The Commission’s members Vitalii Gatseliuk, Roman Kydysiuk and Halyna Shevchuk took part in the International Judicial Conference “The role of the judiciary in overcoming the challenges of war” held in Lviv on December 8 and 9, 2023.
The event was organized by the Supreme Court and the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) with the support of the Project “The guarantee of respect for human rights in the administration of justice, Phase II”, implemented by the OSCE Support Programme for Ukraine, and the Council of Europe Projects “Support to the functioning of justice in the war and post-war context in Ukraine” and “Strengthening judicial and non-judicial remedies for the human rights protection of the war-affected people in Ukraine”.
The representatives of Ukraine’s legislative, executive and judicial branches of power, together with international partners, gathered to discuss important topics related to the role of the judiciary during the war and post-war reconstruction. Participants addressed issues of criminal justice during the war, effective protection of civilian rights in wartime, and the procedure for compensation for damages caused by the war.
The enforcement of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights against Ukraine in the context of enforcing national court decisions in social disputes was also discussed at the conference.
At the event the participants covered the role of the legal education in overcoming challenges and enforcing democracy and the Rule of Law in Ukraine and reforms in the field of legal education.
The President of the Supreme Court Stanislav Kravchenko and the President of the Commercial Cassation Court Larysa Rohach, the member of the High Council of Justice Serhii Burlakov, rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University Taras Dobko, other UCU employees and a number of leading higher education institutions of Ukraine, as well as representatives of the legislative and executive authorities.
On the part of international organizations, the event was attended by the Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, Representative of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe on the coordination of cooperation programmes of the CoE Maciej Janczak, Head of the Division at the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights of the Directorate General of Human Rights and the Rule of Law of the Council of Europe Pavlo Pushkar, Head of the Rule of Law Department of the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine Oleksandr Vodiannikov, judge of the European Court of Human Rights Mykola Hnatovskyi, the Executive Director of the International Bar Association Mark Ellis, and other prominent legal experts.
The participants of the conference are convinced of the necessity and relevance of further work on strengthening the judicial system of Ukraine against the backdrop of important events taking place in the country and in the world.
