OSCE supported training on election legislation for administrative and local court judges ahead of Ukraine’s early parliamentary vote

More than 450 administrative and local court judges from all over Ukraine were trained to review election-related disputes at a series of seminars held from 17 September to 1 October 2014 by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine and the Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine.

Eight training sessions on uniform interpretation of election legislation were aimed at strengthening the capacity of judges in electoral disputes resolution in view of the upcoming parliamentary elections, scheduled for 26 October 2014.

The participants  discussed the Ukrainian law on the election of people’s deputies, including all amendments introduced during 2012-2014,  legal challenges related to election campaigning, the European Court of Human Rights case-law relevant to  voting rights and the practices of the Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine. The training aimed to enhance the coherence of administrative court practices in Ukraine. The project is being implemented at the request of the Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine, with financial support from the Government of Norway and the Government of Germany.

The OSCE Project Co-ordinator and the ODIHR/OSCE election observation mission operate independently, under their separate mandates.