On Thursday, April 11, 2024, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine held the first online lecture “The Federal Constitutional Court: History and the Present”. The event brought together judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Galyna Yurovska, Oleh Pervomaiskyi, Oleksandr Petryshyn, former judges of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany Prof. Dr. Reinhard Geyer and Prof. Dr. Udo Steiner, representative of the German Foundation for International Legal Cooperation (IRZ) - Project Manager for Ukraine Angela Schmeink, Rector of the National School of Judges of Ukraine Mykola Onishchuk.
According to Galyna Yurovska, this is the first of three lectures to be held with the participation of German colleagues as part of a joint project of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and the National School of Judges.
Angela Schmeink, representative of the German Foundation for International Legal Cooperation (IRZ) and project manager for Ukraine, confirmed that IRZ, together with the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany, cooperates with the Constitutional Court of Ukraine in terms of sharing experience and providing expert assistance, in particular on the functioning of the constitutional complaint.
Mykola Onishchuk, Rector of the National School of Judges, noted that the joint project of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and the National School of Judges was launched in April 2022 and aims to carry out an educational mission through direct communication between CCU judges and a wide audience.
During the lecture, former judges of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany, Prof. Dr. Reinhard Geyer and Prof. Dr. Udo Steiner, discussed the experience of the establishment and functioning of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany as a key constitutional body in the system of protection of fundamental citizens’ rights and freedoms. They pointed out the history and evolution of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany, its role in protecting constitutional principles and mechanisms of interaction with other bodies of state power.
The lecturers focused on the legal provisions under which the court exercises its powers. In particular, they informed about the procedure for electing judges and the case law of the FCC of Germany.
Judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Oleh Pervomaiskyy briefly described the long-term cooperation between the constitutional courts of Ukraine and Germany, which was launched in 1996 with the assistance of the German Foundation for International Legal Cooperation. He noted that within the framework of this cooperation, German-Ukrainian professional meetings on constitutional law are regularly held.
In the context of long-term cooperation between the constitutional control bodies of Ukraine and Germany, CCU Judge Oleksandr Petryshyn recalled the working visit of the delegation of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine to the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany in November 2023, during which a number of professional meetings were held.
The judges emphasised that such cooperation strengthens the institutional capacity of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.
The lecture is available at https://cutt.ly/Fw7w5RpU on YouTube and the telegram channel of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.
Oleksandr Petryshyn, Galyna Yurovska, Oleh Pervomaiskyi
Prof. Dr. Udo Steiner
Prof. Dr. Reinhard Geyer
