Konrad Zweigert Scholar Ivan Sukhorukov in conversation
Ivan Sukhorukov is conducting comparative legal research in both a European and a global context. He is currently a PhD candidate at Mykolas Romeris University in Lithuania and at the Université Savoie Mont Blanc in France, and he has already obtained a double Master of Laws degree from both universities. He obtained his Bachelor of Law from Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University in Kharkiv, Ukraine. From 1 July to 30 September 2026, he will be conducting research at the Institute as a Konrad Zweigert Fellow.
Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) guarantees the right to a fair trial. This must be ensured, in particular, in the taking of evidence. In his doctoral thesis, Sukhorukov examines how the rights set out in Article 6 of the ECHR can be protected when the evidence required to resolve a legal dispute is located abroad.
He is currently investigating how cross-border evidence-taking serves to safeguard the right to a fair trial in civil and commercial legal disputes. “My aim is to define a theoretical framework that describes and captures the obligation of the involved states to cooperate.”
On this basis, his next step is to carry out a comparative analysis of the three key international regulatory frameworks so as to identify the most effective model for the cross-border taking of evidence. Specifically, these are the EU Evidence Regulation (EuBVO 2020/1783), the Hague Convention on the Taking of Evidence Abroad (1970), and the Inter-American Convention on the Taking of Evidence Abroad (1975). Finally, he intends to look to the future and examine in greater detail new developments in the field of cross-border taking of evidence within the EU.
For Sukhorukov, conducting research across national borders is a given. He completed his entire legal education in English and actively supports student activities through coaching and judging international moot court competitions, including the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition. He recently coached the Mykolas Romeris University team to the Final Oral Round of the Helga Pedersen Moot Court Competition in Strasbourg. He is also using his time in Hamburg to engage in dialogue with other visiting researchers and the Institute’s academic staff. He will soon be presenting some of the key findings from his current research at the ‘Conflicts Club’, a weekly discussion forum held at the Institute.
Image: © Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law / Johanna Detering
