Strengthening the Abilities of Ukraine’s Justice System to Protect and Restore Victims’ Rights

About

The project aimed to build understanding and engage key justice stakeholders in a constructive way to improve justice for victims of the armed conflict. The project complemented existing efforts to ensure accountability for international crimes in Ukraine by introducing international standards and best practices into ongoing justice-related processes, such as pre-trial investigations, victim representation through strategic litigation, and strengthening national legislation through the ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

Key results

• As part of strategic litigation efforts, legal assistance was provided to:
  • one survivor of CRSV;
  • 12 individuals whose right to a fair trial had been violated;
  • 11 children affected by deportation and forced displacement.

• Within the framework of the project, these categories of individuals affected by the armed conflict received legal support in criminal proceedings at the national level, as well as through available international justice mechanisms. Various avenues of justice were used, including universal jurisdiction, the UN Human Rights Committee, the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances, and cases on behalf of victims were also pursued within Ukraine’s national justice system.