Ukraine - annual report 2013

Details
Published: May 21, 2014
Länderbericht Ukraine 2013Visit by Ukrainian administrative court judges to the Rhineland-Palatinate Land Parliament

General – Conceptual orientation

Legal policy starting point

Cooperation with Ukraine in 2013 was increasingly typified by the EU Association Agreement, the signing of which was initially planned and then cancelled by the Ukrainian Government at the last minute, as well as the ensuing mass protests against the Ukrainian leadership. The signing was planned to take place on 28/29 November 2013 at the "Eastern Partnership" summit in Vilnius. This development climaxed in the internationalscale "Crimean Crisis". As a matter of principle, the IRZ will continue to make intensive efforts to ensure that the dialogue will be maintained, and will support the development and strengthening of a state based on the rule of law orientated towards European legal standards.

Cooperation to date

There were three working visits by delegations of the Supreme Court from the civil senate, the commercial senate and the administrative senate to Germany in 2013. They primarily addressed questions of procedural law, in particular concerning the uniformity of case-law. As in the previous years, one further focus was placed on consultation on administrative procedural law, which was implemented together with the Supreme Administrative Court of Ukraine as well as the Ukrainian administrative courts. What is new is cooperation with the still young State Registration Service of Ukraine. The accompanying studies in German law held in German at the University of Lvov have become firmly established. The summer school, which was initially developed for Lvov students and offered in Germany, has now developed to become the IRZ summer school, attended by students as well as young legal experts from many partner states.

Major partners

  • Parliament
  • Ministry of Justice
  • Constitutional Court
  • Supreme Court
  • Supreme Administrative Court
  • Courts of the lower instances
  • Office of the Prosecutor General
  • State Registration Service
  • University of Lvov
  • Lvov Chamber of Trade and Industry

Foci of activity in 2013

Constitutinal law / human rights and their enforceability

  • Conference on the topic of "Protection of human rights by the constitutional courts" in Yalta
  • Trilateral German-Ukrainian-Moldovan conference with the Human Rights Commissioner of the Parliament of Ukraine and the Moldovan Ombudsman on the of topics of data protection and anti-discrimination in Kiev
  • Subsequent provision and translation of excerpts from the collection of rulings of the Federal Constitutional Court

Civil and commercial law

  • Working visit by the civil senate of the Supreme Court of Ukraine to Bonn and Cologne
  • Working visit by the commercial senate of the Supreme Court of Ukraine to Bonn and Düsseldorf
  • VI International Lemberg Forum entitled "Alternative dispute settlement methods" in Lvov
  • Lecture and discussion event on the topic of "Application of German law in international legal transactions" at the Lvov Chamber of Trade and Industry (together with the Federal Bar)
  • Participation by representatives of the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice, of the Supreme Court, of the Foreign Office, of the legal profession and of Academia at the international conference on the topic of "Fostering Cooperation through Hague Conventions" in Tbilisi
  • Participation by a representative of the Anti-Monopoly Committee of Ukraine at the 16th International Cartel Conference in Berlin
  • Participation by two German judges at a conference and specialist discussions on the "Hague Convention on the Civil Law Aspects of International Child Abduction" in Kiev

Administration of justice

  • Cooperation at the anniversary conference on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the establishment of the Supreme Court of Ukraine in Kiev
  • Conference on Ukrainian justice sector reform in Kiev
  • Working visit to Bonn and Cologne by a delegation from the State Registration Service of Ukraine on the topic of company registers
  • Participation by four representatives from Ukraine (Judges' Association, Supreme Administrative Court) at the conference of the Judges' Associations on the topic of administrative justice in Astana (Kazakhstan)

Public law

  • Specialist discussions on administrative procedure law at Odessa Administrative Court of Appeal
  • Ninth German-Ukrainian colloquium on administrative procedure in cooperation with the Higher Administrative Court of Rhineland-Palatinate and Koblenz Administrative Court
  • Working session of the senate for administrative cases of the Supreme Court of Ukraine on the reform of the Administrative Procedure Act of Ukraine in Fischbachau

Criminal law and the law on the prison system

  • Working visit by a delegation of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine to the Federal Office of Justice in Bonn on the topic of "Public prosecution case register"
  • Seminar for Ukrainian public prosecutors on international mutual assistance in criminal matters in Kiev, together with the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine and the Federal Office of Justice
  • German-Polish-Ukrainian conference entitled "New tendencies in criminal procedure law" in Fischbachau in cooperation with the Institute of Eastern European Law

Basic and further training

  • Accompanying introductory studies in German law at the Centre for German Law at the National Ivan Franko University of Lvov
  • Third "German law" summer school in Brühl for graduates of the accompanying studies
  • Research stay at the University of Göttingen for the best graduate of the third year of the Lvov accompanying studies
  • Participation by the best graduate of the second year of the Lvov accompanying studies in the multilateral internship for public prosecutors
  • Participation by a representative of the National Ivan Franko University of Lvov at the "German for legal experts" language course at the Goethe Institute in Bonn

Outlook

Large numbers of Ukrainian partner institutions have stated in principle that they remain interested in consultation and expert exchange. It would be possible to have detailed discussions in 2014 on topics such as uniformity of case-law, administrative procedural law practice, topical constitutional issues, case-law, holding hearings, mediation, as well as the law on notaries and on land registries. In close coordination with the Federal Government, the IRZ is planning to launch a programme promoting the rule of law as soon as possible which is to cover amongst other things the pressing constitutional reform issues, the independence of the judiciary and the fight against corruption.