Category Archives: Oekraïne

Oekraïne

Solidarity with the Ukrainian colleagues and Ukrainian citizens

Together with basically the rest of the world we are deeply shocked by the military invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation. The human rights of people across Ukraine are put at grave risk.

Judges for Judges specifically expresses its solidarity with the Ukrainian colleagues and Ukrainian citizens who have contributed to strengthen the rule of law in Ukraine over the last years.

We encourage everybody to help and support the victims of this war in any way possible. Continue reading Solidarity with the Ukrainian colleagues and Ukrainian citizens →

Oekraïne

Ukraine finally stops persecuting whistle-blower judge, and rules against corruption

The Kharkiv Court of Appeal has overturned the acquittal of a former Poltava deputy mayor who offered a bribe to Oktyabrsky District Court Judge Larysa Holnyk.  The victory for those fighting corruption is partial and belated, but important, nonetheless, since up till now it was Judge Holnyk who suffered persecution for blowing the whistle on high-level corruption.

The events in question were back in 2014, when the then president of the Oktyabrsky District Court, Oleksandr Strukov passed a case to Holnyk involving an alleged administrative offence (under Article 172-7 of the Code of Administrative Offences) by the Mayor of Poltava Oleksandr Mamay.  He was accused of having concealed a conflict of interest over a decision by the City Council on land distribution (in which the beneficiary was his step-daughter). Continue reading Ukraine finally stops persecuting whistle-blower judge, and rules against corruption →

Oekraïne

Whistleblowing in Ukraine: Judge Larysa Holnyk, an update

Judges for Judges has been following for some time now the case of Ukrainian judge Larysa Holnyk who has been targeted for taking a stand against corruption. Earlier this year she received a Special Recognition Award from Blueprint for Free Speech: “Her case shows the limitations of anti-corruption policies in protecting individual whistleblowers at risk, and the importance of a judiciary that is independent and incorruptible.”

It is important to keep track to Larysa Holnyk’s story. Ukraine is going through a challenging period of judicial reform and the implementation of newly-adopted legislation with the aim of ensuring indepence, fairness and effectiveness of the judiciary in line with Council of Europe standards. But a society that has been riddled with corruption for years obviously cannot be changed overnight. Judge-whistleblower Larysa Holnyk shares her story on her ongoing fight to obtain justice with us.

Continue reading Whistleblowing in Ukraine: Judge Larysa Holnyk, an update →

Algemeen, Oekraïne

Whistle blowing in Ukraine: judge Larysa Holnyk from Poltava

On October 20th 2018, Judges for Judges spoke to Larysa Holnyk in Kiev. Larysa is a judge in Poltava, a Ukrainian provincial town. Currently all judges in Ukraine have to undergo a qualification-assessment. This is one of the steps in the fight against corruption which the country has committed itself to by signing the European Association Agreement. This assessment checks whether a judge meets the criteria of expertise and integrity. Larysa’s assessment coincides with the transition from her temporary appointment (5 years) into a life-long appointment. Normally this a mere formality. Assessing all judges will last many years. At least 7.000 judges are required to undergo an assessment consisting of 4 parts. Whilst Larysa is still paid a salary she is not allowed to be an active trial judge as long as she has not completed all parts of the assessment. Nevertheless she has to turn up at her office every day. Whilst there are other judges in a similar situation Larysa Holnyk’s case stands out for other reasons.

She told us the following story:
In 2014 the president of her court allocated Larysa a case concerning a potential conflict of interest. In a vote on land distribution, the Mayor of Poltava had not mentioned his family ties with the interested party. The law requires that a  suspect of such a crime must appear in court in person. It did not take long before the Mayor’s representative tried to contact Larysa in an effort to settle the matter ‘amicably’. Alas, this is very common practice in Ukraine. She managed to avoid him and instead set the dates for the hearing. The defendant kept finding excuses to have the hearings postponed e.g. work related travel or sudden illness, in apparent attempts to extend the procedure beyond the statute of limitations. Once again but more emphatically, Larysa received an offer on behalf of the Mayor to settle the case out of court. This time Larysa secretly recorded the conversation on her cell phone. Not only did Larysa refuse the offer in a light-hearted tone, she also reported the Mayor and his representative for attempted bribery.

