Four Ukrainian administrative judges at the Higher Administrative Court in Koblenz, the Administrative Court in Mainz, and both the Minister of Justice and the State Parliament of Rhineland-Palatinate were shown great solidarity and respect: despite the challenges posed by the war, their Ukrainian partners are tirelessly pushing ahead with constitutional reforms in their country. Administrative jurisdiction in particular has an important role to play in protecting the rights of citizens even under martial law and in balancing the interests of individuals with the legitimate security interests of the state.
Twenty years ago, Ukraine introduced an independent administrative judiciary, thus taking a major step forward in the development of the rule of law. IRZ advised its Ukrainian partners on this development and, together with the administrative judiciary of Rhineland-Palatinate, has maintained a continuous professional exchange with the Ukrainian administrative judiciary ever since. One of the cornerstones of this exchange is the annual German-Ukrainian colloquium on administrative procedural law, at which Prof. Dr. Lars Brocker, President of the Higher Administrative Court, welcomes four Ukrainian administrative judges to Koblenz for a week.
In this anniversary year, Mykhailo Smokovych, President of the Administrative Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court, also took part in person, emphasising once again that Ukrainian administrative jurisdiction would not exist without the above-mentioned advice from IRZ. During their stay, the delegation members were once again able to participate in hearings and discuss current administrative procedural law issues on an equal footing with their German colleagues.
The delegation of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine at the Federal Constitutional Court; front row, second from right: Judge of the Federal Constitutional Court Prof Dr Henning Radtke, front row, first from left: Judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, Prof Dr Viktor Horodo-venko
Ukraine
At the invitation of the IRZ, a delegation from the Constitutional Court of Ukraine paid a working visit to the Federal Constitutional Court, the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law and the European Court of Human Rights from 17 to 20 November 2024.
At the Federal Constitutional Court, the guests were received by Judge Prof Dr Henning Radtke and other members of the Federal Constitutional Court for an expert discussion on the relationship between the case-law of national constitutional courts and the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice. In addition, the administration of the court discussed the course of proceedings before the Federal Constitutional Court.
At the Max Planck Institute in Heidelberg, the delegation was welcomed by its Managing Director, Prof Dr Dr. h.c, LL.M. (Harvard) Anne Peters. Subsequent expert discussions also dealt with international and foreign law in constitutional court jurisprudence and the preservation of constitutional identity in the context of European integration. In addition, the Ukrainian experience with the individual constitutional complaint introduced there in 2016 was presented.
All the discussion partners were impressed by how the Constitutional Court of Ukraine maintains its jurisdiction under the most difficult conditions of war and is thus unwaveringly committed to the functioning of the state and the protection of fundamental rights.
On the third day of the visit, the IRZ had organized a trip to the hearing of the case Kovačević v. Bosnia and Herzegovina at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The part of the visit organized by the IRZ was followed by a further working day, prepared by the Council of Europe project “Support to development of the Constitutional Justice in Ukraine”. Among other things, the delegation had the opportunity to exchange views with the judges at the European Court of Human Rights, Mykola Gnatovskyy and Artūrs Kučs, on the practice of the ECtHR's case-law.
Participants at the German-Ukrainian conference on fighting corruption at the German Judicial Academy in Wustrau
Ukraine
IRZ and the Ministry of Justice of Lower Saxony organized the above-mentioned conference at the German Judicial Academy in Wustrau from 11 to 14 November 2024. Both German and Ukrainian representatives contributed to this very practice-oriented conference.
From the German side, legal practitioners from Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Brandenburg , Hamburg and Bavaria as well as a judge from the Regional Court of Hildesheim were represented, while three institutions tasked with the prosecution of corruption cases participated from the Ukrainian side: the High Anti-Corruption Court, the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine.
In Berlin, the participants were welcomed by the Chairwoman of the Legal Affairs Committee in the German Bundestag and member of the German Bundestag, Ms. Elisabeth Winkelmeier-Becker, and by the Head of Directorate of the Federal Ministry of Justice, Dr. Sebastian Jeckel. Prior to this, Senior Public Prosecutor Gunther Rauche had been welcomed to the Public Prosecutor's Office for Combating Corruption in Neuruppin for a technical discussion.
Combating and preventing corruption are important topics for the promotion of the rule of law and Ukraine's accession negotiations with the European Union, which is why the aim is to continue cooperation and strengthen Ukrainian institutions in 2025.
