On December 20, Deputy Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Serhiy Holovaty and Judge Halyna Yurovska took part in the Gender Forum “Great Dialogue, the Idea of Constitutionalism and Women's Rights”.
The event was organised within the Project “Support to the Protection of Human Rights by Improving Access to Constitutional Justice”, implemented by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine in cooperation with the Constitutional Court of Ukraine with the support of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany. The co-organizers of the event are also the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany (Kyiv), the Government Commissioner for Gender Policy and the Association of Women Lawyers of Ukraine JurFem.
The forum brought together leading national and international gender experts, lawyers and scholars to discuss current issues related to the challenges and achievements in the field of gender equality in Ukraine, including in the context of constitutional jurisprudence.
Deputy Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Serhiy Holovaty delivered a welcoming speech at the opening of the forum. He noted that this event is equally important for lawyers and the public.
In his speech, the Deputy Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine stressed that the 1948 World Declaration of Human Rights said, “Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law”.
Serhiy Holovaty spoke about the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court in the aspect of gender issues.
In particular, as an example of protection of women's rights in jurisprudence, he cited the Decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine of June 4, 2019.
The Constitutional Court stated that “the establishment of a retirement age lower than for men for women employed in jobs that result in loss of professional capacity or fitness for retirement age, which gives the right to an old-age pension, is a special guarantee of labour protection and women's health.”
“Physiological differences in this case required special protection of women by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine. We have found that equality is not always good and just. The fact that women need special protection and being on equal terms is not always an achievement of equality, which is implied in the general sense,” said Serhiy Holovaty.
Judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Galyna Yurovska noted that gender equality is not about women and men, it is about power. She added that “this is exactly about how these issues are covered in laws”. According to her, the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine on human dignity is directly related to gender equality.
In her speech Galyna Yurovska shortly characterised specific indicators of the UN Gender Inequality Index, spoke about the changes in the gender composition of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine during 25 years providing examples of access of women to lawyer’s profession in the past and nowadays.
During today's event, participants shared experiences and discussed best international practices on gender equality in constitutional justice.
The program of the event is available at the link https://www.osce.org/uk/project-coord... Real-time broadcast of the forum is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=YGzR_VciL70&feature=youtu.be
