Local communities are learning to combat corruption in land relations

On January 28, 2014, a seminar “Mechanisms for Preventing Corruption in the Field of Land Relations” was held in Chernihiv for land managers of village and settlement councils of Chernihiv region.

The main topic of the discussion was the discussion of the problems of unregulated land and property relations in the field, which may push dishonest officials to corrupt actions. Therefore, it was emphasized that it is precisely increasing the level of transparency, accountability and integrity of the work of government bodies involved in the allocation of state and municipal land that is the key to preventing corruption in the field of land turnover.

Directly about the legal regulation of land relations at the present stage, the main problems of land use in the region, as well as practical issues of the procedure for changing the boundaries of a land plot, providing industrial land for use to legal entities, the procedure for providing ownership of land plots and developing technical documentation, conducting an examination, the procedure for registering ownership of a land plot in the order of inheritance was highlighted

Igor Puzan, Head of the Department of Land Management and Land Protection of the Main Department of the State Land Agency in Chernihiv Region

.

The representative of the State Land Agency, in particular, emphasized the need for control services to comply with the procedure for state registration of lease agreements and payment of lease obligations for land.

Natalia Muzhikova, Head of the Legal Department of the Chernihiv Regional State Administration

, focused the participants’ attention on the mechanisms for compliance with the norms of current legislation by local self-government bodies in the context of the Law of Ukraine “On the Principles of Preventing and Counteracting Corruption”, practical issues of legal liability of officials for corrupt acts, including in the field of land relations, and ways to prevent these manifestations.

The issue of ensuring access to public information as one of the effective mechanisms for protecting property and land rights of citizens and preventing corruption offenses was highlighted

by Oleksandr Solomakha, Head of the Information Support and Public Relations Department of the Executive Office of the Chernihiv Regional Council

. According to him, heads of territorial communities often do not take into account the possibilities of information legislation and PR technologies in promoting the implementation of citizens’ property rights, and that thanks to the press and new media, it is possible to effectively inform the community about their activities.

The event was held within the framework of the project “Local Communities Against Corruption in the Sphere of Land Turnover in Chernihiv Oblast” jointly with the Chernihiv Center for Retraining and Advanced Training of Employees of State Authorities, Local Self-Government Bodies, State Enterprises, Institutions and Organizations with the support of the Canadian Foundation for Supporting Local Initiatives.