President of the Supreme Court holds a working meeting with the Rapporteur of the PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights

The meeting was devoted to discussing issues related to the documentation of war crimes and bringing the aggressor state to justice in the framework of the preparation of the report ‘Aspects of the Russian Federation's Aggression against Ukraine in Legal and Human Rights Dimensions’.

President of the Supreme Court Stanislav Kravchenko informed the Rapporteur of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Eerik-Niiles Kross, about the organisation of the Ukrainian judicial system in the context of war, focusing on a set of problems that significantly complicate its functioning. The main ones are security risks, shortage of judicial personnel and excessive workload, as well as the need to optimise the court network and the need for systemic changes to legislation.

In addition, the participants discussed the practice of national courts in criminal proceedings on war crimes and in cases of compensation for damages caused by the war, as well as the establishment of a special international tribunal for the crime of Russian aggression against Ukraine.

The meeting was also attended by Deputy Head of the Secretariat of the PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights Guillem Cano Palomares, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine Maciej Janczak, Members of Parliament of Ukraine Mariia Mezentseva-Fedorenko and Larysa Bilozir, Deputy Secretary of the Permanent Delegation of the Department for Interparliamentary Relations of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ihor Sofin, Judge of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court Volodymyr Korol, Secretary of the Second Judicial Chamber of the Criminal Cassation Court of the Supreme Court Nataliia Bilyk, and First Deputy Chief of Staff - Head of the Department for Analytical and Legal Work of the Supreme Court Rasim Babanly.