On 27 December the Leninsky Court in Luhansk revoked as unlawful Item one in the decision of the Luhansk Regional Council from 25 April 2006 No. 2/13 which gave Russian regional language status in the Luhansk region

To avoid any suggestion here or in Strasbourg that witnesses of the violent events at the Izyaslav Penal Colony in January could be subjected to unreasonable disciplinary measures, KHPG will be providing all those involved with free legal aid

The Ukrainian authorities were found guilty of ill-treatment of Oleg Yakovenko though the overcrowded conditions he was held in over a considerable period, the failure to provide proper medical care, and the way he was treated when being transported between two detention centres

Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Thomas Hammerberg stresses the need to ensure that all aspects of the judiciary, including the Constitutional Court, at totally separated from politics

Ukrainians turn to Strasbourg because domestic courts all too often let them down. They seek justice at the European Court because Ukrainian politicians erode confidence in their own justice system. It is surely therefore not surprising that so many Ukrainians have emphatically registered their opposition to Serhiy Holovaty, or any other Ukrainian politician, becoming Judge of this most important court.

With no disrespect to Serhiy Holovaty, Ukrainian civic organizations believe that the further development of a law-based and human rights oriented society in Ukraine can best be facilitated by choosing a candidate for European Court of Human Rights Judge from Ukraine who is NOT directly involved in politics

Ukrainian civic organizations have once again raised the alarm over the possible election in the next weeks of a prominent Ukrainian politician to the post of European Court of Human Rights Judge

Human rights organizations have long warned that the divide between different branches of power in the country is becoming increasingly blurred. The degree to which all aspects of Ukrainian life, and most worryingly, the judiciary, have become politicized is undermining Ukraine’s development as a law-based society.

The latest feat in statistical interpretation posted by the Ministry of Justice would leave us speechless if the need for clarification in the light of such deliberate obfuscation were not so strong

The European Court of Human Rights has ordered Ukraine to pay 62-year-old Georgy Lizanets from Mukachevo (the Transcarpathian region) 14 thousand Euros for violation of his right to a fair trial

The Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union and the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group have held the first session of a year-long training course on using national and international mechanisms for defending human rights in strategic litigations

At a recent seminar, the Government’s Representative on European Court of Human Rights affairs particularly stressed the need to eliminate problem involving inhumane and degrading treatment of people being held in custody.

Experts from the Council of Europe have criticized Ukraine for failing to analyze the recommendation on the running of the penal system made on the basis of three fact-finding missions to Ukraine

The expert analysis of the draft law “is teeming with expressions like “not customary for European democracy”. According to Serhiy Holovaty, Vice-Chair of the Ukrainian Delegation, there is no European country with a similar law for regulating the status of the parliamentary opposition.

The unlawfulness of the decision by the Mykolaiv Regional Council was argued in the appeal court by a representative of the Regional Prosecutor and a representative of the public.

They call for consensus over the future of building democratic institutions, adopting important judicial and legal reforms and taking forward the fight against corruption, despite differences of opinion and fierce political combats over the monopolisation of power.

The Pechersky District Court in Kyiv has refused to allow a civil suit claiming that the decisions by the Kharkiv and Mykolaiv Regional Councils to give Russian the status of a regional language were unlawful

PACE Co-rapporteur Renate Wohlwend would not like to give a timescale for an end to monitoring. Many of the people she has met in the last few days express concern that Ukraine is experiencing a period of stagnation

PACE welcomes the tabling in parliament of a number of draft laws which allow for fundamental changes to the court system in Ukraine, however is concerned by numerous reservations from the Supreme Court which some parliamentarians seem to be using to drag out the reform

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Monitoring Committee Co-rapporteur, Hanne Severinsen believes it would be premature to draw conclusions about stopping monitoring the situation in Ukraine