24 September 2010, 13:23
On Friday, Volodymyr Lytvyn, Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, attended the General Assembly of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine.
The speech of the Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine was dedicated to the 60th anniversary of adoption of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Liberties, and to the tasks of legal science in Ukraine.
V.Lytvyn stated that the 60th anniversary of adoption of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Liberties was a symbolic event, particularly for Ukraine. He declared that the European Community considered this date "as a common achievement and success." He reminded that on November 9, 15 years will have passed since our country signed the Convention.
The Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine commented upon the discussions about the place of Ukraine in the international and European system of human rights protection. He refuted the statements of several Western European researchers that Ukraine ‘is not ready´ for the high standards of the Convention, and ‘is not able´ to understand the essence of its democratic provisions. "Notwithstanding the long-lasting development of legal theory and law in Ukraine, we have to admit that Ukraine is not a country of advanced democracy, but the country of underused European-level democracy," V.Lytvyn stated.
"Hardly can I name a clause of the Convention or its Protocol that was unfamiliar to Ukrainian law or legal theory, or to the people residing in this territory before the state was established," V.Lytvyn stressed. To prove his opinion, the Head of the Parliament referred to several provisions of historical documents.
V.Lytvyn believes that "modern political-legal theory should pass the way from recognition of the supremacy of law to its consolidation". He admitted that "the rejected democratic sources of our nation should be restored." "Going back to the statements on the inability to understand high standards and values of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Liberties, I must say that it is of evil. We should improve the mechanisms of human rights protection, but we should not be taught how to interpret these rights," he stated.
V.Lytvyn singled out the topical tasks of the legal theory of Ukraine in the field of human rights. He believes that "studies of the history of legal theory in Ukraine in the field of human rights need a more thorough approach." He deems necessary to improve the national mechanisms of human rights protection and training of students in the higher education establishments.
The Head of Ukraine stressed that ratification of the Convention required that national law-making and law enforcement practice be changed.
A full version of the speech is available at the personal web site of the Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (http://chairman.rada.gov.ua).