A system of independent legal support is being implemented in village councils of Chernihiv region

Three territorial communities of Chernihiv region are participating in a pilot all-Ukrainian project that involves the creation of an independent and professional legal support system in them on a long-term basis. These are the Dniprovska and Novobilouska village councils of Chernihiv district and the Kulykivska village council.

It is assumed that within the framework of the implementation of this project, a system of independent legal support will be created for 21 small communities in 7 regions of Ukraine. In particular, a legal analysis of decisions made at meetings of the relevant councils will be organized, and legal support for their current activities will be provided by providing legal consultations.

An important element of this project is also increasing the legal literacy of residents of these communities. For this purpose, regular receptions of citizens are already held in the mentioned village councils. In Chernihiv region, they are currently conducted by specialists from the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights.

“Our organization is a regional partner of the project “High-quality legal support for small communities”, which is implemented by the All-Ukrainian Coalition for the Provision of Legal Aid,” says Nataliya Piddubna, a lawyer from the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights. – At the beginning of the project, memorandums of cooperation were signed with three village councils of the region. Therefore, we are currently actively advising and assisting both representatives of local government (village heads, council secretaries) and ordinary residents of these territorial communities. In addition, a daily telephone “hotline” for local government bodies operates in case of urgent issues. During this time, we have provided more than 60 consultations on various issues. Traditionally, rural residents most often address issues related to inheritance registration, land rights, registration of real rights to real estate, registration of social assistance and benefits, etc.

The project’s lawyers note that upon completion of these activities, the effectiveness of such a work model will be analyzed and positive changes in the activities of target local government bodies will be assessed. And in the future, such practice will be improved and offered to other small territorial communities in Ukraine.

The project

“High-quality legal support for small communities”

is implemented by the Charitable Organization “All-Ukrainian Coalition for Legal Aid” with the support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Norway in Ukraine. In addition to Chernihiv, it is also implemented in Volyn, Dnipropetrovsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Mykolaiv, Khmelnytskyi and



Rivne

regions.