The majority of Ukrainian judges have said that absence in Ukraine of certain judicial legislation prevents court decisions being taken to apply the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), the lawyer and advisor at the Pavlenko & Poberezhnyuk law group Tetiana Ihnatenko told the Interfax-Ukraine.
She said that Article No. 32 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms clearly regulates that the interpretation and application of its norms is in the exclusive competence of the ECHR, while the decisions of the court are an integral part of the convention with regard to the practice of using and interpreting this document. In turn, the convention is part of national legislation.
Ihnatenko said that today using the statements of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and ECHR practice is probably an exception rather than the rule.
“Moreover, most judges doesn’t perceive the statements of the convention and ECHR practice as a part of national legislation, and perceive them as the statements of a declarative character,” the lawyer said.
As reported referring to ECHR Judge from Ukraine Anna Yudkivska, Ukraine held second place according to the number of claims submitted to ECHR in 2012.
In 2012,Ukraine was second according to the number of new claims after Russia: 10,000 people appealed to Strasbourg compared to 2011 (5,500 appeals).
Although, according to the ECHR judge, the overwhelming majority of the claims received against Ukraine were declared unacceptable. At the initial stage alone 6,700 claims against Ukraine were declared unacceptable in 2012, while in 2011 there were 4,150 such cases.
