Chernihiv district creates a system of free legal aid

On October 1, 2014, the Chernihiv District Council of the Chernihiv region adopted a decision “On approval of the Program of legal education and provision of free primary legal assistance to the population of the Chernihiv district for 2014-2016”.

This is the result of cooperation between specialists of the Center for Legal Information and Consultations in Chernihiv, created on the basis of the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights, and deputies and officials of the Chernihiv District Council.

In particular, the Program formalizes and normatively consolidates the activities already carried out by the Chernihiv Center for Legal Information and Consultations (CLIC) in cooperation with local authorities at the district and local community levels in the field of legal education and the provision of free primary legal assistance to residents of the district. To coordinate and monitor the implementation of the Program, the composition of the working group was approved, which, in addition to representatives of the district council, district state administration, district department of justice, included the head and lawyer of the Chernihiv CLIC – Viktor Tarasov and Nataliya Piddubna.

“The adoption of the Program provides a legal opportunity to create an accessible and effective system of providing free legal aid for every resident of the Chernihiv district,” comments Viktor Tarasov, the head of the project “Implementation of an effective system of free primary legal aid in the city of Chernihiv and Chernihiv district” (the project is implemented by the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation). “This will be one of the steps for the future introduction of a self-sufficient system of free primary legal aid in the district in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On Free Legal Aid”, including at the expense of the local budget. The same work is being carried out at the level of rural communities, relevant memorandums have already been signed with 5 village councils of the district.”

Thus, it can be stated that Chernihiv human rights defenders were able to establish cooperation with local government bodies to create a system of free legal aid for residents of Chernihiv district and transfer this experience to other districts and local communities of Chernihiv region. This will improve the level of legal education of the population, ensure access to legal aid, and inform citizens about their rights and freedoms. It will allow people to protect their rights if they are violated.