OSCE disseminates new legislation on civil and criminal procedure among Ukrainian judiciary

KYIV, 19 July 2001 (OSCE) - After the introduction of significant changes to the relevant laws concerning civil and criminal procedure in connection with the expiry of the five year transitional period of the Constitution of Ukraine on 28 June, the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine started several activities aiming at a speedy dissemination of the new legislation among the Ukrainian judiciary.

On 25 and 26 June 2001, the Project Co-ordinator in co-operation with the Supreme Court of Ukraine organized a 2-day workshop for judges of regional courts of Ukraine concerning the new developments in the judicial system and procedural legislation of Ukraine. The workshop was attended by the two Vice-Chairmen in charge of civil and criminal matters, respectively, of all Oblast (regional) Courts of Ukraine. The Chairman and Judges of the Supreme Court of Ukraine explained their colleagues from the lower courts the peculiarities of the new legislation and answered their questions concerning the new civil and criminal procedure as well as the new Criminal Code of Ukraine.

In continuation of this workshop, the OSCE Project Co-ordinator and judges of the Supreme Court of Ukraine jointly will travel to the regions in order to explain the new legislation on the sites.

A key factor for the prompt acquaintance of the judges from the regions with their new competencies and new procedure is a speedy provision of the judges with the new legislation. Therefore the Project Co-ordinator agreed with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine on the publication of the amendments on the procedural laws, which were made in order to bring the existing legislation into compliance with the provisions of the Ukrainian Constitution. The Ministry of Justice will undertake the distribution of these publications to every judge of Ukraine. This particular activity follows the publication and distribution of the new Criminal Code of Ukraine, which was agreed between the Project Co-ordinator and the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine earlier this year.

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For further information please contact Dmitriy Tretyakov, Legal Expert, OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine, tel. +380 44 251 21 56, fax +380 44 246 88 26, e-mail osce@osce.kiev.ua.