring the top military and political leadership of the aggressor state to justice, a special international tribunal must be established, and Ukraine welcomes the Council of Europe's determination and leadership in this process. 

This was stated by Stanislav Kravchenko, President of the Supreme Court, during a working meeting with Frédéric Dolt, Head of the Department for the Implementation of Human Rights, Justice and Legal Cooperation Standards of the Council of Europe's Directorate General for Human Rights and the Rule of Law, and representatives of Council of Europe projects in Ukraine.

The President of the Supreme Court also noted the importance of the opening by the Council of Europe of the office of the Register of Damage for Ukraine in Kyiv and expressed his gratitude to the Council of Europe for the efforts made to create this Register.

In addition, Stanislav Kravchenko thanked the Council of Europe for its long-term partnership, in particular in the framework of the projects "Support to the functioning of justice in the war and post-war context in Ukraine", "Strengthening social protection in Ukraine", "Support to democratic post-war elections in Ukraine" and "Fostering human rights in the criminal justice system in Ukraine", as well as for the development and adoption of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine "Resilience, Recovery and Rebuilding" for 2023-2026.

Frédéric Dolt expressed the Council of Europe's unwavering support for Ukraine and assured that the Council of Europe will continue to provide the necessary expert and analytical assistance to our country, in particular to the judiciary.

Frédéric Dolt also stressed that the Supreme Court is a key institutional partner of the Council of Europe in the process of implementing ECHR judgments. In this regard, he noted that the Council of Europe is ready to provide Ukraine with expert assistance in the development of new effective legal mechanisms aimed at eliminating such a systemic problem as the excessive duration of proceedings, which the ECHR often points out in its judgments in cases against Ukraine.

Among the priority areas for further cooperation between the SC and the CoE, Frédéric Dolt highlighted the translation of the ECHR Knowledge Sharing Platform, which provides users with convenient access to up-to-date information on the Court's case law, into Ukrainian.

The meeting was also attended by Iryna Kushnir, Project Manager of the CoE Project "Support to the functioning of justice in the war and post-war context in Ukraine", Alisa Petukhova, Project Manager of the CoE Project "Fostering human rights in the criminal justice system in Ukraine", Nataliia Okhotnikova, National Coordinator of the CoE Project "Strengthening judicial and non-judicial remedies for the human rights protection of the war-affected people in Ukraine", and Lina Hubar, Head of the Division for International Cooperation of the Supreme Court.