Vth International Forum of the European Court of Human Rights started in Lviv University

About 100 experts on justice, among them, the lawyers and judges of the European Court of Human Rights, lawyers and judiciary representatives of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, Supreme Court of Ukraine and the Supreme Administrative Court of Ukraine, the National School of Judges of Ukraine, jurists of Lviv University discussed issues related to the use of the practice of the European Court of Human Rights in enforcement activity of the courts in Ukraine.

This is the fifth International Forum of the European Court of Human Rights, which is traditionally held in Lviv University within the project of the OSCE Project Coordinator in Ukraine – “Guaranteeing Human Rights in the Administration of Justice”, with the financial support of the Government of Canada in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine , the Supreme Court of Ukraine and the Supreme Administrative Court of Ukraine.

“Fundamental to the Europeanization of our country is to return to the question of legal precedence values in the minds of everyone and the self-identity of the whole society,” said in opening remarks, the Rector of the University, Professor Volodymyr Melnyk.

“I think there was a very negative thing: abolition of law in the life of the country. Hence, we have a lost generation in the context of understanding the imperative of the law as implicit norm of human life and society in our time and, in particular in, our country”, said the Rector.

According to Professor Volodymyr Melnyk, the relevance of discussions of the International Forum of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and the development of appropriate decisions on the basis of the forum is essential to the rule of law, “the sanctification of the Law as an absolute value, without which any talk about the European choice of Ukraine is simply void”.

Addressing the community of lawyers and legal practitioners, Dean of the Faculty of Law, Professor of Criminal Law and Criminology of Franko University, Volodymyr Burdin said: “For me significant is the fact that the International Forum of the European Court of Human Rights takes place at Lviv University, because our university is the long-custodian not only of academic traditions, but also the high school, which creates respect to the rights and freedoms of man and citizen. It is also illustrious because the teachers and students of Lviv University, risking their lives and health, often sacrificing them defended the rights and freedoms of all of us on the Maidan, preventing usurpation of power. “

Dean of the Faculty of Law stressed that the European Court of Human Rights is a unique phenomenon for the legal system of Ukraine.

However, according to Professor Volodymyr Burdin, there are still debates among experts in the theory of law about the role of the European Court of Human Rights in the system of law and their case character because of the Law of Ukraine “On the Enforcement and Application of the European Court of Human Rights”. The question remains open whether they have those characteristics sources of law, which define the mentioned one. “And so we need to discuss also issues of authenticity of translation and correct interpretation of the ECHR decisions”, he said.

During the opening of the forum judge of the Supreme Court of Ukraine Michael Grytsiv, Rector of the National School of Judges of Ukraine Natalia Shuklina, judge of the Supreme Administrative Court of Ukraine Eugenia Usenko addressed the participants with a welcoming speech.

National manager of the program “Rule of Law and Human Rights”, OSCE Project Coordinator in Ukraine Natalia Stupnytska presented the activities of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. She told about the priority directions of its work and new projects that cover a wide range of issues, including legal reform, Education in human rights, combating organized crime, terrorism and human trafficking, arms control and reform of the armed forces, environmental Protection, law enforcement and border security, freedom of the media, elections, good governance and gender equality.

Later, the participants of the Vth International Forum of the European Court of Human Rights continued to work in the format of sessional meetings and discussions.