Honouring of obligations and commitments by Ukraine
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly debate
on 27 September 2001 (30th and 31st Sittings) (see Doc. 9226, report
of the Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments
by Member States of the Council of Europe, co-rapporteurs: Mrs Severinsen and
Mrs Wohlwend). Text adopted by the Assembly on 27 September 2001
(31st Sitting).
- Thesaurus
2. In respect of Resolution 1244 (2001), the Assembly recalls
the firm commitment of the Ukrainian delegation and the leaders
of the parties and factions of the Rada to fulfil Ukraine’s obligations
and commitments, including in particular:
i a framework act on the legal policy for the protection
of human rights;
ii a framework act on legal and judicial reform;
iii a new criminal code and a code of criminal procedure;
iv a new civil code and a new code of civil procedure;
v transformation of the role and functions of the General
Prosecutor’s office;
vi the completion of the interrupted ratification process
of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, and
adequate protection for all minority groups in Ukraine.
3. With regard to these obligations and commitments, the Assembly
is pleased to note that:
i a new
criminal code was adopted by the Rada on 5 April 2001, and signed
by the President on 17 May 2001; it entered into force on 1 September
2001;
ii a final draft of a new code of criminal procedure was
submitted to the Rada on 23 June 2001;
iii four out of six chapters of a new civil code were adopted
by the Rada, while a law on amendments to the existing Code of Civil
Procedure was adopted by the Rada on 21 June 2001;
iv a new law on political parties was adopted by the Rada
on 5 April 2001, signed by the President on 28 April 2001;
v a package of ten laws (“small judicial reform”) was adopted
by the Rada on 21 June 2001 that stipulate amendments to existing
laws – aiming to ensure the work of the judiciary and law-enforcement
bodies after the termination of the so-called “transitional provisions”
on 28 June 2001;
vi a new draft law on the ratification of the European Charter
for Regional or Minority Languages was submitted by President Leonid
Kuchma to the Rada on 30 August 2001.
4. With regard to the remaining commitments in the fields of
domestic legislation and implementation of reforms, the Assembly
urges the Ukrainian authorities to continue their efforts, but also
to strengthen co-operation with the Council of Europe in order to
ensure full compatibility of Ukrainian legislation and practice with
the Organisation’s principles and standards, especially with standards
guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights and the Strasbourg
Court’s case-law.
5. In this respect the Assembly urges the Ukrainian authorities
to fully implement the reform of the General Prosecutor’s office,
in accordance with Council of Europe principles and standards, with
a view to abolishing the prosecutor’s supervisory functions which
are incompatible with the Constitution of Ukraine and risk undermining
the independence of a rather weak judiciary.
6. The Assembly encourages Ukraine to demonstrate democratic
progress by ensuring a democratic and transparent preparation for
fair and free parliamentary elections next year.
7. The Assembly resolves to send a special mission to Ukraine
to follow the preparations for the next parliamentary elections
which are to be held in March 2002, and declares its intention to
observe their conduct.
8. The Assembly notes the recent moves by Ukraine designed to
protect journalists, specifically the harsher punishments against
those convicted of harassing and/or persecuting journalists in the
new Criminal Code. None the less, the Assembly condemns the aggression
against, intimidation and even murder of journalists, members of
parliament and opposition politicians in Ukraine. It calls on the
Ukrainian authorities to ensure the rule of law, to conduct their
media policy in a way which will convincingly demonstrate respect
for the freedom of expression in the country and to improve the
legal framework for the media as well as the safety and working conditions
of journalists. In particular, the Assembly urges the authorities
concerned to take the measures outlined in paragraph 5 of Resolution
1244. In addition, it urges them:
i to
accelerate and complete the investigations of the disappearance
and murder of Mr Heorhiy Gongadze, or initiate – if necessary –
a new independent investigation in this matter, with the help of international
experts;
ii to conduct a full, transparent and impartial investigation
of the murder of Mr Ihor Alexandrov and of other cases of journalists
who have died in dubious circumstances;
iii to initiate a special investigation in the case of Mr
Yeliashkevich, Deputy Chairman of the Financial Committee of the
Rada.
9. The Assembly welcomes the Presidential Decree of 30 August
2001 on local and regional democracy, but regrets undue dismissal
and pressure put on a number of mayors and elected local representatives,
and urges the Ukrainian authorities to implement fully the European
Charter of Local Self-Government which was ratified on 11 September
1997 and entered into force on 1 January 1998.
10. The Assembly urges the Ukrainian authorities to create appropriate
conditions for national minorities, so that they can maintain and
develop their culture and identity.
11. The Assembly invites the Ukrainian authorities:
i to subordinate the State Department
for the Execution of Punishments to the Ministry of Justice, and
to complete the transfer of different pre-trial detention centres,
still under the authority of the Ministry of the Interior or the
security services, also to the Ministry of Justice;
ii to improve the conditions of detention in the country
and to implement the recommendations in the reports which the European
Committee for the Prevention of Torture has drawn up following its
visits in 1998, 1999 and 2000.
12. In the light of the above, the Assembly concludes that substantial
progress has, indeed, been made by Ukraine since the adoption of
Assembly
Resolution 1244
(2001) in April of this year, particularly with respect to
significant new legislation recently enacted in Ukraine. The Assembly
calls upon the Ukrainian authorities to firmly apply the new Criminal
Code and the ratified conventions in the field of human rights in
order to further advance on the road towards pluralist democracy.
Hence, the Assembly further resolves that in the event that Ukraine
should ultimately honour its few remaining commitments before the
Council as per
Opinion
No. 190 (1995) by the January 2002 part-session, it will
consider terminating the formal monitoring procedure regarding Ukraine,
while continuing the ongoing dialogue with the Ukrainian authorities
within a broader monitoring framework regarding measures that may
be taken in order to address some of the problem areas that were identified
in the process of the monitoring procedure.
