ABOUT US

The NGO Interregional Expert Center “PRO Justice” (hereinafter referred to as the NGO IC “PRO Justice”) was established on the basis of six regional justice reform councils of the EU Project “Pravo-Justice”. The purpose of the councils and the public association is to develop state policy in the field of justice. The Regional Justice Reform Councils acted as permanent working groups that facilitated the implementation of reforms in accordance with the bottom-up principle – by bringing region-specific challenges and their potential solutions to the level of central authorities. As a result, lawyers from the regions, by developing their own proposals for solving problematic issues, were able to participate in shaping justice policy and present their comprehensive recommendations for improving legislation. From now on, this honorable function is performed by the NGO MEC “PRO JUSTICE”.

The Regional Justice Reform Councils (RJCs) were established with the support of the EU Pravo-Justice Project and operate in Chernivtsi, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Lviv, Odesa regions and Donbas. To date, members of the Councils have been actively involved in the preparation of a draft law on mediation, amendments to the Bankruptcy Code, proposals to improve legislation on enforcement proceedings, the introduction of an electronic court, and discussions on the concept of transitional justice.
The process of forming regional councils lasted from July 2018 to February 2019. Each Regional Council on Justice Reform consisted of representatives of a wide range of legal professions, academia, students, and civil society organizations. Their goal is to provide a constant and structured dialogue between the central level and the regions to give policy makers in Kyiv a clearer picture of the needs and expectations of the regions regarding justice reform. At the same time, these councils monitored the impact of reforms in their regions.
The RECs acted as permanent working groups that facilitated the implementation of reforms in accordance with the bottom-up principle: by bringing region-specific challenges and their potential solutions to the level of central authorities.
One of the forms of the COJR’s activities is the format of interregional working groups to analyze the current state of affairs and develop proposals for reforms in various areas of justice. The previous activities of the interregional working groups resulted in the development of proposals for the Strategy for Sustainable Development of the Judicial System for 2021-2025, a report on mediation in administrative cases, a report on mediation in civil and commercial cases, and an analytical report on remote hearings in civil, commercial and administrative proceedings. The latter have been presented and approved by the Legal Reform Commission under the Presidential Office, the Ministry of Justice, the High Council of Justice, and other central-level politicians.