Acting Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Viktor Kryvenko met with the Head of the Regional Cooperation Unit of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe Serguei Kouznetsov
On January 31, 2018 Acting Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Viktor Kryvenko met with the Head of the Regional Cooperation Unit of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe Serguei Kuuznetsov.
Project manager of the Venice Commission in the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine Serhiy Tkachenko, Judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Stanislav Shevchuk, Head of the Secretariat of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Yaroslav Vasylkevych, Deputy Head of the Secretariat of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine – Head of the Department of Communications of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and International Cooperation Volodymyr Venher also attended the event.
The main purpose of the visit was to discuss the ways to develop cooperation between the Council of Europe and the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.
During the meeting, Acting Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Viktor Kryvenko noted that the interaction of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine with the Venice Commission is useful for both sides. He noted that the movement in the European direction will help change the consciousness of the Court ‘sstaff.
Serguei Kouznetsov, Head of the Regional Cooperation Unit of the Venice Commission thanked for the warm welcome and noted the effectiveness of long-term cooperation between the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and the Council of Europe. The Council of Europe was positive about the Decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine in the case upon the constitutional petition of 49 People's Deputies of Ukraine concerning the conformity to the Constitution of Ukraine (constitutionality) of Articles 61.9, 105.3 of the Law of Ukraine "On Election of the People’s Deputies of Ukraine", paragraph 3 of Chapter II "Final and Transitional Provisions" of the Law of Ukraine "On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On Election of the People’s Deputies of Ukraine" regarding the exclusion of candidates for People's Deputies of Ukraine from election party list in the multi-member constituency" (the case on the exclusion of candidates for People's Deputies of Ukraine from election party list in the multi-member constituency) also noted Sergey Kuznetsov. According to him, "this is one of the decisions, which enabled strengthening the Court’s authority."
In addition, the speaker stressed the importance of using the experience of other countries for the development of national legislation. Serguei Kouznetsov also informed that there is an active discussion of the Council of Europe’s Action Plan for Ukraine. The Venice Commission, within the framework of this project, is responsible for an important segment regarding cooperation with the Constitutional Court of Ukraine in the technical part.
Judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Stanislav Shevchuk noted that the Constitutional Court of Ukraine is moving to a new stage of its activity. He said that the delegation of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, which recently came back from Strasbourg, held a number of working meetings with representatives of the European Committee on Social Rights of the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights. The speaker noted the benefits and productivity of the dialogue with representatives of international organisations.
Stanislav Shevchuk noted that the expert assistance of international experts would be relevant. The most effective format for this, in his opinion, is professional meetings of representatives of the Secretariat of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine with foreign colleagues.
During the visit, the guests visited the museum exposition, got acquainted with the courtrooms of the Grand Chamber and the Senate. Particular attention was focused on Leonid Yuzkov, Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine in 1992–1995, Doctor of Law, Full Member of the Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine, who had been a member of the Venice Commission for a long time.
At the end of the meeting, the interlocutors thanked each other for constructive conversation and exchanged proposals for further cooperation.
