EU Project Pravo-Justice Announces a Grant Programme to Support Ukraine on the Path of European Integration in the Justice Sector
About the Project
The project "Support to Justice Sector Reforms in Ukraine (Pravo-Justice III)" is a technical assistance project funded by the European Union and implemented by Expertise France (EF).
Pravo-Justice III contributes to strengthening the rule of law in Ukraine in line with European standards and best comparable practices, expanding the achievements of the preceding projects – Pravo-Justice I and Pravo-Justice II – which provided support to comprehensive justice sector reforms since 2017.
The Project focuses on strengthening accountability for international crimes in Ukraine, strengthening the judiciary, particularly its independence, efficiency, quality, integrity and transparency, and ensuring access to justice. It also aims to improve the enforcement of court decisions by streamlining enforcement procedures, improving insolvency and bankruptcy procedures, creating a reliable property registration system, and reforming the penal and forensic expert witness systems. The Project also aims to facilitate dialogue on EU accession between stakeholders in the justice sector, public diplomacy, monitoring and communication, and assist the Ministry of Justice in the process of EU accession and negotiations, and support legal education reform and other sectoral support.
The activities implemented in the framework of EU Project Pravo-Justice III focus on four main areas:
- prosecutorial reform and prosecution of international crimes;
- judicial reform;
- enforcement and protection of property rights;
- support the EU integration process in the justice sector.
Background:
Ukraine obtained the candidate status for EU membership in June 2022. In December 2023, the decision to open accession negotiations with Ukraine was made in the context of the implementation of seven recommendations put forward by the European Commission. The first intergovernmental conference with Ukraine was held in June 2024 and essentially launched membership negotiations. Bilateral screening meetings between Ukraine and the European Commission began in July 2024. Negotiations on Cluster 1, including Chapters 23 and 24, have been held. The European Commission is working on a report following the screening. The report will include opening benchmarks, in particular, elaboration of roadmaps.
The European Commission monitors and acknowledges the country’s progress in critical areas of European integration through Country Reports. When compiling the report, the Commission collects information from open sources, authorities, international technical assistance projects, and civil society representatives. Therefore, the Project invites representatives of civil society organisations to join the monitoring and evaluation of the progress made by Ukraine in the subclusters within the negotiating chapters 23 and 24 against the key indicators specified in the Ukraine Country Report 2024.
Grant call:
The overall goal of the grant call: Contributing to judicial reform and strengthening the rule of law, aligning respective national legislation with EU legislation and best practices by engaging civil society in designing, implementing and evaluating changes in the justice sector.
The special purpose of the grant call: Strengthening the role of civil society in monitoring, designing and implementing policies in the context of the Ukrainian accession process, particularly regarding the judiciary, the fight against corruption and fundamental rights, as well as justice, freedom and security.
The key focus area in the grant call: Monitoring, evaluating and raising awareness of the reforms implemented under Chapters 23 and 24 of the EU-Ukraine accession negotiations on the judiciary, fight against corruption, fundamental rights, as well as justice, freedom and security, against the indicators and progress reflected in the European Commission’s 2024 Report on Ukraine.
Please note that the initiatives to be funded under this grant programme shall generally relate to the process of monitoring reforms in the justice sector in the context of the European integration process.
Budget
Maximum budget: €190,000.00. A total of one grant will be awarded.
Selection process
Coalitions of civil society organisations consisting of one lead organisation and at least two partner organisations are eligible to apply. To receive a grant, the lead applicant must meet the following criteria: • to be a legal entity officially registered under Ukrainian law; • to be a non-profit civil society organisation; • to be directly responsible for the design and management of the project together with the partner(s), but not act as an intermediary; • submit a proposal that meets the priorities identified above.
A dedicated Selection Panel will select grant proposals.
Deadlines
Proposals shall be submitted by January 20, 2025, 23:59 (Paris time).
An information meeting for this grant call will take place on January 7, 2025, at 16:00 (Paris time) via the ZOOM link below: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81464998817?pwd=4brIjx0ttzALlU7bKd224RVwhMqhlI.1
Information on the grant call results will be published no later than February 04, 2025.
The grant agreement shall to be signed no later than February 07, 2025.
The grant project may not last less than 6 months and may not exceed 12 months.
How to apply
You can learn more about all the details of the grant call and download all the documents to fill out on PLACE.
See the detailed description of the grant call and required documents here: https://www.marches-publics.gouv.fr/?page=Entreprise.EntrepriseAdvancedSearch&AllCons&id=2679404&orgAcronyme=s2d
Applicants can send their questions regarding the grant call to Expertise France, the implementing agency of EU Project Pravo-Justice, via PLACE, but no later than 10 days before the deadline.
Please note that questions and applications must be submitted exclusively through PLACE.