The Compliance test
From now on all draft laws, other normative legal acts as well as all acts requiring state registration will be subjected to expert scrutiny to ensure that they comply with the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The relevant orders have been signed by Minister of Justice Roman Zvarych. This expert assessment will be carried out in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On enforcing the judgments and applying case law of the European Court of Human Rights”, as well as Resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers on measures for implementing this Law. Information about this was provided today by Yuri Zaitsev, Ukrainian Government representative at the European Court of Human Rights, at a meeting attended by representatives of subdivisions of the central body of the Ministry of Justice. Yuri Zaitsev explained that the expert analysis would be undertaken by the National Bureau for matters involving observance of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms as well as territorial bodies of the Ministry of Justice.
On 15 August the necessary method recommendations for carrying out such assessments were approved by the Ukrainian Government representative at the European Court of Human Rights. The expert assessments will involve two stages, the first being a check to determine whether the subject of regulation of the normative act in fact relates to the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Convention. If the answer is affirmative, then the second stage will commence, this being the check on actual compliance. During this stage specialists will consider whether the normative act conforms to the provisions of the Convention and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. The resulting conclusion regarding compliance with the Convention of any given normative legal act will then be included in the Opinion of the Ministry of Justice.
Yuri Zaitsev stressed that the European Court has been more and more often finding violations by Ukraine of the European Convention of Human Rights. Such violations are in particular connected with the fact that certain domestic normative acts are in contravention of the requirements of the Convention and are thus a source for systematic violation. The given expert assessments are intended to ensure that this ceases to occur.. Yuri Zaitsev also mentioned that from September this year systematic training will be carried out for employees of the central body and territorial departments of the Ministry of Justice and of other state bodies with regard to checking normative acts for their compliance with the Convention.