On 29 October, the Department for the Execution of Judgments participated online in the X?I International Forum on the Case-Law of the European Court of Human Rights “Implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights in Ukraine” held in Kyiv. The Forum brought together the judiciary and representatives of other state bodies, academia, civil society as well as international experts.
One of its objectives was to discuss the main achievements and challenges in implementing the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights by Ukraine. The Department reported on recent positive developments. In particular, following the examination of the Balitskiy / Yaremenko groups in June 2024, the Committee of Ministers decided to continue supervising these groups under the standard procedure given the progress made in the implementation of safeguards on legal representation and admissibility of evidence (cf. recent achievements). In June 2024, the Committee of Ministers also closed its supervision of the Chanyev case (previously examined together with the Ignatov group) following the adoption of a law regulating pre-trial detention between the end of an investigation and the start of a trial and the measures taken for its implementation in practice.
As regards the current challenges, several unresolved structural problems were highlighted, such as:
- non-enforcement or delayed enforcement of domestic judicial decisions (Zhovner / Yuriy Nikolayevich Ivanov / Burmych and Others groups)
- excessive length of civil and criminal proceedings (Merit / Svetlana Naumenko groups)
- lack of effective investigations (Afanasyev / Kaverzin groups, Fedorchenko and Lozenko group, Shmorgunov and Others group, Khaylo group).
A separate panel discussion was devoted to the topic of integrity of the judiciary. The Department’s intervention focused on the issues of independence and impartiality of the judiciary (Oleksandr Volkov group), and independence of the public prosecution service (Lutsenko case).
The event was organised by the Supreme Court, together with the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv and the National School of Judges of Ukraine, in partnership with the OSCE Support Programme for Ukraine and the projects of the Council of Europe.
