EU Project Pravo-Justice and the Association of Private Enforcement Officers of Ukraine Held the Strategic Session
On November 14, on the day of the 5th anniversary of the Association of Private Enforcement Officers of Ukraine, the first part of the Strategic Session for PEOs was held with the assistance of the EU Project Pravo-Justice. The key goal of the event was to analyze the achievements of the Association; to discuss the existing problems; and to outline the road map for further development of the APEOU and the PEOs’ profession. The event was moderated by Alina Serhieieva, Expert of the EU Project Pravo-Justice on mediation issues.
Iryna Zharonkina, Property Rights and Enforcement Component Lead of the EU Project Project Pravo-Justice, addressed the participants of the Strategic Session with a welcome speech. She noted that since 2017, the PEOs have made a difficult but successful journey.
“Despite the difficult conditions in which the profession has been shaped, you proved with your professionalism that the profession is important and meets public needs. It is your area of intervention – which is execution of court decisions – that is extremely important to strengthen the judicial system in Ukraine,” said Iryna Zharonkina. She also advised PEOs to keep building up the Association which will protect the rights of every community member and to make efforts for greater development of the profession in general.
“In order to ensure that the interests of PEOs are respected, that other organizations and institutions hear your voice as the participants to the process and see you as full-fledged partners, you need to form a corporation – the profession that defends its interests and dignity. Building a corporation means that you have to act as one team in front of all other partners,” added Iryna Zharonkina.
In his welcoming speech, Head of the APEOU Vitalii Chepurnyi briefed on the path the Association has made over the past five years and the pace of development of enforcement, while emphasizing the need to enhance internal communication within the PEOs’ professional community.
“In order to further maintain a more positive image of our profession, in order to be heard and respected, we need to demonstrate sustainable development, self-control and commitment to the principle of legality and the rule of law. Internal communication should play a significant role in the effectiveness of our Association. The Strategic Session, that we are having with the support of our reliable partner – EU Project Pravo-Justice, – will contribute to the exchange of opinions within the community that are key to further development of our Association and our profession,” said Vitalii Chepurnyi.
Head of the APEOU Secretariat Kostiantyn Kolomoitsev analyzed the implementation of the current Strategy of the APEOU Development and Activities and presented the draft Action Plan for 2022-2023. While exchanging opinions, the participants to the Strategic Session listed the following among the achievements of the Association: active participation of the community representatives in the development of the draft law No. 5660, which has already been adopted in the first reading, and numerous initiatives aimed at improving the regulatory and legal support of the profession; APEOU hitting the international stage by way of joining the International Union of Judicial Officers; development and approval of a new Code of Professional Ethics; optimization of fee policy; improvement of the association’s website; and opening of the register of PEOs.
Speaking of the areas the APEOU still needs to work on, the participants to the event pointed out the following: expansion of powers of regional councils of PEOs; expediency of holding more offline events for exchange of best practices and development of a unified algorithm of response to controversial issues; facilitation of communication with representatives of the judiciary; and promotion of a constructive public discussion.