Supreme Court judges participated in a workshop on upholding the rule of law in times of war

Nataliia Marchuk, Supreme Court Judge in the Criminal Cassation Court and national consultant to the Council of Europe, served as a lecturer at the workshop for judges, lawyers, and academics titled “The Rule of Law, Criminal Justice, and the Context of War”. The event was organised by the Czech non-governmental non-profit organisation CEELI Institute together with the Council of Europe project “Fostering Human Rights in the Criminal Justice System in Ukraine – Phase II”.

Judges of the Supreme Court in the Civil Cassation Court, Hanna Kolomiets and Pavlo Parkhomenko, attended the event as participants.

The workshop, held on 17–19 December 2025 in Prague (Czech Republic), aimed to create a space for open and meaningful professional dialogue among representatives of the judicial and legal communities on complex legal issues arising in connection with the full-scale war. A total of 23 Ukrainian judges from various jurisdictions, as well as lawyers and academics, took part in the training.

Among the topics discussed during the workshop were:

• Examination and evaluation of evidence in wartime conditions;
• Ensuring standards of fair trial in accordance with the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms;
• The principle of the rule of law and the prohibition of retroactive application of criminal law;
• Protection against double jeopardy (ne bis in idem);
• Application of the legislation of the Russian Federation in the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

Nataliia Marchuk, along with Council of Europe national consultant, lawyer, and human rights advocate Serhii Zayets, acted as moderators of the workshop and delivered expert presentations on issues of criminal law and its interplay with the standards of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

As noted by the event organisers, holding such joint training sessions helps strengthen mutual understanding among key participants in criminal proceedings and supports the practical application of Council of Europe standards under martial law.

The event was organised as part of the project “Fostering Human Rights in the Criminal Justice System in Ukraine – Phase II”, which forms part of the Council of Europe’s Action Plan for Ukraine “Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction” for 2023–2026.