Handbook for Legal Professionals in Ukraine
Ensuring the Fairness of Conflict-Related Trials

Handbook for Legal Professionals in Ukraine
Ensuring the Fairness of Conflict-Related Trials

This handbook, developed by the T.M.C. Asser Institute, is a resource forUkrainian legal professionals handling conflict-related cases to ensurecompliance with fair trial standards. It emphasises the importance ofunderstanding Ukrainian constitutional and procedural laws alongsideinternational (and European) human rights, humanitarian, and criminal law. Evenwith Ukraine's derogations from some human rights treaties during the conflict,certain elements of the right to a fair trial must be ensured. The handbookcovers crucial aspects of ensuring fairness in conflict-related cases, includingupholding the presumption of innocence, ensuring independent and impartialcourts, promoting adversarial proceedings and the right to a defence, respectingrights during investigations and pre-trial detention, addressing the length ofproceedings, approaching evidence properly, and in absentia trials. Itrecommends legislative amendments to align with international standards whileempowering practitioners to utilise existing frameworks to develop practice.