Європейська експертиза для ефективної координації дій у сфері реформ правосуддя

Lviv oblast was one of the first where Regional Council Reforms in Judiciary will act through reporting specific regional challenges and their solutions on the level of the center. The "Pravo-Justice" Project, which supports the reform of the justice sector, organized the first meeting of the Lviv Regional Judiciary Reform Council Meeting on November 14.

The first meeting of the Regional Council Reform for Justice in Lviv marked the strengthening of support for reforms in the regions of the EU "Pravo-Justice" project in cooperation with profile institutions and experts.

Opening the meeting, Roksolana Kostur, Head of the Ukrainian Bar Association in Lviv Oblast, noted the need of regions to cooperate closely with Kyiv: "Previously, we could observe the lack of cooperation not only between the regions but also with Kyiv. We were receiveng legislation and we had to work with it."

The Lviv Regional Council for Justice Reform has united key stakeholders: representatives of the judiciary, prosecutor's offices, lawyers' community, private enforcement agencies, human rights representatives, CSOs and academia to coordinate actions on the reform of the judicial system.

According to Dovydas Viskauskas, Head of the EU "Pravo-Justice" Project, the creation of the Regional Council Reform for Justice in Lviv will facilitate the feedback process from the regions to improve policies that are usually developed at the central level.

At a meeting of the Lviv Regional Council on Justice Reform, participants noted the importance of civil society organizations in informing citizens about the implementation of the reform. The members of the council agreed that it would be desirable to encourage students to the discussion.

The participants of the meeting expressed their readiness to cooperate closely with international experts of the EU-funded project "Pravo-Justice" on the results and prospects of private enforcement officers, bankruptcy procedures, business registration problems, judicial independence and legal education standards.

Regional councils for reforms in the area of justice will operate in Chernivtsi, Odesa, Lviv, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk oblasts. Among the participants in the regional councils, there is no priority, members have equal rights and opportunities. Representatives of the Chernivtsi and Odesa oblast councils presented the experience of holding constituent meetings in their regions.

Meetings of the Regional Councils of Justice reforms will take place every 10 weeks for systematic work on the relevant needs of the regions.