Non-discrimination in the administration of justice: the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and national remedies

On 19 May 2026, the National School of Judges of Ukraine, assisted by the Council of Europe’s project ‘Supporting Ukraine in the implementation of Council of Europe standards on the judiciary’ and the OSCE Support Programme for Ukraine, held a training session on ‘Preventing and Combating Discrimination’ for judges of local general courts.

The trainers were Tetiana Fuley, Head of the Department of Research and Scientific and Methodological Support for Judicial Education at the National School of Judges of Ukraine, as well as Rostyslav Moskal, a judge at the Eighth Administrative Court of Appeal, and Serhiy Shynkorenko, a judge at the Horodok District Court in Khmelnytskyi Oblast.

During the training, the judges discussed international standards and national legislation on preventing and combating discrimination, the concepts and forms of discrimination, the specifics of applying the discrimination test, and the procedure for examining complaints regarding discriminatory treatment in accordance with the case law of the European Court of Human Rights.

Particular attention was paid to the ECHR’s case law in cases against Ukraine, the issue of establishing a discriminatory motive in the commission of offences, the shift in the burden of proof in civil proceedings, and the role of the court in ensuring the effective protection of human rights.

During the training, participants took part in interactive mini-lectures, moderated discussions, practical exercises and small-group work; they analysed judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and practised applying non-discrimination standards in the administration of justice.

According to the feedback, participants highly rated the relevance of the training topics, the practical focus of the training and the professional calibre of the trainers.