Continue reading Whistle blowing in Ukraine: judge Larysa Holnyk from Poltava →

Algemeen, Oekraïne

Een Oekraïense klokkenluidster uit Poltava: rechter Larysa Holnyk

Op 20 oktober 2018 sprak Rechters voor Rechters in Kiev met Larysa Holnyk. Zij is rechter in Poltava, een Oekraïense provinciestad.
In Oekraïne moeten alle rechters in het kader van de corruptiebestrijding, waartoe het land zich heeft gecommitteerd in het Europees Associatieverdrag, een zogenoemde kwalificatie-evaluatie ondergaan. Hierin wordt beoordeeld of zij voldoen aan criteria van vakmanschap en integriteit. Voor Larysa valt deze toetsing samen met de omzetting van haar tijdelijke aanstelling (vijf jaren) tot een voor het leven, normaal niet veel meer dan een formaliteit. De kwalificatie evaluatie van de gehele zittende magistratuur neemt jaren in beslag. Maar liefst 7.000 rechters moeten de test, die uit vier stappen bestaat, ondergaan. Zolang Larysa niet alle stappen heeft doorlopen, ontvangt zij salaris maar mag zij geen zittingen doen. Wel wordt zij geacht iedere dag op haar werk te verschijnen. Er zijn meer rechters die in dezelfde positie verkeren. Dat zij de laatste jaren veel in de publiciteit is gekomen, heeft dan ook een andere achtergrond.

Zij vertelde ons het volgende verhaal:
In 2014 krijgt Larysa van haar president een zaak toebedeeld waarin de burgemeester van Poltava wordt verdacht van belangenverstrengeling: hij verzuimt bij een besluit over uitgifte van land zijn familierelatie tot de betrokkene te vermelden. Het is een vergrijp waarvoor de wet voorschrijft dat de verdachte in persoon verschijnt. Algauw zoekt de zaakwaarnemer van de burgemeester contact met Larysa om de zaak ‘in der minne’ te schikken, een helaas maar al te veel voorkomende praktijk in Oekraïne. Zij weet hem te ontlopen en laat de zaak op zitting komen. Steeds vindt de verdachte een reden om de behandeling aan te laten houden: een dienstreis, plotseling opkomende ziekte, en rekt de zaak zo tot over de wettelijke verjaringstermijn heen. Het artikel dat de verjaring regelt, bevat echter ook de bepaling dat gedragingen van de verdachte de verjaring kunnen stuiten. Opnieuw krijgt Larysa namens de burgemeester het aanbod, nu wat dwingender, om de zaak buiten de rechtszaal af te doen. Larysa kan ditmaal het gesprek niet ontlopen, maar maakt heimelijk opnamen met haar mobiele telefoon. Larysa wijst in het gesprek het aanbod wat lacherig af. En niet alleen dat, maar zij doet aangifte tegen de burgemeester en zijn zaakwaarnemer wegens poging tot omkoping. Vanaf dat moment verandert Larysa‘s leven ingrijpend. De president van haar gerecht is verbolgen over haar halsstarrigheid om een vonnis te willen schrijven; de zaak is immers verjaard. Er wordt een reeks aangiften gedaan tegen haar en haar man waarvan de meeste door het openbaar ministerie wegens gebrek aan bewijs worden opgelegd. Sommige wachten nog op een vervolgingsbeslissing. In november 2017 worden zij en haar man midden op straat in elkaar geslagen door twee jongen mannen met stokken. Zij vermoedt connecties met de burgemeester, maar kan die niet hardmaken. De verdachten worden nooit gevonden. Continue reading Een Oekraïense klokkenluidster uit Poltava: rechter Larysa Holnyk →

Activiteiten, Algemeen, Oekraïne

Interview with our boardmember Esther de Rooij

Interview with our boardmember Esther de Rooij in Law & Business (Закон і Бізнес), Ukraine’s weekly legal newspaper:

‘The most occurring situations the Foundation deals with are dismissal and detainment of judges’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ms Esther de ROOIJ, an Amsterdam judge and a member of the Management Board at Foundation Judges for Judges, was among the attendees at the Abuse of Rights in Tax Legal Relationships International Conference in Kyiv. Law & Business has taken this opportunity to ask Ms de ROOIJ to tell about the activities of the Foundation, which information may be of help to the Ukrainian servants of Themis who have been, or will be, experiencing lustration waves.

