We hear a lot about the horrors of the war in Ukraine but what does it mean for the day to day delivery of justice?
Yevhen Synelnykov, a judge at the Ukrainian Supreme Court, was given permission to visit the UK (fighting age men are not generally allowed to leave the country) to talk to the judiciary in London. Clive Lewis LJ, judge at the court appeal and also alumnus of Selwyn, was acting as his host. Yevhen expressed a real enthusiasm to meet some students during his short visit and he came to Cambridge to and discuss with students his experiences of being a judge under fire.
Attendees were all struck by the bravery of the men and women who were serving, that his colleague and deputy president of the Supreme Court had been killed while delivering food, and that one of the most difficult tasks for the judges is to determine whether a particular soldier has been killed. The PowerPoint slides that he drew upon give a very powerful presentation of just what it means to be a judge in Ukraine at the moment.
Judge Synelnykov also shared a 24-minute film about the effects of the ongoing war on the administration of justice in Ukraine: