Ukraine – annual report 2024

Details
Published: September 4, 2025

Strategic Framework

Legal Policy Starting Point

Ukraine’s European integration process continues to progress, and accession negotiations with the European Commission began in June 2024. This is followed by the screening process, during which national legislation is compared with EU law. Initial talks in September dealt with Chapter 23 (judiciary and fundamental rights). This will be followed by further rounds of negotiations on Chapter 24 (Justice, freedom and security), which is also relevant for legal advice. These accession conferences initiate a longer process, even though Ukraine has made significant progress in achieving the objectives underlying its status despite the circumstances of the war.

Ukraine is already transposing European law into national law, for example by adopting the reformed insolvency law in the reporting year, which enshrines the EU Directive on Restructuring and Insolvency in Ukrainian law. The election of new constitutional judges is already being carried out in accordance with the reformed selection procedure, which was introduced in line with the recommendations of the European Commission. Following the entry into force of Ukraine’s Administrative Procedure Act on 15 December 2023, the reference year 2024 was marked by the implementation of this law, which is essential for the development of the Rule of Law.

Overall Concept

Cooperation with Ukraine was intensified in the reporting year thanks to the special funds from the German Bundestag. Under the extreme conditions of the war, the Ukrainian partners are working tirelessly for reforms under the Rule of Law and are demonstrating a high level of resilience. As a result, many working visits by Ukrainian delegations to Germany and numerous online consultations took place.

The topic of legal harmonisation with EU law was decisive for the cooperation with the Ukrainian partner institutions as well as for the implementation of the joint work programme of the BMJV and the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. The objectives are to expand and consolidate the judiciary through various cooperation formats with the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, the Administrative Cassation Court within the Supreme Court, the Kyiv Court of Appeal and the National School of Judges. In doing so, IRZ builds on many years of consulting activities. This also applies to the Parliament, with which the amendment of the law on legislation was discussed during a working visit and which is particularly relevant in the course of legal harmonisation with EU law.

In order to raise awareness among the future generation to legal harmonisation with EU law, a Summer school for Ukrainian law students was held. A joint German-Ukrainian conference organised by IRZ and the Lower Saxon Ministry of Justice at the German Judicial Academy served to facilitate the networking of Ukrainian stakeholders in the fight against corruption through a practice-oriented exchange with German colleagues, thereby strengthening capacities.

Focus of Activity in 2024

Constitutional law, Human Rights and their Enforceability

  • Experts’ participations in three online conferences as part of the public relations work of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine on the Federal Constitutional Court, the constitutional complaint and data protection
  • German-Ukrainian online expert discussion on constitutional law with the Constitutional Court of Ukraine
  • Working visit by a delegation from the Constitutional Court of Ukraine to the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe, the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg and the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg

Civil und Commercial Law

  • Support for the participation of three students in the pre-moots in Hamburg and Paris for the “Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot”
  • Participation in the multilateral conference of the Commercial Cassation Court within the Supreme Court “Ukraine on the Way to European Integration” in Kyiv

Public Law

  • XVIII German-Ukrainian colloquium on administrative procedure law at the Higher Administrative Court of Rhineland-Palatinate in Koblenz with the Administrative Cassation Court
  • Expert opinion on the draft law on the High Administrative Court of Ukraine
  • Participation in the “VII Days of Ukrainian Administrative Justice” of the Administrative Cassation Court within the Supreme Court in Ostroh
  • Working paper on the effectiveness of the Administrative Procedure Act with regard to the activities of self-governing bodies of the liberal professions
  • Working visit to Berlin by a delegation from the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to revise the law “On the Legislation of Ukraine”
  • Roundtable discussions with the Administrative Cassation Court within the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court of Ukraine on the topic “Right on efficient legal protection and compensation for unconstitutional administrative acts” in Kyiv

Administration of Justice

  • Working visit by a delegation of the President of the Supreme Court to the Federal Court of Justice and to the Federal Public Prosecutor General in Karlsruhe
  • Working visit by judges from the Kyiv Court of Appeal to the Oldenburg Higher Regional Court
  • Working visit by a delegation from the Chamber of Notaries of Ukraine to Berlin
  • Expert opinion on a draft regulation as part of a pilot project for the operation of an electronic register for notarial acts in Ukraine
  • Participation of the President of the Kyiv Court of Appeal in the “VIII Conference of the Presidents of the Higher Regional Courts of the European Union” in Bucharest
  • IRZ participation in the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin in June

Criminal and Penitentiary Law

  • Participation in multilateral (hybrid) training of judges of the National School of Judges for the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine in Kyiv on the topic of “whistleblowers”
  • Online expert discussion with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine on the topic of “Experience in preventing the abuse of procedural rights by parties in criminal proceedings”
  • Expert opinion on draft legislation to reform the penitentiary system in Ukraine
  • Online expert discussion with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine on the Law Enforcement Compensation Act
  • Online expert discussion with the General Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine on juvenile criminal law in Germany using the example of the IRZ training film “Robbery of a Vest”
  • Working visit to Berlin by the General Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine on juvenile criminal law and violence against minors
  • German-Ukrainian Anti-Corruption Conference in cooperation with the Lower Saxon Ministry of Justice, the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine, the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau at the German Judicial Academy in Wustrau

Basic and Further Training

  • Two-week Summer school for Ukrainian students for an introduction to German law and EU law in Bonn, Strasbourg and Brussels

Outlook

IRZ will continue to support Ukraine’s ongoing legal reforms in the course of EU integration and accession negotiations next year, both by providing advice on specific draft laws that transpose EU law into national law and by organising further expert discussions on topics with a focus on European law. In addition to cooperating with the aforementioned institutions, IRZ will also resume cooperation on reforming the legal training in Ukraine next year at the request of its Ukrainian partners. If necessary, it will also continue its consultation activities on the reform of the Criminal Code.