A/HRC/45/CRP.9 OHCHR is aware of two cases where a ‘court’ of ‘Donetsk people’s republic’ imposed the death penalty,131 however these ‘sentences’ have not been executed as of the date of this report. They nevertheless remain a concern, as other executions were carried out by the armed groups during the earlier years of the conflict (see para. 106 below). 104. Both self-proclaimed ‘republics’ established ‘local courts’132 based on the territorial structure of the Ukrainian judiciary, which operated in the territory until November 2014. 133 105. Both self-proclaimed ‘republics’ took steps to establish a three-level ‘court’ system.134 The ‘supreme court’ of ‘Donetsk people’s republic’ began functioning on 9 January 2015. The ‘supreme court’ of ‘Luhansk people’s republic’ began operations as a ‘court of appeal and cassation’ on 25 October 2018. 106. Before establishment of these systems, military formations operating in the selfproclaimed ‘republics’ held ad hoc ‘military tribunals’ or ‘people’s courts’ as show trials either without any legal framework or following USSR martial law of the Second World War. Those ‘trials’ led to arbitrary or summary executions and other violations of human rights law and international humanitarian law.135 B. Independent and impartial review of administrative detention and judicial review of pre-trial detention 107. OHCHR is concerned about the practice of administrative detention136 widely applied through the use of ‘administrative arrest’ in territory controlled by ‘Donetsk people’s republic’ and ‘preventive detention’ in territory controlled by ‘Luhansk people’s republic’. 137 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 The first ‘sentence’ was ‘pronounced’ by the ‘supreme court’ in February 2016, against a man ‘convicted’ of raping and killing a child. The second was imposed on 18 July 2018 against a member of a gang who was ‘convicted’ of abduction, pillage and murder in 2014-2015. The head of the ‘supreme court’ of ‘Donetsk people’s republic’ established 14 local ‘courts’ on 1 December 2014, and an additional one (‘Debaltsevskyi town court’) on 6 May 2015. On 21 April 2015, the head of the ‘supreme court’ ordered the creation of a ‘military field court’ as a local court. On 24 October 2015, the head of ‘Luhansk people’s republic’ issued the ‘order’ prescribing the commencement of the operation of 15 local ‘courts’. Another two local courts commenced activities on 3 and 28 December 2015 (‘Rovenskyi town court’ and ‘Stakhanovskyi district court’. The latter acquired jurisdiction of the ‘Pervomaiskyi town court’, which did not commence operation). Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 1085-р of 7 November 2014 suspended operations of governmental bodies, including courts, in specific locations of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. All 31 local courts of Donetsk region and all 17 local courts of Luhansk region were only officially closed down on 25 January 2018 by the High Council of Justice of Ukraine No. 182/0/15-18, decision available at www.vru.gov.ua/content/act/182_25.01_.2018_.docx. See the ‘laws’ “on the judicial system” of ‘Donetsk people’s republic’ of 31 August 2018, article 4, and ‘Luhansk people’s republic’ of 30 April 2015, article 18 para. 2. According to article 20 of the ‘law’ of ‘Donetsk people’s republic’, the ‘court of appeal’ is to be created by 2022. In territory controlled by ‘Luhansk people’s republic’ the ‘supreme court’ performs the functions of the appeal instance through an ‘appeal chamber’. OHCHR, Accountability for killings in Ukraine from January 2014 to May 2016, Annex I, paras. 4246. In international human rights law, administrative detention (also known as security detention or preventive detention) is usually defined as arrest and detention of individuals outside the criminal law context, for example for reasons of security, including terrorism, as a form of preventive detention, or to restrain irregular migrants. See e.g. A/HRC/13/30, para. 77. In territory controlled by ‘Donetsk people’s republic’, the practice of ‘administrative arrest’ was applied in accordance with the ‘decree’ of the ‘council of ministers’ of ‘Donetsk people’s republic’ of 28 August 2014, which contradicted the ‘constitution’ of the ‘republic’ and was cancelled upon the adoption of the ‘criminal procedure code’ in August 2018. However, ‘investigative bodies’ of ‘Donetsk people’s republic’ continue to apply ‘administrative arrest’ in accordance with another ‘order’ of the ‘council of ministers’ of ‘Donetsk people’s republic’, which was not ‘officially’ published and constitutes an ‘internal ruling’. ‘Preventive arrest’ in territory controlled by ‘Luhansk people’s republic’ was introduced by amendments to the ‘martial law’ dated 2 February 2018. However, OHCHR documented cases where arbitrary detention on grounds similar to administrative detention was applied in territory controlled by ‘Luhansk people’s republic’ before the adoption of the said amendments. 23