Members of the High Council of Justice Oksana Blazhivska and Inna Plakhtii held a working meeting with representatives of the Legal Cooperation Programs of the Council of Europe Mariana Chicu, Lilith Daneghyan-Bossler, Iryna Kushnir, Andrii Kavakin.
The subject of the discussion was to identify key areas of cooperation between bodies and institutions of the justice system with international partners during the new critical challenges caused by Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine. Unfortunately, our state is forced to ensure the administration of justice in emergency conditions due to aggression. According to the State Judicial Administration, justice is not administered in 136 courts of appeal and local courts; 51 courts were damaged or completely destroyed, that is 7% of the total number of court premises.
Mariana Chicu, the Head of the Division for Cooperation Programs of the Implementation of Human Rights, Justice and Legal Co-operation Standards Department of the Council of Europe, expressed her gratitude for the confidence of Ukrainians in the Council of Europe. She appreciated efforts to ensure the administration of justice and the attempt to improve the work of the judiciary even in such a difficult period of time for the country. She also assured that the Council of Europe is ready to update the action plan to support functioning of courts, including restoration of court premises. “We are developing work plan to help you, we envisage different areas of activity,” said Marianna Chicu.
Lilith Daneghyan-Bossler, Deputy Head of the Department of Cooperation Programs, noted: “We are with you completely – both as people and as an organization. We fully support you and stand ready side by side as representatives of our organization within our mandate. Thank you for continuing to resist and remaining specialists of the highest dignity despite the war. We continue to support Ukraine now more intensively. The main directions of our cooperation have been agreed with the Ukrainian government. We are ready to talk about what kind of support is needed for the High Council of Justice and the judiciary in general – both within the framework of existing cooperation programs and in new directions. I want to assure you of our readiness to provide further support, not only at our level, but also by responding to your requests to other levels of the Council of Europe.”
Oksana Blazhivska and Inna Plakhtii drew attention to the need for expert assistance in the legislative regulation of various aspects of e-Justice.
The Parliament has registered draft law “On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges” in regard of implementation of legal proceedings in conditions of martial law or a state of emergency”. Its purpose is to introduce an additional notification of participants in the trial about consideration of the case using the mobile application of the Diia Portal and receive through it in electronic form a court decision, an executive document. It also provides for the introduction of possibility to hold a meeting of judges remotely via videoconference during martial law or a state of emergency, during quarantine.
“Back in 2021, the President of Ukraine raised the issue of digitalization of courts’ activity. Now this topic has become even more relevant. Electronic processes, remote access in wartime are extremely important. This is part of judicial reform, and it is through the e-Court that access to the secure information space and to information for both courts and parties should be facilitated. Judges raised the problematic issue of amending legislation to improve remote consideration of cases, possibility of holding an online meeting of judges, and consideration of cases online. It is important that such changes are supported,” said Oksana Blazhivska.
Inna Plakhtii stated that under the current conditions, remote consideration of cases has become more active. The introduction of remote procedures in the process of legal proceedings is a requirement of today. According to her, judges know how to use e-Court tools, but several procedures are not clearly spelled out in laws and procedural codes. According to Inna Plakhtii, the introduction of the latest technologies and online consideration procedures will also be appropriate for out-of-court settlement of disputes through mediation.
During the meeting the HCJ members pointed out the need for consultations to develop an optimal model for the restoration of disciplinary function in the High Council of Justice, taking into account the conditions that have undergone significant changes due to the introduction of martial law, since Law No. 1635 was adopted by the Parliament in peacetime. In their opinion, the model provided for by law should be brought into line with today’s requirements, especially during martial law.
The need to promote the immediate restoration of the work of the constitutional body of judicial governance was also emphasized. To do this, it is necessary to revise legislative requirements for the procedure for holding the Congress of Judges. According to Inna Plakhtii, various options for organizing the Congress of Judges to elect new members of the High Council of Justice for 8 vacant positions are currently being actively discussed.
Oksana Blazhivska and Inna Plakhtii expressed their gratitude to all the projects of the Council of Europe for their long-term support for changes in the judiciary and their firm intention to help develop the justice system in every possible way in the future.
It was reached an agreement that the HCJ will form letter with a list of priority areas for expert and technical assistance and forward it to the program management of the Council of Europe.