Judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine met with the representatives of the International Development Law Organisation

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Judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine met with the representatives of the International Development Law Organisation

 

 

On November 20, 2014 judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, Chairman of the Standing Commission of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine on International Relations Stanislav Shevchuk met with the representatives of the International Development Law Organisation William Paton and Margarita Milikh.

William Paton noted that the purpose of his visit was to study the possibility of implementation of programs and projects in the field of the rule of law in Ukraine. He also briefed the Ukrainian side about the activities of the International Law Development Organisation which. include assistance in the implementation of legal reforms, in particular constitutional ones, activities in the economic sphere and capacity building, including training of judges.

In view of the purpose of the visit to Ukraine, William Paton asked Stanislav Shevchuk’s opinion regarding the necessity for the constitutional reform in Ukraine. The judge noted that judicial reform is a key priority in the agenda of the President and the Parliament of Ukraine. In this context, the judge noted the necessity for Ukraine to get rid of the Soviet legacy – misunderstanding of the rule of law, too formalistic application of laws cut off from the real content of human rights, the rule of law, and to seek changes in the mentality of judges.

As regards the constitutional reform, Stanislav Shevchuk outlined the main directions on which the Parliament is working now. The first direction includes amendments of the Constitution of Ukraine in the part that concerns judicial reform –ensuring independence of the judiciary, abolishing of the probation period for judges, improvement of the formation of the High Council of Justice and others. According to the judge, the Venice Commission gave positive assessment for the developments in this area. The second direction for the constitutional changes is decentralisation of power.

During the meeting the role of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine in the process of amending the Constitution of Ukraine, interaction between the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and Supreme Court of Ukraine, as well as the relationship between national judicial bodies and the European Court of Human Rights, challenges to legal reform from the economic point of view, problems of transparency in judiciary and combating corruption, the role of prosecutor’s offices in a democratic legal state were discussed.

The parties agreed that one of the essential components of successful reforms of the judiciary is public trust in judges, their personal responsibility and impartiality. In this context, William Paton shared his experience of the legal reform which is being implemented in China, where he has been working recently, noting that China is carrying out probably the biggest legal reform in the modern history.

At the end of the meeting William Paton thanked Stanislav Shevchuk for an interesting discussion and noted that the results of the visit would determine the strategy and mission of the International Development Law Organisation in Ukraine, and a detailed plan for the implementation of relevant projects in our country would be developed.

The interlocutors thanked each other for a fruitful meeting and expressed hopes for further cooperation between the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and the International Development Law Organisation in the future.