Iryna Mudra, Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine 

 

Last year, some experts feared that the withdrawal of the Russian Federation from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) would block the consideration of Ukraine's claims against this country. And in general, supposedly, the structure would lose its meaning, becoming just a peers gathering. However, everything turned out the other way around - cases were considered even more quickly. In addition, the Ukrainian side, despite the full-scale war, fulfills its obligations and demonstrates good dynamics in the implementation of the decisions of the ECHR.

The war has been going on for 9 years - confirmed by the ECHR

One of the main achievements of the past year on the legal front is the recognition by the ECHR of the fact that the war in our country did not start on February 24, 2022, but on May 11, 2014. And all this time the war was waged by the forces of the Russian Federation, which means that Russia is responsible for that. This decision affects the consideration of ECHR on many lawsuits from legal entities in connection with the seizure or destruction of their business and property in the occupied territories. At the same time, the option of paying the awarded satisfactions from the Compensation Fund is being considered, which will be an integral part of the International Compensation Mechanism.

In fact, the citizens of Ukraine will have real opportunities to seek for compensation for all the damage caused by representatives of the aggressor country. And the decision of the ECHR is one of the most important elements in this matter.

In general, in 2022 the number of lawsuits against the Russian Federation considered by the ECHR, was 2352, which makes 38% of all the ECHR cases. And a significant part of them are the claims of Ukrainians who suffered from the actions of the aggressor country. At the same time, despite the exclusion of the Russian Federation from the Council of Europe back in March 2022, the Committee of Ministers of the organization continues to monitor the implementation of decisions by the Russian Federation and records all violations. The judgments of the ECHR do not have a statute of limitations, so sooner or later the Russian Federation will be forced to comply with them.

Successes in interstate lawsuits

A separate category of cases is interstate. Currently, the ECHR is considering four cases against the Russian Federation, initiated by Ukraine: the case on violations of human rights in the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea; the case regarding the killings of opponents of the Russian Federation; the case about the capture of Ukrainian sailors and ships in the Kerch Strait in 2018; the case about the crimes of the Russian military during a full-scale invasion of the territory of Ukraine, which was merged with another lawsuit - about the violation of human rights in the occupied territories of Donbass, which includes a joint complaint with the Netherlands about the downing of a Malaysian aircraft (flight MH-17).

Combining the last two cases is an important precedent. First, it will speed up the process and get to the point more quickly. Secondly, it significantly optimizes the case and allows you to more effectively understand the situation, because many episodes complement each other. Thirdly, it will increase the political weight of the case and strengthen the position of the ECHR. The decision to combine cases in the ECHR is also a serious basis for strengthening Ukraine's position in holding the Russian Federation accountable in the context of evidence of intentional and purposeful actions of the aggressor.

By the way, despite the fact that the Russian Federation withdrew from the work of the ECtHR, in December 2022 the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted a strategy for supervising the execution of decisions of the ECHR, according to which the court continues to consider and make decisions against Russia, and the Committee takes them under control and implements execution supervision. The Russian side is informed about all actions in order to comply with the procedure and avoid claims in the future. So Russia's attempts to ignore the work of the court make no sense - the process is ongoing and complements the work that Ukrainian lawyers and diplomats are doing on sanctions, confiscation of Russian assets and launching an international compensation mechanism.

Progress on Ukraine processes

An equally important area of work is the implementation of the decisions of the ECtHR regarding Ukraine. And here it is worth noting that despite the war on our territory, the state apparatus continues to qualitatively execute all court decisions. The reason is obvious - we share democratic values and adhere to the European vector of development. As a result, during 2022, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe closed monitoring in 67 cases, among which were particularly important claims that were under increased control. In total, 62 submissions from the government of Ukraine were sent to the Committee of Ministers.

Unfortunately, circumstances do not allow solving some of the problems, but the work continues and Ukraine fulfills its obligations. And this despite the fact that back in March 2022, the consideration of cases regarding Ukraine was postponed, however, even in such conditions, we continued to work.

It is important to understand that the execution of court decisions often requires not just the payment of compensation or revision of individual cases, but structural changes in the entire legal system of the country. For example, in 2022, significant progress was made in the Levchuk v. Ukraine group of cases. In June last year Ukraine has ratified the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (“Istanbul Convention”), which became active on November 1, 2022. In August 2022, multilateral consultations started and a working group was established to bring national legislation in line with the norms of the Convention. This decision strengthened the national legislation in the field of protection of women's rights.

In general, following the decisions of the ECHR helps us to reform the legislation, gradually excluding all the post-Soviet norms that we inherited and adapting it to the challenges of the time. All this also strengthens our position in the international arena, where adherence to the Rule of Law dramatically distinguishes us from the aggressor country acting outside of any norms of law and universal ethics.