OSCE supports administrative justice as cornerstone of rule of law in Ukraine

The administrative justice must be enshrined in Ukraine’s revised constitution as a means to strengthen rule of law, a range of prominent speakers said at a conference supported by OSCE Project Co-ordinator’s Office, marking the court’s 10^thanniversary, on 2 October 2015 in Kyiv.

The conference was hosted by the President of the Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine Oleksander Nechytailo, and attended by the President of Germany’s Federal Administrative Court, Jürgen Vormeier; Deputy Head of Ukraine’s Presidential Administration, Oleksiy Filatov, and more than 100 other high-level Ukrainian and international jurists and scholars.

Participants discussed Ukrainian and international experience with administrative courts and how to increase judicial independence as fundamental to strengthening the rule of law. The meeting comes amid ongoing judicial and constitutional reform in the country.

“Ten years ago Ukraine took an important step by establishing a system of administrative courts,“ Filatov said. “The next important step is to enshrine administrative justice at the constitutional level, thus strengthening the constitutional basis of justice through judicial reform.”

As well as judicial independence and constitutional guarantees for administrative justice, participants discussed topics specific to the conflict, such as protecting the rights of internally displaced persons, humanitarian law and extra-territorial jurisdiction.

“An effective system of administrative justice signifies a commitment to the idea that the government, and its administration, must act within the scope of legal authority and that individuals can seek legal redress whenever their rights, liberties or interests are affected,” said Senior Project Officer at the OSCE Project Co-ordinator’s Office Jeffrey Erlich.

Since becoming the first international organization to support the development of the administrative code in 2004, the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine has trained every one of the more than 1,000 administrative judges, published more than 30 texts on administrative justice, including the first handbook on the application of the European Convention on Human Rights and the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights.

The OSCE Project Co-ordinator continues to work to improve the quality of court rulings with its partners, the Higher Administrative Court and the School of Judges. It is currently training civil society organizations in trial monitoring, based on the methodology developed by the OSCE Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.