Only a domestic court can review the criminal cases against former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in connection with a judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights Valeria Lutkovska said on Channel 5 on Wednesday evening .

The article of the European Convention on which the ECHR based its ruling in Tymoshenko's case applies only to a person who has not been sentenced by a court of first instance, she explained.

It is up to a court to decide whether there is a reason to reconsider the criminal case, she added.

"Every citizen has a right to go to court, and one can exercise this right, but only a court can decide whether the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights is such exceptional circumstance that requires the review and revocation of the previous rulings," Lutkovska said.

As reported, on October 11, 2011, the Pechersky District Court in Kyiv sentenced Tymoshenko to seven years in prison for exceeding her authority when signing gas supply contracts with Russia in 2009. She has been serving her sentence at the Kachanivska correctional facility in Kharkiv since late December 2011. Since May 9, 2012, she has been staying at a Kharkiv hospital and receiving medial treatment there.

The ECHR ruled on April 30, 2013, that Tymoshenko's pre-trial detention violated three paragraphs of Article 5 (right to freedom and security) and also Article 18 (restriction of rights) of the European Convention. On July 30, the ECHR judgment acquired final status.

Ukraine's Justice Ministry said on July 30 that Ukraine had fulfilled all of its obligations under the ECHR's ruling in Tymoshenko's complaint against infringements by the Ukrainian government of her rights.

In response, Tymoshenko's defense team called the position of the Justice Ministry unfounded and filed a complaint to the Supreme Court of Ukraine asking it to review and reverse the ex-premier's verdict in the gas contract case.

On August 1, Tymoshenko's defense team appeal to the Supreme Court of Ukraine through the Higher Specialized Court, asking it to review and overturn her seven-year prison sentence in the gas contract case.

Apart from the complaint against Tymoshenko's arrest, her defense team also filed a complaint with the ECHR against the violation of her right to a fair and public hearing due to political motives (Articles 6 and 18 of the European Convention on Human Rights), meaning her conviction in the 2009 gas supply case. The proceedings on the complaint were opened in October 2012. On July 15, 2013, the court started to consider the second complaint.