Report on the results of the activities of the Supervisory Commission of the Executive Committee of the Chernihiv City Council in 2012

The Supervisory Commission of the Executive Committee of the Chernihiv City Council was established by the decision of the Executive Committee of the Chernihiv City Council dated 20.07.2010 No. 161 with amendments and supplements “On the establishment of a supervisory commission under the Executive Committee of the Chernihiv City Council”.

The Supervisory Commission consists of 18 people, of which 6 are representatives of public organizations of the city, 12 are representatives of local self-government bodies and executive authorities. The composition of the commission allows it to cover all areas of work assigned to the members of the commission by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

According to the chairman of the commission, Stanislav Vikhrov, today the members of the commission have sufficient experience in protecting the rights and legitimate interests of convicted and released persons, as well as employees of correctional institutions.

In its activities, the supervisory commission is guided by the Constitution of Ukraine, the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the laws of Ukraine “On Local Self-Government”, “On Local State Administrations”, “On Social Adaptation of Persons Serving or Having Served Punishments in the Form of Restriction of Liberty or Deprivation of Liberty for a Certain Term”, and other regulatory legal acts of Ukraine.

The activities of the Supervisory Commission of the Executive Committee of the Chernihiv City Council in 2012 were aimed at implementing the following tasks:

– organizing and implementing public control over the observance of the rights, fundamental freedoms and legitimate interests of convicts and persons released from serving sentences;

– assisting bodies and institutions for the execution of sentences in the correction and resocialization of convicted persons and creating appropriate conditions for their detention, involving public organizations, executive authorities, local governments, enterprises, institutions and organizations regardless of their form of ownership and citizens in this activity;

– organization of educational work with persons conditionally released from serving a sentence and public control over their behavior during the unserved part of the sentence;

– providing assistance in social adaptation to persons released from serving a sentence.

The work of the supervisory commission in 2012 was carried out in accordance with the Commission’s Work Plan.

The organizational form of the work of the supervisory commission was meetings, which were held monthly. Decisions were made collectively, by open voting. The decisions of the supervisory commission were formalized by resolutions. The commission meetings were authorized, the average number of people present at each meeting was from 12 to 15 people.

Thus, in 2012, 14 meetings were held, of which 11 in Chernihiv Correctional Colony No. 44, one in Chernihiv Pre-trial Detention Center, and 2 in the premises of the Chernihiv City Council. During the reporting period, there were no cases of disruption of the commission’s meetings.

At the meetings of the Supervisory Commission of the Executive Committee of the Chernihiv City Council in 2012, 101 cases were considered and decisions were made on:

– conditional early release of convicts from serving their sentences (in accordance with Article 81 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) – 54 persons;

– replacement of the unserved part of the sentence with a milder one (in accordance with Article 82 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) – 29 persons;

– transfer to a social rehabilitation center – 6 persons;

– release of pregnant women and women with children under 3 years old (in accordance with Article 83 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) – 6 persons;

– not agreed upon – 6 persons.

In addition, the following issues were considered at the meetings of the Supervisory Commission of the Executive Committee of the Chernihiv City Council:

– on ensuring the right of convicts to information and legal aid in Chernihiv Correctional Colony No. 44;

– analysis of the status of passporting of persons serving sentences of imprisonment in Chernihiv Correctional Colony No. 44;

– on ensuring the rights of prisoners to adequate material and household support in Chernihiv Correctional Colony No. 44.

According to the requirements of Article 20 of the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 1042 of November 10, 2010, the resolutions of the supervisory commission must be reviewed by the leadership of the relevant bodies, and based on the results of their review, the commission must be notified in writing of the measures taken or the reasons for non-compliance must be justified.

During the year, a “public reception center” operated in Chernihiv Correctional Colony No. 44. Members of the supervisory commission of the executive committee of the Chernihiv City Council personally received prisoners, considered their applications, made decisions, and provided legal assistance and consultations.

In order to provide high-quality legal assistance to convicts and staff, specialists from the Main Department of Justice in Chernihiv region, prosecutor’s offices, courts, police, lawyers from public and charitable organizations, members of Chernihiv city and regional supervisory commissions, teachers of the Chernihiv Law College of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine, and others were invited. More than 25 specialists visited Chernihiv Correctional Colony No. 44.

Convicts received qualified consultations on the following issues:

– providing convicts with short-term trips outside the prison;

– inheritance of property, its transfer for temporary use in connection with serving a sentence;

– deprivation of parental rights;

– establishment of administrative supervision, procedure for registration after release; procedure for obtaining passports; acquisition of citizenship; change of surname in documents;

– grounds for termination of marriage, divorce by women serving a sentence in correctional colonies;

– grounds and procedure for deprivation and restoration of parental rights, placement of children whose parents have been deprived of parental rights;

– procedure for obtaining a pension after serving a sentence in places of imprisonment (by age and disability), conditions and procedure for obtaining social assistance;

– grounds and procedure for confiscation of property;

– procedure and terms of inheritance (by law and by will), registration of the right to inheritance; acquisition and termination of ownership of housing, etc.

For example, in March 2012, in order to provide legal assistance to convicted women, representatives of the charitable organization “Chernihiv Women’s Human Rights Center” visited Chernihiv Correctional Colony No. 44, as well as Aksion Viktoriya Vadymivna – Chief Specialist of the Department of State Registration of Civil Status Acts of the Registration Service of the Main Department of Justice in Chernihiv Region, Leshchenko Yulia Volodymyrivna – Leading Specialist of the Department of State Enforcement Service of the Main Department of Justice in Chernihiv Region, Nevolko Vita Anatoliivna – Deputy Head of the Notary Department of the Main Department of Justice in Chernihiv Region.

