OSCE Project Co-ordinator encourages dialogue, co-operation between Ukraine's Constitutional Court, government and international legal community

KYIV, 21 May 2008 - The OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine, Ambassador Lubomir Kopaj, called for better dialogue and co-operation between the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, the government and the international legal community at a recent conference.

"Closer co-operation between the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and the OSCE Project Co-ordinator is crucial. Until now it has been in the form of short-term assistance as well as long-standing projects related to constitutional complaint, the enhancement of human rights protection and rule of law in legislative and judicial practice in Ukraine," said Ambassador Kopaj.

He was speaking on May 16 at a conference in Kyiv, "The Constitutional Court in the System of State Bodies: Crucial problems and ways to resolve them".

The event, organized by the OSCE, the Council of Europe's Venice Commission, and the German Foundation for International Legal Co-operation, was opened by President Victor Yushchenko.

"Ukraine experienced a high level of polarization of the Constitutional Court as an institution, and I am thankful to the Constitutional Court judges for overcoming this process. This conference takes place when the country discusses amendments to the Constitution, and we welcome the assistance from the international community in our efforts to guarantee transparency and high professionalism during the constitutional reform in Ukraine," said President Yushchenko.

The conference brought together constitutional judges from Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, the Czech Republic, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Slovakia, Slovenia, , Romania, Russia and Turkey. They discussed the challenges in the functioning of constitutional courts and interaction among state authorities. Members of the Ukrainian Parliament, governmental representatives and Ukrainian academics also participated in the discussions.

Kopaj welcomed President Yushchenko's determination to introduce the institute of individual constitutional complaint. "Despite the steady development of constitutional democracy, Ukraine still lacks such an important institute of constitutional rights and liberties protection as individual constitutional complaint. In most European states this institute has proved to be an effective mechanism of constitutional justice," he said. 

"This conference provided an opportunity to exchange ideas and best practices in enhancing the protection of constitutional rights in countries in transition. It showed that a professional interaction and co-operation between state authorities and representatives of the international legal community could harmonize the way Ukraine's state mechanisms work."