Anastasiia Didenko — Moderator at the III APU Anti-Corruption Law Conference

On 6 March, the Ukrainian Bar Association held the III Anti-Corruption Law Conference, bringing together judges, representatives of anti-corruption bodies, lawyers, and experts to discuss current law enforcement issues in this field.

Anastasiia Didenko, Counsel at LCF Law Group, moderated the session devoted to judicial practice, framing the key topic for discussion — defining the boundary between parties' procedural tactics and the abuse of procedural rights, taking into account the different approaches to assessing such actions by the court and the parties to proceedings.

Participants, including judges of the High Anti-Corruption Court and the Supreme Court, a lawyer of the European Court of Human Rights, and a barrister, discussed the following topics:

• the limits of permissible procedural conduct and the criteria for distinguishing it from abuse of procedural rights;
• the application of procedural mechanisms that may influence the formation of the composition of the court;
• the specifics of parties' participation in court hearings by videoconference, including in cases where participants are located outside Ukraine;
• practical aspects of applying precautionary measures and assessing procedural risks;
• the approaches of the European Court of Human Rights to determining the amount and application of bail.

During the discussion, particular attention was paid to the practical challenges of remote participation in court proceedings, as well as to situations in which the simultaneous use of various procedural instruments creates complex procedural conflicts for the court.

At the conclusion of the discussion, Anastasiia Didenko noted: 'We did not reach a single conclusion as to where the boundary lies between procedural tactics and procedural abuses in criminal proceedings — on the part of both the defence and the prosecution. It is evident that no universal approach exists: in each specific case, it is necessary to assess the circumstances and determine whether there were grounds for the relevant actions, or whether there is an abuse of procedural rights.'

We thank the Ukrainian Bar Association for organising the event and for the substantive professional discussion of current issues of judicial practice in corruption cases.