Human rights activists help confirm the fact of children being born in the occupied territory

Lawyers of the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights are helping to establish the fact of birth of children born in the occupied territory. An active information campaign on the activities of the lawyers of the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights, who provide a full range of legal support for internally displaced persons in Chernihiv, Sumy, Poltava, Zhytomyr and Ivano-Frankivsk regions free of charge, is already bearing fruit.

Thus, citizens who were unable to leave the occupied territories and the combat zone began to contact the Sumy office. They learned about their legal rights and decided to use the opportunity to apply for a free consultation. In particular, people are interested in how to confirm the facts of birth and death if a person was born or died in a territory where it is impossible to issue Ukrainian-style documents.

In July 2016, several people contacted the lawyer of the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights in Sumy by phone with similar questions. Three families had babies born last year. The children still did not have a Ukrainian birth certificate. By e-mail, the clients sent the documents necessary to file an application for confirmation of the fact of the child’s birth in court. Within two days, the relevant applications were filed for them to apply to the court closest to their place of permanent residence.

Together with the application, the lawyer prepared written explanations regarding the documents that should be attached to the lawsuit. Then, by e-mail, applications to the court and useful information were sent to the clients from the occupied territory to their email addresses. Subsequently, they left the occupied territory and resolved their problematic issues in the nearest city controlled by the Ukrainian authorities. We emphasize that according to the practice of the city of Sumy, it is not necessary to receive a refusal from the state registration offices of civil status acts on the eve of filing an application to the court.

We remind you that the application for confirmation of the fact of the child’s birth must indicate:

– what fact the applicant requests to establish and for what purpose;

– a statement of evidence confirming the fact of the child’s birth: place and date of birth, copies or originals of the medical birth certificate, exchange card, copies or originals of papers obtained in the temporarily occupied territory; explanations of interested persons, their representatives, etc.;

– a receipt for payment of the court fee.

The case is considered by the court immediately from the moment of receipt of the relevant application.

Based on the results of consideration of the application, the court issues a decision to establish the fact of the child’s birth. The person is explained the procedure for appealing the decision and is immediately issued a copy of the decision, with which they must go to the state civil registration department for state registration of birth – obtaining a birth certificate for the child.

To obtain a birth certificate, parents must submit to the state civil registration department a copy of the court decision establishing the relevant fact and their passport of a citizen of Ukraine.

The project “Legal Protection of the Population Affected by the Conflict” is implemented by the Danish Refugee Council in partnership with the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights with financial support from the Office of Emergency Assistance of the United States Agency for International Development (OFDA/USAID).

Contacts of the project reception offices in the regions:

Chernihiv

Goncha St. 57, 14000, Hotline: (0462) 612-532

Sumy St. 2, office 3 Hotline: 095-939-11-11

Poltava St. 4, office 3 Hotline: 050-274-52-83; 099-658-56-10

Ivano-Frankivsk

Harkushi St., 2, 4th floor, office 408 Hotline: 095-310-61-51

Zhytomyr St.

Rylskogo St. 9, office 213 Hotline: 097-706-69-26