John Marshall Law School Professor Michael Seng (center), director of International Programs, spoke to a Ukrainian delegation on its visit to Chicago. Guests were (from left) Mykhaylo Yuriyovych Vikkhlyayev; Olga Anatoliivna Tkachuk; Dmytro Mykolayovych Byelov; Tetyana Anatoliyivna Bordunis; Svetlana Medford, interpreter; Nadiya Romanivna Kobetska; and Volodymyr Hennadiyovych Feskov.
The Center for International Law at The John Marshall Law School hosted a delegation from Ukraine on Sept. 19, 2011. The group was in Chicago as part of its study of “civil rule of law” in conjunction with the Open World Program, a nonpartisan initiative of the United States Congress that builds mutual understanding between the emerging leaders of participating countries and their U.S. counterparts.
The visiting delegation will help with the establishment of a Constitutional Assembly in Ukraine. The working group of scientific experts will help draft the new constitution and become an advisory body to the president. It is planned that the new draft of the constitution, prepared by the Constitutional Assembly, will be considered by the Ukrainian Parliament after the elections of 2012. The assembly will be working closely with the European Commission for Democracy through Law, the Council of Europe’s advisory body on constitutional matters and an internationally recognized independent think-tank.
During the visit to John Marshall, Professor Michael Seng, director of International Programs, spoke to the delegation. Representatives were Mykhaylo Yuriyovych Vikkhlyayev, chair of Constitutional and Labor Law at Zaporizkyy National University; Dmytro Mykolayovych Byelov, associate professor, Department of Constitutional and Comparative Law at Uzhgtorod National University Law School; Tetyana Anatoliyivna Bordunis, president of All-Ukrainian Movement for Human Rights; Nadiya Romanivna Kobetska, head of the Department of Labor, Environmental and Agriculture Law at Stefanyk Carpathian National University; Volodymyr Hennadiyovych Feskov, a news reporter and project manager for Vested, a Carpathian human rights agency.