How to protect your right to land

In the process of reforming property, particularly land, relations, the poor should have a chance to improve their lives. However, their access to legal services, justice, and legal information in general is very limited, which significantly narrows their opportunities. Therefore, there is an urgent need to make significant efforts to help thousands of peasants better understand and protect their property and land rights.

Currently, in Ukraine, the majority of peasants still do not even have the opportunity to produce documents on land ownership and privatize their land plots. Often, land is used illegally without contracts at all, or lease agreements are violated. Without appropriate legal knowledge and sufficient funds for legal assistance, peasants are unable to inherit land plots, properly defend their rights in relations with tenants, etc.

The same problems apply to the use of property shares. Although most villagers have already received certificates of ownership of property shares and state acts on the right to private ownership of land, a number of questions still arise: what do these rights mean? How can they be disposed of? How can land be leased? How can tenants resist abuse? How can they unite to protect their rights?

Similar issues are particularly acute in Khmelnytskyi, Kharkiv, and Chernihiv regions, where the agricultural sector of the economy is one of the leading ones. Therefore, there is a need for extensive explanatory work on the dissemination of information about land legislation and the protection of the rights of property share owners.

Seeing such problems, a number of public organizations that administer the activities of the Centers for Legal Information and Consultations (which, with the support of the Rule of Law program of the International Renaissance Foundation, provide free primary legal assistance to low-income segments of society) and implement

the project “Increasing the capacity to exercise the right to land plots of ATO participants and protecting the rights of peasants-owners of land and property shares in Khmelnytskyi, Kharkiv and Chernihiv regions”

.

The project is implemented by partner organizations:

Khmelnytskyi Regional Public Organization “Podilskyi Legal League”, Association of Lawyers of Kamianets-Podilskyi

in direct partnership with

NGO “Chuguiv Human Rights Group” and NGO “Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights”

.

“Hotlines” are successfully operating. So, in the Kharkiv region, you can sign up for a legal consultation on land legislation by calling:

(097)-179-38-22





(097)-179-38-22. Legal aid hotline of the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights:

(0462)-612-532





(0462)-612-532. “Hotline” of the Khmelnytskyi regional public organization “Podilska Pravova Liga”: (03822)-72-01-95. Phone number of the Center in Kamianets-Podilskyi

(3849) 5-19-11





(3849) 5-19-11.

Human rights activists also monitor violations of land rights of ATO participants and are ready to provide legal assistance to anyone who needs it. This applies to issues of obtaining land plots as property, or regarding the submission of documents to the executive body or local government and state administrations.

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