24 March, 2025
In the framework of the Project “Support to the Development of Constitutional Justice in Ukraine”, implemented within the framework of the joint programme of the European Union and the Council of Europe “Partnership for Good Governance”, Phase III, the delegation of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine paid a working visit to the European Court of Human Rights (Strasbourg) and the Court of Justice of the European Union (Luxembourg) from 18 to 20 March 2025.
The delegation was composed of of judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine (hereinafter, the “Court”) Oleksandr Petryshyn (head of the delegation), Viktor Gorodovenko, Oksana Hryshchuk, Viktor Kychun, Alla Oliinyk, Oleg Pervomayskiy, Serhiy Riznyk, Olga Sovhirya, and Galyna Yurovska.
The working visit aimed to:
- Facilitate the exchange of knowledge on methodologies, principles, and best practices employed by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), particularly in the areas of constitutional interpretation, protection of fundamental rights, and ensuring judicial independence.
- Facilitate the Constitutional Court of Ukraine’s application of EU legal principles and standards, contributing to Ukraine's compliance with EU acquis and integration efforts.
- Discuss contemporary issues such as the role of constitutional courts in times of crisis, protection of human rights during war, and the judiciary’s role in upholding the rule of law in democratic societies.
- Discuss the issues of execution of judgments of the domestic courts, constitutional courts and those of the European Court of Human Rights.
- Exchange on the international co-operation between the European Union, the Council of Europe with the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.
During the visit, the Ukrainian delegation held a number of important meetings at the Council of Europe dedicated to the protection of human rights, the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and the protection of social rights.
On 18 March 2025, representatives of the Court held a meeting with representatives of the Department for Implementation of Human Rights, Justice and Legal Co-operation.
The participants of the meeting, including Head of the Department for Implementation of Human Rights, Justice and Legal Co-operation Lilja Gretarsdottir, Deputy Head of the Cooperation Programmes Division Lilit Daneghian-Bossler, Head of the Unit on Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, the Cooperation Programmes Division Mariana Chicu, Project Coordinator Andrii Kavakin, and Project Manager of the Support to the Development of Constitutional Justice in Ukraine project Siuzanna Mnatsakanian, discussed mechanisms for strengthening constitutional justice and implementing European standards of justice.
The Head of the Court's delegation, Oleksandr Petryshyn, stressed that the assistance of the Council of Europe and the EU through project cooperation is an important factor in improving democratic processes in Ukraine and in constitutional justice in particular, which will also contribute to the adoption of European standards and speed up Ukraine's accession to the EU.
Social rights issues were discussed during a meeting with representatives of the European Committee of Social Rights.
The judges of the Court held a meeting with the President of the European Committee of Social Rights Aoife Nolan, Vice-President of the European Committee of Social Rights Tatiana Puiu, and members of the Committee. The participants stressed the exceptional need to ensure social rights, especially in the context of martial law. Following the meeting, the parties expressed their interest in deepening cooperation and exchanging experience and knowledge for the effective implementation of social rights.
During the meeting with the ECHR judge in respect of Ukraine Mykola Gnatovskyy, the parties discussed the ECHR case law on war crimes and the protection of the rights of victims of armed aggression.
The judges of the Court also held a meeting with Mamuka Longurashvili, a representative of the Venice Commission. The Ukrainian delegation paid attention to the issues of ensuring the rule of law and compliance of legislative changes with European standards and considered possible ways of further cooperation.
During the meeting, the delegation of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine expressed its gratitude to the Venice Commission for its important role in facilitating the work of the Advisory Group of Experts, persistent efforts of which ensure transparent and high-quality selection of judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, as well as for the operative provision of the amicus curiae brief on “Alternative (non-military) service” in Ukraine, which was adopted at the 142nd plenary session on 14-15 March 2025.
The execution of ECHR judgments was discussed during a meeting with the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. Representatives of the Court and the Head of the ECHR Judgments Enforcement Department Frédéric Dolt, Head of the Department's Division Pavlo Pushkar and lawyers of the Department Kyrylo Boichenyuk and Khrystyna Fedunyshyn considered the challenges facing Ukraine in the process of implementing ECHR judgments.
On 19 March, The Third Technical Project Committee meeting of the project PGG-III: “Support to Development of the Constitutional Justice in Ukraine” took place. The participants discussed the results of cooperation within the framework of the joint project “Support to the Development of Constitutional Justice in Ukraine”, which is being implemented within the framework of the joint EU-Council of Europe Programme ‘Partnership for Good Governance’, Phase III, which started in 2023 and will last until August this year.
The meeting was attended by Gianluca Esposito, Director General, Council of Europe Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law, Oleksandr Petryshyn, Head of the Court's delegation, Jānis Neimanis, Judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Latvia, and Toni Pavloski, Coordinator of the Council of Europe's Directorate for Programme Coordination. The meeting was moderated by Judge Viktor Gorodovenko and Head of the Department for Implementation of Human Rights, Justice and Legal Co-operation Lilja Gretarsdottir.
During the meeting, Siuzanna Mnatsakanian, Project Manager of “Support to the Development of Constitutional Justice in Ukraine” and Judge of the Court Oleg Pervomayskiy presented the achievements of the joint Project. Afterwards, the participants held a general discussion of the results. Rostyslav Izhevskyi and Makar Marchuk, representatives of the Court's Secretariat and members of the Project's Technical Committee, also joined the discussion.
During the event, the participants discussed and approved the work plan of the Project “Support to the Development of Constitutional Justice in Ukraine” for 2025. The participants of the discussion were the Project Coordinator of the Cooperation Programmes Division of the Department for the Implementation of Human Rights Standards, Justice and Legal Cooperation. Andrii Kavakin, Director-General for Human Rights and Rule of Law of the Council of Europe, Olga Sovhyria, Judge of the Court, and Lilit Daneghian-Bossler, Deputy Head of the Cooperation Programmes Division.
On 20 March 2025, a delegation of the Court's judges paid an official visit to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
The meeting was aimed at strengthening inter-institutional cooperation, exchanging experience and learning about the methodology of one of the most authoritative and prominent judicial bodies of the European Union.
The President of the Court of Justice of the European Union Koen Lenaerts, Judge Ineta Ziemele and Advocate General of the Court of Justice Laila Medina welcomed the Ukrainian delegation. They stressed the importance of dialogue and underlined the role of constitutional justice in ensuring the rule of law and protecting fundamental human rights.
As part of the visit, the judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine took part in a briefing on the case C-327/24, Lolach, and attended a hearing of the First Chamber of the Court, which allowed them to get acquainted with the decision-making procedure in the CJEU.
Another important meeting was with President of the Court of Justice of the European Union Koen Lenaerts. The discussion focused on judicial independence, methodology of interpreting constitutional norms and legal principles of the European Union, as well as strengthening legal guarantees in the context of Ukraine's European integration aspirations.
In addition, Ukrainian judges took part in a working session on the methodology, principles and best practices applied by the Court of Justice of the European Union in the field of constitutional interpretation, protection of fundamental rights and judicial independence.
The meeting was attended by CJEU Judge Ineta Ziemele, Advocate General of the Court of Justice Laila Medina, General Court Judges Inga Reine and Peteris Zilgalvis. The participants discussed the key hardships faced by constitutional courts in the context of modern challenges.
