Judges of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court Visited the Council of Europe Institutions

On 23–25 September judges of the Supreme Court had official visit to Strasbourg (France). Ukrainian delegation was represented by the President of the Supreme Court Valentyna Danishevska, judges Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court Nataliia Antoniuk, Yurii Vlasov, Mykhailo Hrytsiv, Zhanna Yelenina, Olena Kibenko, Oleksandr Prokopenko, Vitalii Urkevych, Oleksandra Yanovska and the Head of the Division for International and Legal Cooperation Lina Hubar.

The delegation met with representatives of the Council of Europe institutions, particularly, the European Court of Human Rights, the Venice Commission, the Council of Europe European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ), the Council of Europe Department for the Execution of the Judgments of the ECHR, the Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO), the Justice and Legal Co-operation Department of the Council of Europe, the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. The delegation also met with the Special Advisor of the Council of Europe Secretary General for Ukraine Regis Brillat.

The SC judges informed representatives of the Council of Europe institutions about the activity of the Supreme Court and paid special attention to reviewing judgments by the SC Grand Chamber due to violations of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms committed by national courts while consideration of relevant cases found by the ECHR. During the meetings, the SC judges and representatives of European institutions exchanged their opinions regarding the new judicial reform and its possible impact on the guarantees of judges’ independence and the progress of the execution of the ECHR judgments in Ukraine.

The SC representatives also attended the hearing of the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights; at this hearing the case of Muhammad and Muhammad v. Romania was considered.

This visit was organized by the Council of Europe Project “Supporting Ukraine in Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights” which is funded by the Human Rights Trust Fund.