Legal Issues of the Implementation of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms 1950 in Ukraine
Summary: 1. Introduction. – 2. Key Ideas and Principles of the Council of Europe. – 3. The Impact of the Convention on Legal Systems of its Member States. – 4. Ukraine and the Convention. – 5. Concluding Remarks
Abstract
This note is devoted to the study and analysis of legal issues of the implementation of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (Convention) in Ukraine. The research states that the Convention is one of the first human rights documents based on the principles of ensuring objective standards and providing protection to individuals against abuse of state power. The note proves that the Convention, which is inherently a new generation treaty, not only establishes rights and obligations for states that are traditional for sources of classical international law but also enshrines the obligations of Member States to its citizens, individuals, and legal entities – all those under its jurisdiction.
The research stipulates that with its accession to the Council of Europe in 1995, Ukraine not only showed its recognition of the rule of law but also undertook the commitments to ensure human rights and fundamental freedoms, thereby confirming its European democratic choice. In 1997, with the ratification of the Convention, a new stage began in the development of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Ukraine.
The note states that Ukraine takes third place among the 47 Member States of the Council of Europe in terms of the number of appeals to the European Court of Human Rights. A negative tendency to increase the submission of complaints by citizens of Ukraine to the European Court of Human Rights is intensifying every year. This indicates that nowadays, the need to achieve maximum compliance of Ukrainian legislation with European standards in the field of human rights and the prevention of their violations remains urgent.
The note concludes that at the present stage, among the most problematic issues of Ukraine’s cooperation with the Council of Europe is the reform of the judiciary – in particular, bringing it in line with European norms in accordance with the recommendations of the Councils of Europe institutions, strengthening the fight against corruption, etc.
The authors offer a set of proposals and recommendations on the necessity of achieving maximum compliance of Ukrainian legislation with the European standards of the Council of Europe in the field of human rights and prevention of their violations to reduce the number of appeals of Ukrainian citizens to the European Court of Human Rights.
The research emphasises that the construction of a democratic legal state and Ukraine’s accession into the European system of human rights protection should exist in reality, as well as be supported by the relevant internal and external policy of the country in regard to human rights, the harmonised system of legislative acts, and the real mechanisms of guarantees of fundamental freedoms.
About Authors
CONTRIBUTORS
The authors contributed equally to the intellectual discussion, case-law exploration, writing and editing underlying this paper and accept responsibility for the content and interpretation.
Prof. Victor Muraviov is an Academician of the National Academy of Legal Science, Professor at the Department of International Private Law, Institute of International Relations of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv; vmour@visti.com ; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5381-4038
Dr. Nataliia Mushak is a Professor at the Department of International and Comparative Law, National Aviation University; natali_mushak@ukr.net ; https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6310-2272
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to express their gratitude to the reviewers for their help and for the English editor, Sarah White.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors have declared that no conflict of interest or competing interests exist.
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Муравйов Віктор
доктор юридичних наук, академік, професор кафедри міжнародного приватного права,
Інститут міжнародних відносин, Київський національний університет імені Тараса Шевченка, Україна
Мушак Наталія
доктор юридичних наук, професор кафедри міжнародного та порівняльного права,
Національний авіаційний університет, Київ, Україна
Анотація Ця стаття присвячена вивченню та аналізу правових питань імплементації Конвенції про захист прав людини та основних свобод (Конвенції) в Україні. У дослідженні зазначено, що Конвенція є одним із перших документів з прав людини, заснованих на принципах забезпечення об'єктивних стандартів та забезпечення захисту осіб від зловживань державною владою. Доводиться, що Конвенція, яка за своєю суттю є договором нового покоління, не лише встановлює права та обов'язки держав, які є традиційними для джерел класичного міжнародного права, але також закріплює зобов'язання держав-членів перед своїми громадянами, фізичними та юридичними особами - всі, хто знаходиться під його юрисдикцією.
Ключові слова: права людини, європейські цінності, основоположні свободи, судова система, європейський вектор, правові інструменти, Європейський суд з прав людини, процес імплементації.
How to cite it?
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V Muraviov, N Mushak ‘Legal Issues of the Implementation of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms 1950 in Ukraine’ 2021 1(9) Access to Justice in Eastern Europe 8–22.
DOI: 10.33327/AJEE-18-4.1-n000044
