Today, before the UN Human Rights Council, the ICJ called on Ukrainian authorities once again to ensure the independence of the judiciary and investigate attacks on lawyers, essential elements to make effective any human rights technical assistance and capacity building.
“Madam President,
The International Commission of Jurists (the ICJ) is concerned at the pervasive interference with the independence of the judiciary by the executive in Ukraine.
The decrees of the President of Ukraine improperly removing from offices judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, Justice Oleksandr Tupytskyi and Justice Oleksandr Kasminin, undermines the independence of the judiciary.
The ICJ in a report last year identified a pattern of threats, harassment and other attacks on lawyers in Ukraine, including those who defend human rights.
The ICJ calls on this Council and its relevant Special procedures to address the situation in Ukraine and to call on the responsible authorities to:
- take action to respect and ensure judicial independence in Ukraine, in particular, by providing for access to effective remedies and reparation to the judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, including restitution by revoking their removal and restoring them to their terms of office;
- ensure prompt, thorough, impartial and independent investigations of all attacks on lawyers, leading where appropriate, to bringing those responsible to justice.
I thank you.”