OSCE supports training for Ukrainian judges on application European Court of Human Rights case law

Some 450 judges of administrative courts from across Ukraine were trained in applying provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights to better protect the rights of persons in their interactions with the state, during a series of two-day OSCE-supported training sessions conducted during this year.

The series of nine events, which focused on applying the Convention and the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) were jointly organized by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine, the Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine and the European Union Twinning Project “Increased Effectiveness and Management Capacities of Administrative Courts in Ukraine”.

Judges learned about recent relevant case-law developments at the ECtHR. Focus areas included freedom of peaceful assembly and association; the right to free elections; the state’s obligation to protect the rights of persons; enforcing decisions of the ECtHR; and ethics of judges.

The participants were trained by judges from the Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine; the Ukrainian Government Agent at the ECtHR; an official from the institution responsible for in-service training of the judiciary; and judges from the Conseiller d'Etat of France and the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania.

“Enhanced knowledge of the principles of the Convention will strengthen the capacity of the administrative judiciary to adopt well-reasoned decisions, so that plaintiffs will not need to take their cases to the European Court of Human Rights,” said Ambassador Madina Jarbussynova, the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine.

The training is part of a project aimed at enhancing the consistency of administrative court practices in Ukraine. The project is being implemented by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine upon request from the Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine, with support from the Government of Norway.