Ukrainian human rights activities will give the President a new draft law on peaceful assembly
A new draft law “On freedom of peaceful assembly” prepared by Ukrainian human rights activists complies with international human rights standards and was commended by the Venice Commission. This according to participants of the international conference “Freedom of Peaceful Assembly: European Standards for Ukraine” that was held in Kyiv on November 3-4. The event was organized by the Ukrainian Commission for Strengthening Democracy and Rule of Law, the Rule of Law Program of the International Renaissance Foundation, the National Democratic Institute, the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union, and the USAID Ukraine Rule of Law Project.
Representative of the Venice Commission and judge of the Croatian Constitutional Court Slavica Banic said the Commission proposed several minor edits to the law to prevent ambiguous interpretation.
Roman Kuybida, an expert at the Centre for Political and Legal Reforms, said the document provides for European standards of peaceful assembly, such as the right to hold counter demonstrations, simultaneous peaceful gatherings and spontaneous peaceful gatherings, and requires the government to ensure the safety of participants of such gatherings.
One of the law’s authors, Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union head Volodymyr Yavorivsky, said the main purpose of the document is to minimize interference by government and law enforcement in peaceful gatherings, and that under the proposed legislation only a court can ban peaceful gatherings.
The High Administrative Court of Ukraine was also recommended to generalize judicial practice and with its decisions promote European standards of freedom of peaceful assembly based on the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and its application by the European Court of Human Rights.
Once these suggestions are applied, the document will be given to the president of Ukraine to be introduced in the Verkhovna Rada.
The Rule of Law Program
Roman Romanov
(+38 044) 482 03 63
romanov@irf.ua
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The aim of the Rule of Law Program is to support the civil society initiatives directed to the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, to promote strengthened legal consciousness and public activity at the central and local levels.
