22 October 2010, 15:48
Volodymyr Lytvyn, Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, calls on the Government and the Parliament to take action for fulfillment of Ukraine´s commitments to the Council of Europe and termination of the monitoring.
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 implementing the Declaration adopted at the High Level Interlaken Conference on February 18-19, 2010 organized under the Swiss chairmanship in the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.
The attendants of the conference developed an action plan as the foundation for reforming the European Court of Human Rights and the regional system of human rights protection. They called on the Council of Europe member states to prevent narrowing down the results of the conference to the political declarations, but suggest pragmatic actions. The declaration rightfully states that national authority bodies, i.e. governments, courts and parliaments, should play a basic role in the protection of human rights.
V.Lytvyn reminded that Ukraine should report on the fulfillment of the Declaration to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe by the end of 2011. "Half of the allocated period has already passed, while abundance of work still remains. It seems that our own opinion of this situation and understanding of responsibility for the fulfillment of international commitments (including political ones) are of priority," he admitted.
The Head of the Parliament stated that Ukraine would assume chairmanship in the Committee in May 2011. "Our European colleagues will apparently fail to understand how the performer of this leading and respected role so poorly implements this Declaration," V.Lytvyn claimed. "Thus, I call on the Cabinet of Ministers and The Verkhovna Rada with a request to take immediate action to fulfill Ukraine´s obligations before the Council of Europe and terminate the monitoring. It is a strange situation that the country chairing the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe is being monitored itself."
"The debates on enhancement of human rights protection tools will continue, unless the entire human protection system is reformed," the Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine summed up. He believes that reforms of the European Court of Human Rights should be of priority.
V.Lytvyn presented statistical data concerning appeals of the Western and Eastern Europeans to the European Court of Human Rights. He admitted that the number of appeals grew due to the imperfect national and European tools of human rights protection.
The Head of the Parliament admitted that our court system leaved much to be desired. According to him, 39 per cent of the resolutions of the European Court connected with Ukraine appertain to the violation of the right for impartial justice, 28 per cent to the violation of the ownership right, 12 per cent to the long-lasting judicial proceedings. He stressed that national tools of human rights protection should be improved.
V.Lytvyn addressed the Committee on Human Rights, National Minorities and International Relations with a request to tackle these issues. "Listen to the official reports, initiate parliamentary hearings, study the resolutions of the European Court and their fulfillment in Ukraine, and submit the bills on topical issues," he called. "This Committee should facilitate adoption of effective and workable tools of human rights protection in our country. Naturally, the Parliament should not stand aside either."