Working visit of the Chairman and Judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine to the Council of Europe
On December 13-15, 2018, in order to discuss the application of the European Convention on Human Rights as the main instrument of human rights in the European constitutional law and enforcement of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights concerning Ukraine, the delegation of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine headed by the Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Stanislav Shevchuk and composed of the judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Vasyl Lemak, Oleh Pervomaiskyi, Natalia Shaptala, and Ihor Slidenko, paid a working visit to Strasbourg.
During the visit, the delegation took part in the round table on "Implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights as a Key Human Rights Instrument of the European Constitutional Order". The event was opened by Director of Human Rights, Directorate General of Human Rights and the Rule of Law of the Council of Europe Christophe Poirel and Permanent Representative of Ukraine before the Council of Europe Dmytro Kuleba.
During the round table, Stanislav Shevchuk presented a report entitled "Recent developments in the case law of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine: interaction with the case law of the European Court of Human Rights". The Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, in particular, analysed the legal positions of the body of constitutional jurisdiction of Ukraine in specific cases, provided information on receipt, return and distribution of constitutional complaints in the Court, as well as in relation to constitutional proceedings upon constitutional petitions, constitutional petitions and constitutional complaints.
During the three-day event, reports were delivered by Deputy Head of Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights Clare Ovey, Deputy Section Registrar of the European Court of Human Rights Hasan Bakirci, Director of Legal Advice and Public International Law of the Council of Europe Jorg Poliakewicz, Head of Department for the Execution of Judgments of the ECtHR Pavlo Pushkar, Head of Neighborhood Cooperation Division of the Secretariat of the Venice Commission of the Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law Sergey Kouznetsov, Deputy Head of Division of Independent Human Rights Bodies of the Council of Europe Lilja Gretarsdottir, Executive Secretary of the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) Gianluca Esposito, Head of the Information Society Department of the Directorate General of Human Rights and the Rule of Law Patrick Penninckx, Head of Department of the European Social Charter of the Directorate General of Human Rights and the Rule of Law Jan Malinowski.
The round table discussed the role of constitutional courts in enforcing ECHR judgments, the experience of Turkey in applying the principle of subsidiarity and the right to individual application in national law, the work of the Council of Europe in the areas of standards setting, monitoring and cooperation - the activities of the Venice Commission, the Department of Justice and Legal Cooperation etc. The event also included a professional exchange of views with the representatives of the Directorate of Legal Affairs, the Council of Europe Treaty Office, the Venice Commission Secretariat, the Department of Justice and Legal Co-operation of the Council of Europe, the Secretariat of the Information Society Council of the Council of Europe, the Secretariat of the Department of the European Social Charter.
In addition, the Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Stanislav Shevchuk took part in the colloquium "International and European law and the challenges to the rule of law", held on December 14 at the European Court of Human Rights. Judge of the European Court of Justice Iulia Motoc opened the event.
Stanislav Shevchuk made a presentation on "A New Phantom Threat: Independence of Judiciary, Democracy and Constitutionalism, Resisting Populism".
Judges of the European Court of Human Rights Branko Lubarda, Dean Spielmann, María Elósegui, Armen Harutyunyan, Işil Karakaş, Ivana Jelić, Krzysztof Wojtyczek, Dmitry Dedov, Péter Paczolay, Robert Spano, Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos, representatives of the scientific circles Ida Caracciolo, Silviu Rogobete, Alina Miron and others were among the speakers of the event.
During the colloquium, judges and scholars analysed, in particular, the issues of freedom of expression and media pluralism, the importance of respect for freedom of expression and media pluralism in transition countries, on the example of the case law of the ECHR, discussed the principle of impartiality of judges and the protection of the rule of law.
