Access to Justice in Eastern Europe (Mar 2021)
Legal Issues of the Implementation of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms 1950 in Ukraine
Abstract
This note is devoted to the study and analysis of legal issues of the implementation of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (Convention) in Ukraine. The research states that the Convention is one of the first human rights documents based on the principles of ensuring objective standards and providing protection to individuals against abuse of state power. The note proves that the Convention, which is inherently a new generation treaty, not only establishes rights and obligations for states that are traditional for sources of classical international law but also enshrines the obligations of Member States to its citizens, individuals, and legal entities – all those under its jurisdiction. The research stipulates that with its accession to the Council of Europe in 1995, Ukraine not only showed its recognition of the rule of law but also undertook the commitments to ensure human rights and fundamental freedoms, thereby confirming its European democratic choice. In 1997, with the ratification of the Convention, a new stage began in the development of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Ukraine. The note states that Ukraine takes third place among the 47 Member States of the Council of Europe in terms of the number of appeals to the European Court of Human Rights. A negative tendency to increase the submission of complaints by citizens of Ukraine to the European Court of Human Rights is intensifying every year. This indicates that nowadays, the need to achieve maximum compliance of Ukrainian legislation with European standards in the field of human rights and the prevention of their violations remains urgent. The note concludes that at the present stage, among the most problematic issues of Ukraine’s cooperation with the Council of Europe is the reform of the judiciary – in particular, bringing it in line with European norms in accordance with the recommendations of the Councils of Europe institutions, strengthening the fight against corruption, etc. The authors offer a set of proposals and recommendations on the necessity of achieving maximum compliance of Ukrainian legislation with the European standards of the Council of Europe in the field of human rights and prevention of their violations to reduce the number of appeals of Ukrainian citizens to the European Court of Human Rights. The research emphasises that the construction of a democratic legal state and Ukraine’s accession into the European system of human rights protection should exist in reality, as well as be supported by the relevant internal and external policy of the country in regard to human rights, the harmonised system of legislative acts, and the real mechanisms of guarantees of fundamental freedoms.
