Judges from the southern regions of Ukraine received training on migration issues

On December 8, 2017, a training course “International and National Standards for the Protection of the Rights of Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Ukraine” was held in Mykolaiv for judges of local general and district administrative courts of Mykolaiv, Odessa and Kherson regions.

The event was organized by the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights in cooperation with the regional branch of the National School of Judges of Ukraine with the assistance of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Ukraine within the framework of the project “Enhancing Access to Justice for Asylum Seekers, Migrants and Other Vulnerable Groups of Foreign Citizens in Ukraine”, which is implemented with the support of the American people, provided through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the New Justice Program.

Addressing the training participants, the director of the Odessa regional branch of the National School of Judges of Ukraine

Valeriy Levenets

emphasized the importance of holding such events and raising the level of awareness of judges in migration legislation.

Such an event is very important for representatives of the judicial corps of the southern regions of Ukraine, because it is in the territory of the Mykolaiv region that a new Temporary Residence Point for Foreigners and Stateless Persons will soon be operational. This fact will affect judicial practice and will require new challenges in the field of access to justice for asylum seekers and irregular migrants who will be held in this institution,” noted the head of the regional branch of the National School of Judges of Ukraine.

Tukhan Ediev

, Program Director of the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights, noted that recent changes in legislation require representatives of the judiciary to pay special attention to the consideration of cases of extradition of individuals and expulsion of foreigners to countries where they may be subjected to torture and ill-treatment, including in the context of the practice of the European Court of Human Rights.

The trainers of the event were leading Ukrainian experts on migration issues, lawyers of the Odessa public organization “April 10”

Maryna Kurochkina

and

Yuriy Syvologa

, as well as the legal advisor of the regional office of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

Dmytro Plechko

.

During the training, the participants were able to familiarize themselves with international and national legal mechanisms in the field of protection of the right to asylum, procedures for determining refugee status under the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the Law of Ukraine “On Refugees and Persons in Need of Supplementary or Temporary Protection”, the specifics of considering cases regarding the appeal of decisions of the migration service on the refusal to accept an asylum seeker’s application for recognition as a refugee or a person in need of supplementary protection, and the preparation of documents for considering such applications, examined the main aspects of the problem of statelessness and the practice of the European Court of Human Rights in the context of considering asylum seeker cases.

Upon completion of the event, all attendees received certificates of completion of training on providing legal assistance to vulnerable groups of foreigners.

* * *

For information: The American people, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), have been providing economic and humanitarian assistance around the world for 55 years. Since 1992, USAID’s contribution to the economic and social development of Ukraine has amounted to about 2 billion US dollars. In Ukraine, USAID assistance is provided in such areas as: economic development, democracy and governance, health care, and the social sector. Additional information about USAID programs can be obtained from the USAID Information and Public Affairs Division by phone at +38 (044) 521-5741, on the website, or on the social network Facebook.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) New Justice Program has been implemented since October 2016 and builds on the achievements of previous USAID projects Ukraine: Rule of Law and Fair Justice. The program’s goal is to support the judiciary, the Government, Parliament, the legal community, law schools, civil society, the media, and citizens in creating conditions for an independent, accountable, transparent, and effective justice system that upholds the rule of law and combats corruption. For more information about the program, call +38 (044) 581-3303.