Ukrainian judges visit Polish administrative court

KYIV, 22 June 2001 (OSCE) - A group of Ukrainian judges met from 18 to 22 June 2001 with their Polish colleagues in Warsaw and Gdansk in order to draw from the Polish experience in the creation of an administrative court system. The visit was organized by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine and the Ukrainian Supreme Court as the first phase of the project "Creation of Model Administrative Courts".

The President of the High Polish Administrative Court in Warsaw, Professor Roman Hauser, invited the Ukrainian judges in order to share with them Polish experience in the creation of an administrative court system. During the first two days, the judges worked in the Warsaw court and then in one of its branches in Gdansk. After a fruitful discussion with the President and other judges of the court, the Ukrainian participants learned about the existing system of administrative justice in Poland, which exists for 20 years already, its organisation and functioning. Issues of special interest were the administrative court procedure and management of cases. New draft legislation on administrative court procedure of Poland was handed out to the participants and discussed.

The Ukrainian participants agreed that they had learned a lot from their Polish colleagues and that this knowledge would be very useful for the further activities of the working group, which is preparing for the creation of an administrative justice system in Ukraine. New draft legislation on the judicial system is currently under preparation in the Parliament of Ukraine. Moreover, a working group of the Supreme Court is drafting a law on administrative procedure. A review of this draft by foreign experts is part of the above-mentioned project.

The next phase of the project is a training visit to German Administrative Courts, from 2 to 9 September 2001.

For further information, please contact Mr. Folkert Milch, Programme Director, 8/24 Dimitrivska St., 01054, Kyiv, Ukraine, tel.: (+380-44) 251 21 59, fax: (+380-44) 246 88 26, e-mail: Fmilch@odihr.kiev.ua