On the occasion of its completion the EU Project “Support to Justice Sector Reforms in Ukraine” held the final conference and the meeting of its Coordination Committee
On 23th November 2017, the final conference and the meeting of the Coordinating Committee of the EU Project “Support of Justice Sector Reforms in Ukraine” took place on the occasion of its completion.
The main partners from the Ukrainian judiciary, representatives of the legal community, as well as national and international experts took part in the discussion. The High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine was represented by the Chairman of the Commission Mr. Sergii Koziakov and the member of the Qualification Chamber of the HQCJ Mr. Taras Lukash.
In the course of discussion of the Project activities its results were summed up for the period from October 2013 to December 2017. The participants noted that the EU Project “Support to Justice Sector Reforms in Ukraine” made a unique contribution to the reform process, having assisted in the establishment of the Judicial Reform Council under the Presidential Administration in 2014 and having drafted the Ukraine Judiciary Development Strategy 2015-2020 and the Road Map that were signed by the President of Ukraine in 2015. Due to these steps a number of urgent developments took place including the competition to the Supreme Court, the selection of local court judges and the comprehensive qualification assessment of current judges.
Mr. Sergii Koziakov thanked the Project for the effective, high-quality and timely assistance provided to the Commission within the implementation of constitutional amendments in the field of justice which came into force on 30th September 2016. He also noted that “the EU Project assistance in the selection process to the Supreme Court and to other courts, as well as in psychological testing played a decisive role in the successful implementation of the ambitious plan to re-launch the judiciary.” The Chairman of the Commission looked forward to continue collaboration between the Commission and the EU.
In his turn, the head of the EU project “Support to Justice Sector Reforms in Ukraine” Mr. Dovydas Vitkauskas emphasized on the participation of international experts who worked together with the Project on the implementation of reforms in the Ukrainian judicial system. He also thanked to all partners for openness to cooperation and a real desire to reform the judicial system.
“We are proud of our achievements over the past few years. Never before such a conceptual and integrated approach was applied to the justice sector reform”, - said the European expert.
Reference:
The EU Project “Support to Justice Sector Reforms in Ukraine” provided its assistance during the period 2014-2017, actively promoting cooperation among key participants of the justice sector, in particular, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, representatives of the judiciary, the legal profession and civil society in order to assist in the formulation and implementation of a comprehensive program for reforming the justice sector in accordance with the principles of democracy, rule of law and the best European experience. The project was implemented by the Consortium of EU Member States, headed by Justice Cooperation Internationale, France.
