At the meeting of the Committees of the Verkhovna Rada on legal policy and law enforcement activities, draft laws on the introduction of the institution of jury trials were discussed. This was reported by People's Deputy Vladlen Neklyudov.
The discussion, conducted under the leadership of deputies, was entitled "Discussion of draft laws on the introduction of jury trials in Ukraine."
As a reminder, in October 2020, the Cabinet of Ministers presented draft laws No. 4190 and No. 4191 to the Verkhovna Rada, aimed at implementing the classic jury trial model in Ukraine. These projects were developed by the Ministry of Justice. They were included in the agenda in November 2020, but further action on them was delayed.
According to the data of the "Sudovo-yuridichna Gazeta", draft laws 2709-1 and 2710-1 of January 16, 2020 (initiator - People's Deputy Serhii Vlasenko), as well as 3843, 3844, 3845 of July 14, 2020 (initiators) were discussed at the committee meeting – people's deputies Pavlo Frolov, Ihor Fries, Fedir Venislavskyi and Pavlo Pavlish).
"This is an important topic! Implementation of the constitutional right of citizens to participate in justice, and this reform must be implemented so that every citizen can participate in justice and understand what it means in real life!” - emphasized Neklyudov.
Representatives of the High Council of Justice, the Council of Judges of Ukraine, the State Judicial Administration, the National School of Judges, public organizations, international aid projects (in particular, the United States Agency for International Development USAID), judges, lawyers, prosecutors, scientists and international experts joined the discussion.
Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Law Enforcement Activities Serhiy Ionushas, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Legal Policy Denys Maslov, Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine Oleksandr Banchuk and other representatives spoke.
Previously, expert discussions on the topic "Trial by jury: citizen participation as a mechanism for increasing trust in justice" were held, which were developed by the RPR Coalition with the support of USAID. The meeting participants were informed of the results of these discussions.
"In the end, we agreed on the next steps to implement the draft laws registered in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on the introduction of jury trials," Vladlen Neklyudov said.
Where it is planned to get funding for the introduction of a full-fledged jury trial and whether such changes are planned to be implemented during martial law is currently unknown.
