The President of the Supreme Court held a meeting with representatives of the High Council for the Judiciary of the French Republic dedicated to building effective partnership in the field of justice

Ukraine is currently in a unique situation. In the context of Russia’s full-scale war against our state, we continue our efforts to carry out effective reforms in the field of justice, in particular to improve the system of disciplinary liability of judges and the procedure for their appointment, in order to find a balance between the proper performance of judicial duties and the preservation of judicial independence.

National courts also understand that despite the challenges of war and the emergence of new categories of cases, including those related to wartime, military crimes, and crimes against the foundations of national security, their decisions must remain lawful, fair, and consistent with the rule of law. In all these processes, it is important for us to understand that we are not alone on this path and to coordinate our actions with our European partners.

This was emphasized by the President of the Supreme Court, Stanislav Kravchenko, during the visit of representatives of the High Council for the Judiciary of the French Republic to the Supreme Court.

Representatives of the High Council for the Judiciary of France, Jean-Baptiste Haquet and Laurent Fekkar, assured that their visit demonstrates the Council’s support for Ukraine and its judicial system, which continues to operate under extremely difficult conditions. They emphasized their readiness to share France’s experience in ensuring an adequate level of judicial independence in practice, which is one of the primary functions of the High Council for the Judiciary of the French Republic, and to fully support Ukraine’s European integration initiatives.

Also during the meeting, Brian O'Moore, a member of the Irish Judicial Council and a member of the Executive Committee of the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary, expressing solidarity with the Ukrainian judiciary, praised the fact that Ukraine has observer status with the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary (in June 2023, the Network granted this status to the High Council of Justice).

The participants also discussed other issues related to the functioning of the judiciary, such as the procedures for interaction between courts and the executive and legislative branches, mechanisms for initiating constitutional review of certain legislative provisions, and outlined the next steps for the effective implementation of negotiation Chapter 23 “Judiciary and Fundamental Rights”.

The meeting was also attended by François Cottel, Political Counsellor at the Embassy of the French Republic in Ukraine, representatives of the EU project “Pravo-Justice” — Volodymyr Chaban, Olha Sribniak, Anna Ostapko, and Simona Tevolde; Supreme Court judge of the Administrative Cassation Court Andrii Zhuk; and Head of the Division for International Cooperation of the Supreme Court Lina Hubar.