A former policeman Viacheslav Baryshevskyi spent 2 years in a pretrial detention centre waiting for a trial. Ukrainian judges were slow to consider his case. Neither did they consider it necessary to release him.

Visually handicapped person of the first category, Kyiv citizen H. P., won a lawsuit against the construction firm “Capital Realty Ltd.” which fraudulently aimed at selling her the partially constructed apartment

As it has become known to the UHHRU from its own sources, the system of free legal assistance in the occupied territories has completely ceased functioning.

The European Court found on two occasions the violation of the right to a fair trial in the case of pensioner Mariia Bochan, in particular, due to the arbitrary interpretation of its decisions by the Supreme Court of Ukraine. As a result the State shall pay off Ms Bochan € 10 thousand. Human rights defenders point out: “Bochan vs Ukraine (No2)” is the first decision of the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) with respect to Ukraine. This is an open hint to the national judges and government: “The decision of the European Court shall be abided.”

For the purpose of obeying the Law of Ukraine “On State Guarantees on Court Decisions Enforcement” having been criticized by experts because of its defiance. On September 3 this year the Government of Ukraine enacted the Regulation No. 440 “On Establishing the Procedure for Repaying Debts under the Court Decisions Guaranteed to Be Satisfied by the State” to enforce the Law provisions.

In order to implement the Law of Ukraine “On State Guarantees on Court Decisions Enforcement”, which received criticism among experts upon its adoption due to its actual non-compliance, and to enforce provisions of this Law, on September 3 of this year the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted the Resolution No. 440 “On Approval of Procedure for Debt Redemption under the Court Decisions, Enforcement of Which is Guaranteed by the State”.

Statistics shows that 95% judgments of the European Court and about 70% judgments of domestic courts are not satisfied in Ukraine. This means that the right of Ukrainians to a fair trial is permanently violated. Especially if the state is a debtor. Among the reasons for such a situation the human rights activists call: a moratorium on the sale of state enterprises’ assets, the lack of proper control over the execution of the court judgments and the lack of effective judicial protection of property rights.

The Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union calls on to postpone the parliamentary review of the draft law ‘On restoring credibility of the judicial system of Ukraine’ until it will be thoroughly analyzed by professionals and appropriate civil society organizations.

Ukraine has been found guilty of violating the right to a fair trial and the right to privacy. This time the victim of Ukrainian justice was Yuri Volkov, who had been accused of murder.

The court proceedings examination of the law suit brought by Anatoly Makarovych Bily and Lidia Ivanivna Bila against the Kryvy Rih Housing Enterprise No. 35 [KHE No. 35] lasted over 6 years.

A number of human rights organizations including KHPG and the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union have addressed an open statement over the detention of three police officers in the Kharkiv SIZO.

Ivan Nechiporuk spent almost 8 years behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit. The only evidence against him was 5 “confessions” which the European Court of Human Rights found to have been beaten out of him through the use of torture.

The European Court of Human Rights has just issued an important judgment for Ukrainian making it possible to appeal against “legal death”. This term is used by lawyers to describe a ruling which deprives a person of their legal capacity on health grounds.

Unfortunately all fears regarding application of the Law on State Guarantees regarding Implementation of Court Rulings have proven justified and the procedure for enforcing rulings where the State is in debt has largely remained on paper.

On Tuesday, 28 May, a Dnipropetrovsk court rejected the eighth application to release Dmitry Reva from custody, despite his having been held in SIZO for one year on falsified evidence and on charges which quite simply lack any element of a crime.