OSCE to hold series of seminars for judges in Ukraine

KYIV, 9 December 2002 - The OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine and the Comparative Law Center at Ukraine's Ministry of Justice will organize a seminar on the application of the European Court on Human Rights's case law in the Ukraine on 11 and 12 December. The seminar is aimed at improving the practical work of Ukraine's judges.

The event, which will take place in Zaporishiya, is the first of a series of seminars for Ukrainian Appeal Courts judges organized by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine and the country's Ministry of Justice.

Since Ukraine is a party to the European Convention on Human Rights - which is therefore part of the country's legislation - the country's judges have to apply the European Court's case law. No appropriate education or comprehensive training on the case law was available to judges, so the OSCE Project Co-ordinator has helped produce a practical handbook, the so-called commentary.

The guide is meant to help the country's judges to find appropriate information about the case law with regard to the different articles of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Project Co-ordinator will disseminate the commentary to judges in the different regions of Ukraine.

In Zaporishiya, the Director of the Comparative Law Center of the Ministry of Justice and other experts will present the commentary to the seminar participants, judges of the Zaporishiya Appeal Court. This will be followed by discussions on how to apply the case law in the elaboration of the judges' decisions.

The OSCE Project Co-ordinator will continue the series of seminars in 2003.