Mechanisms for the protection of human and citizen’s rights and freedoms
were discussed in the Constitutional Court of Ukraine
On December 10, the International Human Rights Day, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine hosted an online seminar “Constitutional Justice: Current Issues in Theory and Practice”.
The scientific and practical event, attended by members of the Association of Judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, the management of the Secretariat of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and students of the Kyiv Minor Academy of Sciences, was organised by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine with support of the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine.
This year the participants of the seminar analysed, in particular, the place of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine in the state and society, as well as the effectiveness of the implementation of European human rights standards in the Ukrainian judiciary and administrative jurisprudence.
Acting Head of the Secretariat of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Larysa Biriuk delivered an introductory speech. Welcoming the participants of the seminar on International Human Rights Day, she stressed that on December 10, 1948, the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the first international instrument that testified to the equality of all people.
The speaker stressed that most countries of the world include the main provisions of the Declaration in their basic legislation and constitutions, its principles are the basis of many covenants, conventions and treaties on
human rights.
She focused on new views on the understanding of law, the formation of the law-based state, raising the level of legal awareness of citizens in view of the European integration processes in Ukrainian society, and stressed the important role of a lawyer. It is a lawyer who has to defend the interests of human being, society and the state, fight for justice, legality, law and order, said Larysa Biriuk.
The speaker focused on the institute of constitutional complaint as an important tool in the arsenal of legal remedies for the protection of human and citizen’s rights and freedoms, introduced into national legislation with amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine in 2016. According to the speaker, the application of this institute requires special knowledge and skills in the algorithm of drafting and filing constitutional complaints.
Concluding her speech, she stressed that the holding of joint professional seminars provides an opportunity to discuss problematic issues and analyse the existing positive achievements of the application of this institute.
In turn, the coordinator of the Kyiv Minor Academy of Sciences, Head of the Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences Tetiana Kot noted that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948 is an important international act enshrining fundamental human rights. Today everyone, having broad rights, can freely express their opinion, their vision, attitude and be involved in the events taking place in the world. She also stressed the importance of promoting the development of each individual, teaching progressive and creative thinking. Tetiana Kot sincerely thanked the Constitutional Court of Ukraine for cooperation and the opportunity to take part in the thematic seminar to gain special knowledge in constitutional proceedings.
Former Judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, Doctor of Legal Sciences, Professor, Full Member of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine Mykhailo Kostytskyi spoke about the philosophical, legal and methodological principles of constitutional justice. The academician focused on the historical aspects of the emergence, establishment and development of the concept of human rights since ancient times.
Vitalii Zaporozhets, Head of the Division of Preliminary Examination of Constitutional Complaints of the Secretariat of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine spoke about the importance of the institute of constitutional complaint as a national remedy for legal protection of human rights. The introduction of such an institute, the speaker said, is a necessary and progressive step to ensure the protection of human rights.
He stressed that Ukraine has a normative model of constitutional complaint, according to which only the law of Ukraine is subject to appeal, and if a decision on its unconstitutionality is delivered, a person has the opportunity to review a specific court decision in his case in exceptional circumstances. According to him, this can become an effective mechanism on the way to improve the legislation of Ukraine, bring it into line with the constitutional principles and guarantees.
Vitalii Zaporozhets also spoke about the subjects of appeal with a constitutional complaint, conditions and criteria of its admissibility, issuance of an interim order by the Court in exceptional cases, issues of which are most often addressed to the Court, and provided statistics on decisions on constitutional complaints.
Students of the Kyiv Minor Academy of Sciences Daria Voitiuk and Roman Dmytryshyn also took part in the discussion.
The participants of the online seminar and the audience of law students of the Kyiv Minor Academy of Sciences then discussed a wide range of issues related to the law enforcement practice of the Court in dealing with constitutional complaints and stressed the importance of joint activities.
