Supported by EU Project Pravo-Justice Public Organisations Prepared the Shadow Report for the European Commission’s Report on Ukraine in 2023
Supported by EU Project Pravo-Justice, the coalition of public organisations led by the Agency for Legislative Initiatives prepared, for the first time ever, the Shadow Report for Chapter 23 "Justice and Fundamental Rights" of the European Commission’s Report on Ukraine in 2023.
️The document, submitted to the European Commission, contains an assessment of the progress of reforms in the justice sector and covers the period from June 2023 to August 2024.
In particular, the Shadow Report provides analysis of the current state of affairs, progress achieved by Ukraine, or existing problems under such sections as:
- Judicial reform (Agency for Legislative Initiatives);
- Fight against corruption (Transparency International Ukraine);
- Protection of fundamental rights and freedoms (ZMINA. Human Rights Center);
- Reform of the public prosecutor's office (Tomorrow’s lawyer);
- Bar reform (Tomorrow’s lawyer);
- Reform of legal education (Ukrainian Bar Association).
The experts who contributed to the Shadow Report also provided some 350 recommendations that would help address the urgent problems of the current stage of reform in the specified areas.
"The key task of the first Shadow Report was to record the state of affairs in the areas of rule of law, fight against corruption, and human rights. It is with these topics that the negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU will start in September. In the report, together with our coalition partners, we have provided strategic and practical recommendations, that are necessary for the effective reform of these areas," said Svitlana Matviienko, Executive Director of the Agency for Legislative Initiatives.
She stated that the following reports would be prepared by the public sector annually and will track achievements and problems in the specified areas.
For her part, Oksana Tsymbrivska, Team Leader of EU Project Pravo-Justice, believes that the Shadow Report is an important step towards transparency of reforms in the spheres of justice, fight against corruption, and protection of human rights in Ukraine.
"Not only does it reflect the progress and challenges faced by Ukraine on the way of European integration, but it also offers strategic and practical recommendations for effectively overcoming them. We highly appreciate the efforts of our partners from the civil society, who promptly prepared this thorough analysis and recommendations. EU Project Pravo-Justice will continue supporting the civil society in monitoring reforms and preparing the next shadow reports, which is an important component of Ukraine’s European integration path," she said.