VIII Judicial Forum “TRIAS POLITICA: the Court in the System of Branches of Power” held in Kyiv
On October 3–04, 2019, the VIII Trial Forum “TRIAS POLITICA: The Court in the System of Branches of Power” was held in Kyiv with the participation of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine.
The event brought together judges, lawyers, high-ranking officials, international and national experts, scientists, public figures, journalists under one roof to discuss important issues and challenges to justice.
The Forum was attended by the Chairman of the Commission Mr. Sergii Koziakov, the Deputy Chairman of the Commission Mr. Stepan Gladii, members of the Commission Mr. Volodymyr Butenko and Mr. Oleksandr Drozdov.
The first day of the event was devoted to discussing the interaction of the branches of power in the process of norm-making, the international experience of constructing their constructive cooperation in the conditions of forming democracy, the implementation of decisions of national courts and the ECHR, as well as the binding nature of the Supreme Court legal positions and the responsibility of the authorities for their non-implementation.
Particular attention was paid to the results of the survey on the level of trust in the court, carried out by the Council of Europe jointly with the Oleksandr Razumkov Center for Economic and Political Studies, and the communication of the judiciary and society. In particular, according to a national poll, 55% of the population under the survey receive information about the activities of Ukrainian courts only from the media, another 22.8% receive information from the media and the experience of their relatives, acquaintances and friends, and only 1.3% receive information from their own experience.
During the second day of the forum, a panel discussion “Judicial Reform: Conclusions and Future Plans” was held.
Initially, the participants discussed judicial reform in Ukraine in 2014-2018 in the context of the Council of Europe standards. In particular, Prof. Dr. Lorena Bachmaier Winter (Spain), Complutense University of Madrid, the Council of Europe’s international expert, presented an assessment of the 2014-2018 judicial reform in Ukraine and its compliance with Council of Europe standards and recommendations. As previously reported, the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine had published on its official website the relevant consolidated summary, supplemented by four detailed reports prepared by the Council of Europe’s international experts.
Prof. Dr. Lorena Bachmaier Winter praised the legislative improvements in the field of justice in Ukraine over the past five years, and stressed the need to ensure legal stability and legal certainty in the functioning of the justice sector.
The participants of the event also spoke about the expediency of further institutional changes in the judiciary in the context of the draft Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges” and some laws of Ukraine regarding the activity of judicial governance bodies”; the preliminary results of the Supreme Court’s two years work and the subsequent challenges which it faces; renewal of the HQCJU and the HCJ, filling judicial vacancies as a primary task of the HQCJU and the HCJ; topical issues of the first month of the High Anti-Corruption Court’s work.
The forum was attended by judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, the Supreme Court, the High Anti-Corruption Court, representatives of the High Council of Justice, the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine, the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine, the National School of Judges of Ukraine, the Council of Judges of Ukraine, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, judges and practicing attorneys, international experts, Council of Europe’s representatives, Members of Parliament of Ukraine, public figures and representatives Mass Media.
Also during the second day of the forum the participants discussed the issues of implementation of procedural legislation in Ukraine, court practice in disputes involving banks and businesses and the main vectors of anti-corruption policy.
The event was organized by the Ukrainian Bar Association in connection with the Council of Europe Support to the implementation of the judicial reform in Ukraine Project.
Reference:
The Support to the implementation of the judicial reform in Ukraine Project is being implemented through a financial contribution from the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and is a continuation of the work undertaken by the Council of Europe on the reform of the judicial system of Ukraine. The purpose of the Project is to further approximate the Ukrainian justice system to the Council of Europe standards and recommendations.
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