EU Project Pravo-Justice and Judicial Authorities Discussed Court Safety and Security Planning in Wartime

On September 23, the EU Project Pravo-Justice held a conference “Court Safety and Security Planning in Wartime” which was organized within the Model Courts Initiative. The participants to the event discussed court security planning in wartime, alongside interaction between judges, court staff, and the Court Security Service to ensure greater safety of administration of justice.

“Despite the war, the judicial system stood firm; people have access to justice. At the same time, security and safety is the priority. That is why, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine immediately amended the existing legislation to allow the President of the Supreme Court to change the territorial jurisdiction of cases for courts from zones of hostilities or temporarily occupied territories”, said Denys Maslov, Head of the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Policy.

In his turn, the Chairman of the Council of Judges of Ukraine, Bohdan Monich, emphasized that the Council of Judges had also adopted a number of recommendations that helped strengthen security and safety of administration of justice under martial law.

“Effective work of the judiciary in wartime can be testified by the fact that the judicial statistics registered an increase in the number of cases that came to the courts. The number of court decisions submitted to the USRCD has also been increasing. In particular, as of September 19, starting from January 1, 2022, three million 866 thousand 671 court decisions were entered to the USRCD,” said Bohdan Monich.

In his welcome speech, Oleksii Salnikov, Head of the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine (SJA of Ukraine), emphasized the importance of a balance between the citizens’ enjoyment of their right to access the court and preventing threats to life and health of judges, court staff, and participants to court proceedings.

“With active hostilities burst out in Ukraine, the issue of court security and safety has become large-scale and pressing. The measures that are currently being implemented within the court system facilitate the conduct of court hearing while preserving life and health of judges, court staff, and participants to court proceedings,” stated Oleksii Salnikov.

Stanislav Maksymishyn, First Deputy Head of the Court Security Service (CSS), noted that the CSS employees have been securing courts and judicial governance bodies from the first days of war.

“Ukrainian legislation says that justice shall be administered both in peacetime and in wartime. Therefore, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, this has been our main task. Also, the CSS employees in a number of regions have been contributing to the defense of Ukrainian cities and towns,” said Stanislav Maksymishyn.

Nataliia Shuklina, Acting Rector of the National School of Judges of Ukraine (NSJ), added that court security was directly related to citizens' access to justice under martial law. The Court Security Service plays an essential role in this process.

Anna Adamska-Gallant, Key International Expert on Judiciary of the EU Project Pravo-Justice, emphasized that court security in wartime was one of the most important objectives for the judicial system. Therefore, the Project will continue focusing on this issue within the scope of the Model Courts Initiative.

During the conference, international experts of the EU Project Pravo-Justice, Cornelis Verhaeren and Dariusz Selicki, analyzed security and safety planning in wartime, assessment of risks associated with the trials of war criminals, and the means of legal protection from the judge’s position.

Representatives of the SJA of Ukraine, CSS, NSJ, and courts considered the following issues:

• consequences of the armed aggression of the russian federation at court premises and logistics of courts;
• ensuring the administration of justice in wartime in the Donetsk region;
• peculiarities of service by employees of the Court Security Service during martial law;
• interaction between judges, court staff, and CSS to ensure security and safety of administration of justice.

The full record of the conference is available via link.