Model Courts Initiative: Experts of the EU Project Pravo-Justice and Heads of Judicial Authorities Visited Courts in Ivano-Frankivsk Region

On April 5, the experts of the EU Project Pravo-Justice and heads of judicial authorities visited the Ivano-Frankivsk Court of Appeal, the Ivano-Frankivsk City Court, the Dolynsk District Court, and the Tlumatsky District Court of the Ivano-Frankivsk Region.

The working visit took place within the framework of the Model Courts Initiative. Hryhorii Usyk, Head of the High Council of Justice; Lev Kishakevych, justice of the Supreme Court and Head of the Ethics Council; Bohdan Monich, Head of the Council of Judges of Ukraine; Oleksii Salnikov, Head of the SJA of Ukraine; Viktor Moroz, acting head of the Court Security Service; and Ivan Balaklytskyi, Head of the Judge Training Department of the National School of Judges of Ukraine took part, among others, in the working visit.

Anna Adamska-Gallant, Key International Expert on Judiciary; Volodymyr Chaban and Olha Sribniak, Key National Experts on Judiciary; Yevheniia Bondarenko and Serhiy Horovenko, National Experts; and Zivile Navickaite-Babkin and Reda Moliene, International Experts, participated on behalf of the Project.

When visiting the Dolynsk district court, the president Ihor Andrusiv and the chief of staff Mykola Pasichnyk talked about the court operation, including measures taken to ensure access to justice for individuals. In particular, the court is equipped with seven courtrooms; there is a single window for receiving and issuing documents; proper Braille signage; convenient access to the court premises for people with reduced mobility; and properly equipped convoy rooms. It is also planned to equip a children’s room.

In the Ivano-Frankivsk City Court and the Ivano-Frankivsk Court of Appeal, the delegation could see how they work; attended the courtrooms, and checked the courts’ technical equipment. In addition, the heads of the judicial authorities and the experts of the EU Project Pravo-Justice discussed with judges and employees of the apparatus the implementation of model solutions related to various aspects of court management and increasing access to justice, as well as some pressing issues that currently concern the judicial community.

During the visit to the Tlumatsk district court, the president of the court Uliana Lukovkina and the chief od of the court apparatus Lesia Grabovetska showed the court premises and talked about the structure of the court, the organization of its work, including during the COVID-19 pandemic and under martial law, while also expressing readiness to implement the newest approaches and model solutions for better quality of court services and more client-oriented court.

Today, the court has already a “one-stop shop” for receiving and issuing documents; arrangements for people with limited mobility; a separate entrance for convoys; water coolers and charging stations, and signage inside the court premises.

All the courts attended by the delegation have been working to provide proper access to justice and better quality of services to court users. The judges and court employees emphasize the need to share experiences with colleagues and to form a community of like-minded people to spread best practices of court management, which is an important component of the Model Courts Initiative. At the same time, the main obstacle for the implementation of even more model decisions in the courts is the lack of funding.

The members of the delegation thanked the EU Project Pravo-Justice" for organizing a working visit within the framework of the Initiative and for the opportunity to discuss current issues of judicial administration directly with judges and court employees.