EU Project Pravo-Justice continues to educate judges on novelties of the Law of Ukraine on Administrative Procedure

On February 20, 2023, EU Project Pravo-Justice together with international partners – EU4PAR, the German Foundation for International Legal Cooperation and the Supreme Court together with the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal held another seminar for judges on the amendments to the Law of Ukraine on Administrative Procedure.

This event is another step in preparing administrative court judges before the Law enters into force on December 15, 2023. Mykhailo Smokovych, President of the Cassation Administrative Court in the Supreme Court, made a relevant remark, “Judges will play a key role in shaping uniform jurisprudence regarding application of the Law of Ukraine on Administrative Procedure. Due to this, such trainings are extremely important to properly understand of the provisions of the Law.

During the event, Viktor Tymoshchuk, EU Project Pravo-Justice expert, and Andrii Shkolyk, EU4PAR expert familiarized the judges with the key terminology of the Law, principles, features of initiating and preparing for considering an administrative case, its consideration and resolution.

Learn more about the topic from the presentation “Novelties of the Law of Ukraine on Administrative Procedure” and from the handbook on general administrative procedure.

In course of the event, the participants paid great attention to the role of the Law as to the strict observance of fundamental human rights, including the right of a person to be heard before an unfavourable decision in respect of him/her is made, the right to review case file, the right to receive a properly reasoned administrative act, etc.

“Not only does the Law provide citizens with a clear and understandable algorithm of interacting with the state, but LAP also brings about very important positive consequences for business and potential investors. After all, its effect also extends to legal entities. Today, in wartime, such a favourable legislative framework is extremely important,” said Oksana Tsymbrivska, Country Manager of EU Project Pravo-Justice.

The tools for overcoming potential conflicts in implementing the Law were highlighted by Olesia Radyshevska and Volodymyr Bevzenko, justices of the Cassation Administrative Court in the Supreme Court. “Adopting the LAP is a logical result given that Ukraine has been close to European legal framework, and after some time we will all see how progressive this Law is,” said Olesia Radyshevska, justice of the Cassation Administrative Court in the Supreme Court.

As regards the implementation of the Law, many reservations arise in connection with the objective issues of training civil servants. At the same time, a positive element is that, since 2016, a whole block dedicated to administrative procedure and good governance principles has been included in the examination for admission to the master’s degree studies.

In course of the discussion, the seminar attendants agreed that any potential delay of the entry into force of the Law is impractical and highly undesirable, both in view of the objective need to have the general administrative procedure and in view of the obligations Ukraine undertook before the EU.

This seminar is the fourth one in a series of events with judges of administrative courts. The Project has already conducted seminars for judges of the seventh and eighth administrative districts in respective administrative courts of appeal. The event was held under the auspices and on the premises of the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal.