Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Stanislav Shevchuk met with the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine Vaidotas Verba
On March 23, 2018 Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Stanislav Shevchuk met with Ambassador, OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine Vaidotas Verba.
The meeting was also attended by OSCE PCU Senior Project Officer Jeff Erlich, OSCE PCU National Legal Advisor Oleksandr Vodiannykov and the management of the Secretariat of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.
The purpose of the meeting was to continue the exchange of information in the framework of cooperation and constructive dialogue between the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and the Office of the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine.
During the meeting, the parties discussed topical issues of cooperation between the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and the Office of the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine, in particular, within the framework of the project "Support to Reform of Constitutional Justice in Ukraine".
Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Stanislav Shevchuk noted that the history of relations between the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and the Office of the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine has been long and productive, and now its qualitatively new stage begins.
Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine stressed that his priority was the approval of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine as a European body for constitutional control. In his opinion, the main tasks facing this path are restoration of confidence in the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and improvement of the quality of the arguments of its decisions. He noted that the Constitutional Court of Ukraine in its decisions has shaped the principle of friendly attitude to international law. The Chairman also mentioned the Court’s decision on declaring unconstitutional the Law of Ukraine on the Principles of the State Language Policy.
OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine Vaidotas Verba stressed the importance and progressiveness of this decision, as the language issue is acute in many European countries. He expressed his readiness to assist the Constitutional Court of Ukraine in restoring public confidence in it. "The decisions of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine are extremely important, but it is more important, how people perceive them. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a dialogue with the public", added the spokesman.
Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine emphasised the formation of a qualitatively new approach to interaction with the public, the development of a communication strategy aimed at strengthening the independence of the Court and strengthening the authority of its decisions. "Decisions should be made without any pressure", stated Stanislav Shevchuk.
The speaker recalled that constitutional complaint institute had been introduced in Ukraine, which would become an effective tool for the protection of fundamental human and citizens’ rights and freedoms. From now on, a person may directly apply to the Constitutional Court of Ukraine if he or she considers that his or her constitutional right has been violated.
The interlocutors thanked each other for an informative meeting, expressed hope for further fruitful cooperation and agreed on the implementation of joint measures aimed at strengthening the institutional capacity of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.
