News
Draft of Ukrainian Lustration Law and the Council of Europe standards
Currently, Ukraine is working on the new Lustration Law. The aim of the new Law is to exclude persons belonging to the circles of the former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who was ousted in February, from holding high public positions.
The participants of the conference (including, among others, representatives of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Special Administrative Court and the Interim Special Commission for Vetting of Judges of General Jurisdiction Courts) discussed such matters as the current state of works on the new Law. One of the greatest challenges which lie ahead of the authors of the Ukrainian Lustration Law is its compliance with the standards of lustration proceedings set forth in international law.
Advocate Paweł Osik attended a session on the practical aspects of lustration and its compatibility with international regulations. “The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe established basic rules of the lustration process in its resolution of 1996,” says advocate Paweł Osik. “According to the resolution, the lustration proceedings should be founded on the principle of a democratic state ruled by law, and the lustration itself should not be used as a tool for revenge or payback,” explains advocate Paweł Osik.
In its case-law, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) also created standards of the lustration proceedings. “In the case Ivan Turek against Slovakia, ECHR stated that a person suspected of cooperation with secret services of a totalitarian regime should have a guarantee of their right of defence and access to all documents related to them and used in the proceeding,” adds advocate Paweł Osik.