Volodymyr Lytvyn, Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine suggests developing and ratifying the action plan to meet the goals of the reforms of the European Human Rights Protection System, and hold the high-level conference of the Council of Europe Member States in Ukraine in 2011.
On Friday, V.Lytvyn delivered a speech at the special meeting of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine dedicated to the 60th anniversary of adoption of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. He called for strict observance of the Action Plan developed at the Interlaken conference on February 18-19, 2010 as a tool of political orientation to support sustainable effective system of the Convention. The obligations of the state and state bodies, political parties and civic society should be clearly determined.
V.Lytvyn believes that such actions should include enhancement of Ukraine´s cooperation with the Council of Europe concerning protection of human rights, development of workable proposals on amendments to the Convention regarding acceptance and dismissal of appeals, their scrutiny in the European Court, and supervision of their realization.
The Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine stressed that the role of the national parliaments should be strengthened, as demanded by the reforms of the European human rights protection system. "A comprehensive concept of national policy in the sphere of human rights should be developed. Moreover, the bills and other normative-legal acts should undergo expert review as to their conformity to the Convention," he stated.
V.Lytvyn initiated to discuss the pressing issues at the high-level conference of the Council of Europe member states in Ukraine in 2011. "Attendants of this forum should analyze the process and preliminary results of implementation of the Interlaken declaration."