The Agency for Legislative Initiatives (ALI) has launched a new project supported by the MATRA programme of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ukraine. The project aims to consistently advance the reform of the judiciary and the prosecution, which are crucial for Ukraine’s further progress on its path toward European integration.
Two Key Areas of the Project
The project focuses on two strategic priorities.
The first area is the optimisation of the national network of general local first instance courts.
The current court system does not align with Ukraine’s new administrative and territorial structure or with the realities of wartime, thereby complicating access to justice for citizens and posing additional risks to the effective functioning of the judicial system.
To address these challenges, the Agency for Legislative Initiatives will:
- Develop a new court mapping methodology that takes into account Ukraine’s updated administrative-territorial division, internal and external migration processes caused by the ongoing war, judges’ workload, and the geographical features of regions, including those located close to the combat zone. At all stages, the recommendations of the Council of Europe European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) will be taken into account.
- Prepare model court maps for each government-controlled region of Ukraine. Based on the results, universal regional maps will be developed, defining the number of courts and judges, as well as hub territorial communities for the location of new courts of first instance.
- Develop a detailed step-by-step plan for a pilot project on optimising the network of general local courts in one of Ukraine’s regions, which can later be replicated in all other regions.
- Assist in developing the legislative framework necessary for this transformation.
This project will help rethink court mapping projects developed before the full-scale invasion and, taking into account significant population migration, propose the most optimal models for the future functioning of the system of general local courts. The goal is to ensure the best possible access to justice for Ukrainian citizens residing in government-controlled territories or using judicial services from abroad.
The second area focuses on strengthening guarantees of prosecutorial independence by enhancing the institutional capacity and autonomy of the Council of Prosecutors of Ukraine (CPU), as a body of prosecutorial self-governance, and the Qualification and Disciplinary Commission of Prosecutors (QDCP), as a body ensuring the functioning of the prosecution.
The current legal design of these bodies prevents them from effectively fulfilling their mandate to protect prosecutorial independence. At the same time, their financial dependence on the Prosecutor’s General Office undermines their institutional autonomy in this process.
The project envisages the preparation of analytical concepts based on EU standards to substantiate proposed solutions, ALI’s expert participation in drafting legislative amendments together with key stakeholders (the Office of the Prosecutor General, the Council of Prosecutors of Ukraine, and the Qualification and Disciplinary Commission of Prosecutors), as well as further advocacy for the proposed reforms.
Expected Outcomes
The implementation of the project is expected to create practical preconditions for:
- improving citizens’ access to justice through an updated and rationally structured network of local general courts of first instance;
- ensuring that prosecutors adopt lawful and fair decisions in criminal proceedings by reducing the risks of pressure and interference, including from political actors or senior management, made possible through strengthening the institutional capacity of prosecutorial self-governance to safeguard prosecutorial independence;
- implementing the recommendations of the European Commission and the objectives of the Rule of Law Roadmap, which are necessary for advancing Ukraine’s path toward EU membership.
The project will last for two years.
About the MATRA Programme
The MATRA programme of the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands supports reforms in the field of democracy and the rule of law in the countries joining the EU. Support for this project is further evidence of the Netherlands’ consistent support, which, even in conditions of full-scale war, remains a loyal partner of Ukraine: strict but fair, and involved at every stage of Ukraine’s integration into the EU.
Responsibility for the content of the project lies with the authors and does not necessarily reflect the official position of the Netherlands.
