The delegation of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine
paid a working visit to the Council of Europe
On January 30-31, 2020 delegation of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine composed of the Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Oleksandr Tupytskyi, the Deputy Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Serhiy Holovaty, judges of the Court Viktor Gorodovenko and Iryna Zavhorodnia paid a working visit to the Council of Europe on the occasion of the official opening of the ECHR’s judicial year.
According to the programme of the visit, the Court's delegation held meetings with the President of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) Gianni Buquicchio, the Secretary of the Commission Thomas Markert, the Council of Europe Director General for Human Rights and Rule of Law Christos Giakoumopoulos, the Council of Europe Director of Human Rights of Christophe Poirel, the Council of Europe Head (a.i.) of the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the ECHR, Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law Fredrik Sundberg, the Council of Europe Head of the Division of the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the ECHR, Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law Pavlo Pushkar, as well as the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the Council of Europe Borys Tarasiuk.
The parties exchanged views on a wide range of issues, including the interaction of constitutional jurisdictions with the Venice Commission, the resolution of systemic issues related to the execution of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, and ways to improve the human rights protection mechanism at the national level.
Upon the results of the meetings, the parties agreed to substantially deepen cooperation between the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and the Council of Europe, including within the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine. Among the activities planned there are the organisation of a joint conference with the Venice Commission, a study visit for judges and staff of the Secretariat of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine to the Council of Europe, training sessions for scientific consultants to the Court’s judges, expert meetings and exchange of information on an ongoing basis. In addition, the Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine was invited to attend one of the next plenary sessions of the Commission.
As part of the visit, the representatives of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine participated in the solemn hearing of the European Court of Human Rights and the seminar “The European Convention on Human Rights: Living Instrument at 70” on the occasion of the official opening of the ECHR’s judicial year. At the ECHR, the delegation of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine also held a number of working meetings with their colleagues from foreign constitutional courts.