On 21 January, 2019 at the premises of the Supreme Court of Ukraine the seventh Steering Committee meeting of the Twinning project “Strengthening the Institutional Capacity of the Supreme Court of Ukraine in the Field of Human Rights Protection at the National Level“, that is implemented jointly with the German Foundation for International Legal Cooperation, Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Latvia and the Supreme Court of the Republic of Latvia, was held.
The objective of the project is strengthening the independence and efficiency of the judicial branch of power through introduction of the European standards and institutional capacity of the SCU, which will allow to form the unified judicial practice of justice and will promote strengthening the rule of law in Ukraine.
The event was opened by the Project Leader from Ukraine, Judge of the Supreme Court Oleg Kryvenda who welcomed the participant and emphasized the importance of strengthening the institutional capacity of the Supreme Court for Ukraine.
Judge of the Supreme Court Olena Kibenko, Justice Sector Manager of the EU Delegation to Ukraine Andriy Spivak and Resident Twinning Adviser-Counterpart, Head of International Cooperation Department of Supreme Court of Ukraine Lina Hubar performed their welcome speeches.
Junior Project Leader, representative of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Latvia Мr. Agris Ваtalausкis noted in his opening remarks that there were no problems with direct project management.
The Resident Twinning Advisor, judge of the Supreme Court of Latvia Jautrite Briede thanked all the participants for their cooperation and presented the seventh quarterly report of the project as well as defined plans for the next reporting period. The overall progress of the Twinning project during the reporting period can be assessed as high, the implementation time schedule for the most of activities is almost completely respected, and the cooperation of MS and BC experts is efficient and contributes to achievement of mandatory results. Study visit, two seminars, an expert mission and two trainings were held during the reporting period.
Within the framework of the Steering Committee Meeting the participants discussed specific issues on realization of the activities envisaged by the Plan of activities of the Twinning project for the next reporting period and also discussed the possibility of extending the Twinning project for the full implementation of the planned activities.
On behalf of the Center for Adaptation of the Civil Service to the Standards of the European Union the Senior Consultant of SIGMA and CIB Coordination Division of the Projects Management Unit Yuliia Yerchenko attended the event.
For reference: according to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ukraine “On Approval of the Procedure for Initiation, Preparation and Implementation of the Twinning Projects” as of 11 October, 2016 No 700 the National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service coordinates the implementation of the institution building instrument of the European Union Twinning in Ukraine. Furthermore, in accordance with relevant legal acts the National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service is the coordinator of institution building instrument TAIEX implementation in Ukraine. In order to provide effective coordination of Twinning and TAIEX the Twinning Program Administration Office in Ukraine was established, its functions are performed by the Center for Adaptation of the Civil Service to the Standards of the European Union.