‘The judges who ask for our support come from different countries, from Ukraine to Venezuela’

Read more (in Ukrainian)

Read more (in English)

Activiteiten, Oekraïne

Volkov reinstated in Ukraine´s Supreme Court

On February 2, 2015, five years after his dismissal as judge of the Supreme Court and two years after the judgement of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, Oleksandr Volkov was reinstated as judge of Ukraine´s Supreme Court. It was a wonderful ´Christmas present´ that the Ukrainian Parliament on December 25, 2014reversed the decision of January 17, 2010 to dismiss Volkov, thereby giving effect to the following part of the Strasbourg judgement:bb

208. Having said that, the Court cannot accept that the applicant should be left in a state of uncertainty as regards the way in which his rights should be restored. The Court considers that by its very nature the situation found to exist in the instant case does not leave any real choice as to the individual measures required to remedy the violations of the applicant’s Convention rights. Having regard to the very exceptional circumstances of the case and the urgent need to put an end to the violations of Articles 6 and 8 of the Convention, the Court holds that the respondent State shall secure the applicant’s reinstatement to the post of judge of the Supreme Court at the earliest possible date.

What follows is the message published by the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC), the organisation that supported Volkov in the Strasbourg procedure) on the occasion of Volkov´s reinstatement:

Continue reading Volkov reinstated in Ukraine´s Supreme Court →

Activiteiten, Oekraïne

Volkov reintegrado en su puesto en el Tribunal Supremo de Ucrania

bbCinco años después de su [despido] como juez del Tribunal Supremo y tras dos años de la sentencia de la Corte Europea de Estrasburgo, Oleksandr Volkov ha sido reintegrado en su puesto como juez en el Tribunal Supremo de Ucrania.

Fue un magnífico ‘regalo de Navidad’ que el parlamento ucraniano, el día 25 de diciembre de 2014, revocara la decisión de despido del día 17 de enero de 2010, para así aplicar la siguiente parte de [la sentencia] de Estrasburgo:

‘208. Having said that, the Court cannot accept that the applicant should be left in a state of uncertainty as regards the way in which his rights should be restored. The Court considers that by its very nature the situation found to exist in the instant case does not leave any real choice as to the individual measures required to remedy the violations of the applicant’s Convention rights. Having regard to the very exceptional circumstances of the case and the urgent need to put an end to the violations of Articles 6 and 8 of the Convention, the Court holds that the respondent State shall secure the applicant’s reinstatement to the post of judge of the Supreme Court at the earliest possible date.’

Abajo véase la noticia publicada por el Centro Europeo de la Abogacía de Derechos Humanos (EHRAC, con sus siglas inglesas), la organización que ha ayudado a Volkov en el procedimiento llevado a cabo en Estras­burgo, con ocasión de la reintegración de Volkov en su cargo: Continue reading Volkov reintegrado en su puesto en el Tribunal Supremo de Ucrania →

Activiteiten, Oekraïne

Volkov opnieuw geïnstalleerd in de Hoge Raad van Oekraïne

bbVijf jaar na zijn ontslag als rechter in de Hoge Raad en twee jaar na de uitspraak van het Europese Hof in Straatsburg is Oleksandr Volkov op 2 februari jl. opnieuw als rechter geïnstalleerd in de Hoge Raad van Oekraïne.

Het was een prachtig ‘kerstcadeau’ dat het Oekraïense parlement op 25 december 2014 het ontslagbesluit van 17 januari 2010 heeft teruggedraaid om zo uitvoering te kunnen geven aan het volgende gedeelte van de Straatsburgse uitspraak:

‘208. Having said that, the Court cannot accept that the applicant should be left in a state of uncertainty as regards the way in which his rights should be restored. The Court considers that by its very nature the situation found to exist in the instant case does not leave any real choice as to the individual measures required to remedy the violations of the applicant’s Convention rights. Having regard to the very exceptional circumstances of the case and the urgent need to put an end to the violations of Articles 6 and 8 of the Convention, the Court holds that the respondent State shall secure the applicant’s reinstatement to the post of judge of the Supreme Court at the earliest possible date.’

Zie hieronder het bericht dat de European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC), de organisatie die Volkov heeft bijgestaan in de Straatsburgse procedure) publiceerde ter gelegenheid van Volkov’s herinstallatie: Continue reading Volkov opnieuw geïnstalleerd in de Hoge Raad van Oekraïne →