Supreme Court judges visit EU Court of Justice in preparation for Ukraine's accession to the EU

The delegation, which included Mykola Mazur, judge of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court, Albert Yezerov, judge of the Administrative Cassation Court of the Supreme Court, Volodymyr Pohrebniak, judge of the Commercial Cassation Court of the Supreme Court, Halyna Kret, judge of the Criminal Cassation Court of the Supreme Court, and Andrii Hrushytskyi, judge of the Civil Cassation Court of the Supreme Court, visited the EU Court of Justice in Luxembourg to promote European integration processes in the field of justice, establish contacts and deepen knowledge of the work of EU institutions.

The visit sought to improve the understanding and implementation of European standards, clarify the role of the EU Court of Justice, especially in the interpretation and application of Articles 2 and 19 of the Statute of the EU Court of Justice. The agenda also included a discussion of the Court's case law on the independence, impartiality and integrity of the judiciary and the Court's approach to transforming legal education in the context of EU law for both students and lawyers.

As part of the visit, the Supreme Court judges met with President of the EU Court of Justice Koen Lenaerts and President of Chamber Irmantas Jarukaitis. Maciej Szpunar, the First Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the EU, gave a presentation on the role of the Advocate General to the Ukrainian delegation. The Deputy Registrar of the Court , Marc-André Gaudissart, delivered a report on ‘Special clarifications on accelerated procedures and preliminary rulings’. Judge of the General Court Peteris Zilgalvis gave a presentation on the topic ‘The Judge in the General Court’. The Head of the Unit Natasha Rosemary and the Administrator of the Research and Documentation Directorate Ms L. Kolonna spoke on the topic ‘Research tools of the Research and Documentation Directorate’, and the Deputy Registrar of the General Court Registry Thomas Henze reported on the procedures in the General Court, focusing on restraining orders.

The Supreme Court judges also took part in a briefing on one of the cases heard by the Court of Justice and attended the hearing as guests.

In addition, they shared with their colleagues their experience of hearing cases of various categories by the Supreme Court and spoke about the challenges to Ukraine's judicial system caused by the war.

The visit was organised by the EU Pravo-Justice project, one of the priorities of which is to prepare the judiciary for participation in the EU accession negotiations.