DECISION № 14
By the decision of the Council of Judges of Ukraine No. 71 as of October 26, 2018 “On the introduction of the pilot project “Court, citizens, society, state: cooperation for change” on the territory of Odessa region”, three pilot courts were identified: the Appellate Court of Odessa region (Odessa Court of Appeal), Malinovsky District Court of Odessa, Izmail City District Court of Odessa region for approbation of the project’s developments.
The project was implemented with the support of the government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the organizational support of Odessa regional organization of All-Ukrainian public organization “Committee of voters of Ukraine” with the involvement of international experts Esther De Roy (judge, Deputy President of Amsterdam District Court, member of the board of judges, as well as a member of the board of the Netherlands Foundation “Judges for Judges”, expert of the European judicial training center) and Simon Van Der Schenck (judge of the District Court of the Hague, rule of law adviser/coach of the Regional Office of the European Union Advisory Mission in Odessa until May 2019).
According to the information provided by Odessa Appellate Court, the first stage of the project was successfully completed. Working groups of judges, attorneys, and prosecutors have developed draft “Guidelines for organizing effective criminal proceedings” and “Guidelines for organizing effective civil proceedings”, which are analogous to the relevant guidelines used by the Dutch court, prosecutor’s office, and the Bar Council.
On November 21-22, 2019, after a public discussion in the framework of a round table held in Odessa together with international experts, judges of pilot courts, representatives of the bar and prosecutor’s office of Odessa region, scientists, the draft guidelines are recognized as applicable in pilot courts.
The next stage is the practical application of the created guidelines in the pilot courts of Odessa region, namely: Malinovsky District Court of the city of Odessa, Izmail City District Court of Odessa region and Odessa Appellate Court.
Having heard and discussed the information of the Chairman of the Council of Judges of Ukraine B.S. Monich, judge of Odessa Appellate Court, A.I. Drishlyuk on the application of the “Guidelines for the organization of effective criminal proceedings” and the “Guidelines for the organization of effective civil proceedings” in the pilot courts of Odessa region (based on the results of the first stage of the project “Court, citizens, society, state: cooperation for changes” on the territory of Odessa region”), in accordance with part eight, Article 133 of the law of Ukraine “On the judicial system and status of judges” and the regulations on the Council of Judges of Ukraine, approved by The X extraordinary congress of judges of Ukraine as of September, 16, 2010 (with subsequent amendments), the Council of Judges of Ukraine, decided:
1.Take into consideration the information of Odessa Appellate Court.
Determine pilot courts for the introduction of the
“Guidelines for the organisation of effective criminal proceedings “(appendix No.1) and
“Guidelines for the organisation of effective civil proceedings” (appendix No. 2):
– Odessa Appellate Court;
– Malinovsky District Court of Odessa;
– Izmail City District Court of Odessa region.
2. Start applying the Guidelines in pilot courts starting from July 01, 2020.
3. Odessa Appellate Court should inform the Council of Judges of Ukraine about the results of the project implementation in order to further determine the possibility and necessity of its implementation on the territory of Ukraine.
Chairman of the Council of Judges of Ukraine B. S. Monich
