Fair proceedings despite the

“Since 2017, we have monitored over 700 court cases. Our monitoring team, currently consisting of three lawyers and 16 law students in their final semesters, attended almost 200 trials last year alone. Our assessment of the court cases is not binding on the courts involved. However, it is effective: the longer we monitor a trial, the more the parties involved in the litigation begin to use the rhetoric of our reports. On several occasions, a party has requested that our report be added to the court file so that it can be used in the event of an appeal. Because we are neither part of the government nor a ruling elite, our voice is heard, respected, and valued,” reported Anton Alekseyev, lawyer and director of the Legal Analysis Centre of the ISHR Ukraine section, via email in early March 2026.

After a previous monitoring project had to be discontinued due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the ISHR Ukraine section was able to resume monitoring court proceedings in November 2025 as part of a new project with financial support from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The ISHR has agreements with three universities in Kyiv stipulating that the monitoring by law students will be recognised as mandatory internships. Furthermore, the students employed by the ISHR are permitted to provide voluntary legal advice to Ukrainian citizens in so-called “legal clinics”—institute facilities affiliated with the university—under the expert guidance of experienced lawyers, essentially as practical experience for their future careers. The section reports the results of the monitored proceedings—including a current trial involving former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko—to the media and presents them at three roundtables. Professors and legal experts were invited to the first roundtable, which took place in early March 2026. But instead, judges, even from high courts, had registered and participated themselves. Based on this serious and professional observation, at the end of December 2025, the Ukrainian Ombudsman for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinez, asked the ISHR to conduct training for his staff. This year, the ISHR plans to hold twelve training seminars in six cities for 150 of the Ombudsman’s employees. Anton Alekseyev writes:

“The problem is that the Ombudsman has no financial resources to support such training and therefore no money for training materials, travel expenses, or accommodation and meals. It would be so important for us if we could count on your help .”

The ISHR has a great opportunity to make a lasting contribution to the development and strengthening of the rule of law in Ukraine. To ensure a successful start, we would like to provide the section with €3,000. Please help us. Reference: “Rule of Law Ukraine” (364)

Participants in the discussion round for the development of guidelines for observing court proceedings include, fifth from the right, Anton Alekseyev — Director of the Information and Analysis Centre of the International Society for Human Rights (IAC ISHR). His wife (sixth from the right in the picture), lawyer Anastasiia Alekseyeva, coordinator of the IAC ISHR Monitoring Mission, reports on the current situation in Ukraine and the work of the ISHR section for internally displaced persons and people stranded near the front lines at the ISHR Annual Conference on April 11, 2026, at the GSI in Bonn © ISHR

Balance sheet of good deeds

In February, despite the bitter cold and uncertain security situation, ISHR member Jens Leisenberg transported another used but TÜV-certified and fully equipped ambulance, packed with hospital supplies (especially IV sets worth €25,000), warm clothing, generators, and power stations (total value €7,500), to a paramedic training center in Dnipro and to warming points. Another transport, containing ECG machines and accessories worth €9,500 and other medical supplies, was destined for a hospital train stationed in Kharkiv. The organisation was also very grateful for 24 crates of canned meat, which helped provide food for asylum seekers sheltering in makeshift cellars.

This marked the conclusion of ISHR’s support efforts from the previous year, during which it stood alongside various humanitarian partners in Ukraine, particularly medical facilities, as well as the ISHR section. ISHR is deeply grateful to all those who made this work possible, including its partners: the Human Rights Centre Cottbus, the UOKG, a private initiative in Lower Saxony, and the company Energieparkentwickler UKA in Meißen.

However, the situation remains deeply concerning. As further Russian attacks are expected, the need for humanitarian assistance is likely to continue growing.