The European Court of Human Rights and the Significance of Its Judgments for Ukraine

Abstract

This article presents a comprehensive scholarly study of the role of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in the legal system of Ukraine, their significance for the consolidation of the rule of law, and for ensuring the effective protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the context of European integration processes.

The aim of the study is to analyze the significance of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights for the legal system of Ukraine and the specific features of their application.

The research methods include systemic, formal-legal, comparative legal, and statistical approaches, as well as the analysis of normative legal acts, national case law, and the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. In addition, a generalization method is applied to identify trends in the implementation of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in Ukraine and to assess their impact on the development of the legal system.

The results of the study indicate that the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights constitute an integral element of the legal system of Ukraine and perform an important interpretative and regulatory function in legal application. It has been established that, despite their statutory binding force, there remains no unified approach within the national legal system to defining the legal status of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, which leads to inconsistency in judicial practice. A statistical analysis of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights concerning Ukraine for the period 2022–2025 demonstrates a persistently high proportion of violations of the Convention, predominantly in the areas of the right to liberty and security, the right to a fair trial, and the right to an effective remedy. At the same time, a trend is observed toward the growing importance of issues related to the effectiveness of domestic legal remedies and the need to improve procedural safeguards.

The conclusions suggest that the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights are a key instrument for harmonizing the national law of Ukraine with European human rights standards and an important factor in the development of the principle of the rule of law. To enhance the effectiveness of their implementation, a unified approach to the application of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in judicial practice is required, along with improved methodological guidance for judges and strengthened institutional mechanisms for their enforcement, which will contribute to reinforcing legal certainty and the effectiveness of the national human rights protection system.