Volodymyr Sushchenko about JustConf 2022. Notes from an interested listener
For the second time (first time was in 2021), I took part in the conference of creative lawyers speakers selected by the competition. It took place at the platform of the community of “crazy criminalists” (a meme by Larysa Denysenko) under the auspices of JustGroup. These conferences are a logical continuation of several previous in-depth research projects in the field of criminal justice that were implemented with support from the International Renaissance Foundation.
This year, JustConf was about ideas that should change values – the professional consciousness, culture and responsibility of people who devote their activities to the search for relative justice in the field of combating crime, including during the war between Russia and Ukraine.
At the conference, the pre-selected legal speakers presented their opinions, conclusions and ideas on current problems of criminal justice, notably, on determination of admissibility of evidence in court proceedings; on digitization of the criminal process both at the stage of pre-trial investigation and in the judicial review of criminal proceedings; on judicial protection of private property on confiscated/seized property; on coordination of pre-trial investigation bodies and the prosecutor’s office for improving efficiency of their joint activities; on methods and means of communication of the parties and participants of the criminal process for achieving optimal justice in the adjudication of criminal offenses; on improving reputation and effectiveness of the secretariats of judicial institutions for providing support for the judiciary and establishing public trust in it; on optimization of methods and procedures for courts determining the proportional measure of punishment for criminals; on important role of a continuous system of professional development/training of practicing lawyers which is critical for transformative and effective institutional changes/improvements in the criminal justice system.
All the speeches were interesting and useful in terms of innovative approaches to possible ways to address the problems raised by the authors.
I took note of the speech by Olga Semenyuk, a lawyer, coordinator of the training for lawyers program at UHHRU, regarding transitional justice and the grounds for amnesty of Ukrainian citizens for committing non-war crimes while living in the territories of Ukraine occupied by the aggressor, with the aim of further restoring peaceful social coexistence after the de-occupation of these territories.
Arkadii Bushchenko impressed me (I am sure that not only me) with the meaningful content and creative form of presentation of his own understanding of the admissibility of evidence in the criminal process.
Some of the opinions and conclusions expressed at the conference are in my opinion quite debatable and require additional arguments, for example regarding: 1) the possibility of using artificial intelligence to “identify criminals” in the process of pre-trial investigation of serial crimes (speaker Liliya Korostelova, inspector of the department of support for informatization programs and work with open data management of the information and analytical support of the Main Department of National Police in Luhansk oblast); 2) establishment of a special commission (public authority) for the courts to determine the unified limits of punishment of criminals for committing similar-type crimes (speaker Rasim Babanly, Head of the Department of Analytical and Legal Work of the Supreme Court of Ukraine).
But the fact that these ideas are debatable only adds interest, creativity and usefulness to the conference in terms of uniting the legal community in the field of criminal justice around common values – optimal justice, transparency, standardization, professional ethics and responsibility. I have reasons to express special gratitude to the JustGroup team that organized this event – that I hope will become regular – for the extremely pleasant and warm atmosphere of mutual respect and attention to each of the conference participants. Several hours have flown by like a single moment. I believe that the conference brings us – Ukraine – closer to victory over the aggressor and to proper justice for all those guilty of war crimes against peace, freedom and humanity on our planet in the 21st century.
