Description: In Ukraine, there is no procedure for correcting judicial mistakes in criminal cases. Dozens, even hundreds of people who are serving prison sentences (including those sentenced to life) suffer from this. These are people who were imprisoned under the old Soviet laws, including people sentenced for cases on the basis of falsified materials and confessions given under torture. During the event, its participants and experts will discuss the need to make Ukrainian legislation more democratic. In particular, they will talk about Bill 2033a, which was developed by experts from the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group and the Reanimation Package of Reforms and submitted to the parliament, and dubbed the ‘Law of Last Hope’. The bill was approved by MPs on its first reading back on 26 November 2015 – but that was more than two years ago. The parliament lacks the will to pass Bill 2033a, while hundreds of innocent Ukrainians continue to rot in prison because of judicial mistakes or falsified cases without any chance of getting their cases reviewed by a fair court.
Participants:
Oksana Syroyid, member of the Ukrainian Parliament, deputy speaker of Parliament
Viktor Shyshkin, former attorney-general of Ukraine, former Constitutional Court judge
Bill Bowring, professor of law, London (via Skype)
Vitaliy Kasko, former deputy attorney-general of Ukraine
Oleh Levytskyi, lawyer, head of the public ?committee of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union
Tetiana Panasenko, lawyer
Andriy Didenko, programme coordinator for the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group
Oleh Veremiyenko, UHHRU lawyer
Tetiana Veremiy, lawyer
Halyna Hnatiuk, lawyer
Roman Kuibida, member of the Public Integrity Council, expert at the Centre of Policy and Legal Reform
Mykola Havroniuk, Doctor of Law, professor, director of research development and member of the Board at the Centre of Policy and Legal Reform
Natalia Tkachenko, head of the Department for Providing Expertise to the Justice System
Serhiy Volochay, expert in compensations for emotional damage
Victor Kolbantsev, lawyer
Anna Litvin, lawyer
Moderator:
Natalka Sokolenko, representative of the Public Integrity Council
Description: In Ukraine, there is no procedure for correcting judicial mistakes in criminal cases. Dozens, even hundreds of people who are serving prison sentences (including those sentenced to life) suffer from this. These are people who were imprisoned under the old Soviet laws, including people sentenced for cases on the basis of falsified materials and confessions given under torture. During the event, its participants and experts will discuss the need to make Ukrainian legislation more democratic. In particular, they will talk about Bill 2033a, which was developed by experts from the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group and the Reanimation Package of Reforms and submitted to the parliament, and dubbed the ‘Law of Last Hope’. The bill was approved by MPs on its first reading back on 26 November 2015 – but that was more than two years ago. The parliament lacks the will to pass Bill 2033a, while hundreds of innocent Ukrainians continue to rot in prison because of judicial mistakes or falsified cases without any chance of getting their cases reviewed by a fair court.
Participants:
Oksana Syroyid, member of the Ukrainian Parliament, deputy speaker of Parliament
Viktor Shyshkin, former attorney-general of Ukraine, former Constitutional Court judge
Bill Bowring, professor of law, London (via Skype)
Vitaliy Kasko, former deputy attorney-general of Ukraine
Oleh Levytskyi, lawyer, head of the public ?committee of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union
Tetiana Panasenko, lawyer
Andriy Didenko, programme coordinator for the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group
Oleh Veremiyenko, UHHRU lawyer
Tetiana Veremiy, lawyer
Halyna Hnatiuk, lawyer
Roman Kuibida, member of the Public Integrity Council, expert at the Centre of Policy and Legal Reform
Mykola Havroniuk, Doctor of Law, professor, director of research development and member of the Board at the Centre of Policy and Legal Reform
Natalia Tkachenko, head of the Department for Providing Expertise to the Justice System
Serhiy Volochay, expert in compensations for emotional damage
Victor Kolbantsev, lawyer
Anna Litvin, lawyer
Moderator: Natalka Sokolenko, representative of the Public Integrity Council