Lawyers of the charitable organization “Chernihiv Women’s Human Rights Center” explained to convicted women the procedure for applying parole, replacing the sentence with a milder one, and the procedure for releasing pregnant women and women with children under 3 years of age from serving their sentences.

In 2012, 216 convicts were admitted at a personal reception.

Legal assistance to women serving their sentences in the Chernihiv Correctional Colony is extremely necessary; it helps to form a legal culture in them, develop the ability to use legal tools in practical activities, and will provide them with legal protection after release.

The awareness of convicts remains a criterion for the formation of a legally mature person, which includes self-confidence in the necessity and social usefulness of observing laws and other regulatory legal acts, the ability to use laws and other by-laws in the protection of one’s rights and legitimate interests.

A person’s positive attitude and respect for the law, knowledge of the content of its norms and the ability to observe them, as well as lawful behavior will contribute to their return to an independent, generally acceptable social and normative life after release.

A lot of effort is directed by members of the supervisory commission to organize and conduct cultural and educational work in the city’s correctional institutions and to provide assistance to the administration of the institutions in improving the conditions of detention of convicts.

It has become a good tradition to hold various events in the city’s correctional institutions:

– for minors held in Chernihiv pre-trial detention center, on the eve of Christmas gifts were prepared and handed out;

– for children who are in the Children’s Home of Chernihiv Correctional Facility No. 44, New Year gifts were prepared and handed out for the New Year holidays;

– on March 3, 2012, on the eve of the International Day of Women’s Rights and Peace, a festive concert was organized for employees and convicts of Chernihiv Correctional Facility No. 44;

– on the Day of the Creation of the State Penitentiary Service – a concert program was held for employees;

– on Mother’s Day a festive concert for convicted women of Chernihiv Women’s Prison No. 44, where convicted women who have children were presented with gifts;

– The Last Bell holiday for women who, while serving their sentences, studied and received secondary education in Chernihiv Women’s Colony No. 44, during which flowers and gifts were presented;

– celebration of Children’s Day in Chernihiv Women’s Colony and for minors in Chernihiv Remand Prison with the presentation of gifts.

– brain-ring dedicated to the 16th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of Ukraine in Chernihiv Women’s Colony No. 44, where prizes were prepared and presented to the winners;

– August 22, 2012, on the eve of Ukraine’s Independence Day, for employees of Chernihiv a festive concert was held in the pre-trial detention center. The employees were congratulated on the holiday and presented with a gift – a digital camera “Nikon”.

– On August 23, 2012, on the Day of the National Flag of Ukraine, a lesson was held with minors dedicated to national holidays and they were presented with gifts. 235 books were transferred to the library of the Chernihiv pre-trial detention center;

– On August 24, 2012, on the Independence Day of Ukraine, a summer sports festival was held in Chernihiv correctional colony No. 44. 10 teams of women took part in the sports festival. They were presented with gifts prepared by members of the Chernihiv city supervisory commission.

The Day of Knowledge was celebrated minors who were held as of September 1 in the Chernihiv pre-trial detention center, and convicted women who are serving their sentences in Chernihiv correctional colony No. 44. In accordance with the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the organization of general education for convicts is carried out in accordance with the provisions of the laws of Ukraine “On Education”, “On General Secondary Education” and in the manner established by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. The academic year in correctional institutions begins as in a regular school on September 1. The first lesson was held within the framework of the “Year of Sports and Healthy Lifestyle” declared in Ukraine in 2012, the purpose of which is to orient students to the priority of universal human values ​​of life and health, to establish a healthy lifestyle as a necessary condition for self-development and self-improvement of the personality. Future students were congratulated on the beginning of the academic year, minors were presented with sweets, stationery, and convicted women were presented with flowers, stationery supplies and watches for evening school.

Gifts were prepared and presented to minors held in the Chernihiv SIZO for St. Nicholas Day.

One of the areas of the supervisory commission’s work is providing assistance to persons who have served sentences in the form of imprisonment and have been released from places of imprisonment. They are regularly provided with various services: informational, socio-economic, socio-pedagogical, psychological, legal.

The charitable organization “Chernihiv Women’s Human Rights Center”, three members of which are members of the Chernihiv City Supervisory Commission, provides these persons with free assistance in the form of clothing and footwear, and food. Released citizens are also helped to collect a package of relevant documents for obtaining a passport and restoring other documents. They helped to get passports to 26 people, clothes to 36 people.

This organization also prepared manuals:

• “Know Your Rights” Handbook for Convicted Persons;

• Memo “Know your rights” for released persons and their relatives;

• Legal and informational guide for employees of penitentiary institutions.

To perform their official duties, employees of the Chernihiv City Department of the Criminal Enforcement Inspectorate are granted the right to free travel around the city of Chernihiv by city electric transport.

The Chairman of the Commission draws special attention to the members of the Commission on personal participation in meetings of commissions of institutions for the execution of sentences during the consideration of issues on submitting applications to the court regarding convicts from further serving their sentences, replacing the unserved part of the sentence with a milder one, transferring them to a social rehabilitation center, and releasing pregnant women and women with children under the age of three years.

S. Vikhrov is convinced that only by combining the efforts of local governments, executive authorities and public organizations can the task of organizing public control over the observance of the rights of convicts in penal institutions, strengthening the rule of law, implementing the principles of justice, humanism, democracy, and equality of convicts before the law be effectively solved.

The head of the commission expressed confidence that the main tasks set by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers were fully fulfilled by the city supervisory commission over the past year, thanked for the work and called for further fruitful cooperation.

Based on materials from the Department of Law Enforcement Activities of the City Council