President of the Supreme Court takes part in the joint meeting of the Network of Presidents of the Supreme Judicial Courts of the European Union and the EU Court of Justice

President of the EU Court of Justice Koen Lenaerts and President of the Supreme Court of Sweden, President of the Network of Presidents of the Supreme Judicial Courts of the EU Anders Eka welcomed the participants of the event.

The first session of the meeting was devoted to discussing the independence of the judiciary in the European Union. Presentations were made by Donal O'Donnell, Chief Justice of Ireland, and Irmantas Jarukaitis, President of the Fourth Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union.

The control over judicial processing of personal data under the General Data Protection Regulation was discussed during the second session of the meeting, which was attended by President of the Supreme Court of the Netherlands Dineke de Groot, President of the Court of Justice of the EU Koen Lenaerts, General Court Judge Tamara Perishin and Deputy Registrar of the Court Marc-André Gaudissart.

During the working visit to Luxembourg, the President of the Supreme Court also met with the President of the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Stanislav Kravchenko briefed Koen Lenaerts on the work of the Ukrainian judiciary in the face of the challenges caused by the war, noting that despite all the difficulties, Ukraine has demonstrated resilience and commitment to European values and confidently continues its movement within the European integration process.

In addition, the SC President drew attention to the fact that the Supreme Court is actively working on the translation of the judgments of the EU Court of Justice and streamlining its case law reviews, which will contribute to a clearer understanding of European approaches to solving specific issues and their consistent implementation in national case law after Ukraine's accession to the EU. According to him, in the process of achieving compliance with the requirements of the European Union, the opportunity to learn from the experience and best practices of EU member states is very valuable for Ukraine.

In conclusion, Stanislav Kravchenko expressed his gratitude to the EU Court of Justice for the cooperation and support of the Supreme Court, including the organisation of training programmes for Supreme Court judges, and stressed that this partnership, which will have further fruitful development, is significant and promotes common values.

Koen Lenaerts noted that it is very important for the EU member states to have a constant dialogue and learn from each other. This is the basis of the work of the Network of Presidents of the Supreme Judicial Courts of the EU and its interaction with the Court of Justice of the European Union, in particular, through such joint events.

The President of the EU Court of Justice expressed his admiration for the fact that, despite the difficult situation in the country, the Ukrainian judicial system continues to work and make efforts to implement European standards of justice. According to him, Ukraine is already a part of the European family, as evidenced by its participation in joint events of the Network and the Court.

Koen Lenaerts also noted that European law is primarily based on national judicial systems, as it is national courts that apply the law of the European Union. This is extremely important for countries that are preparing to join the EU, as the uniform application of legislation is, among other things, a matter of trust. At the same time, it is extremely important for national judicial systems to remain independent.