Representatives of local communities in Chernihiv region are being trained on how to facilitate the provision of free legal aid

A seminar “Organization of a system for providing free legal aid in local communities” was held in Chernihiv for the heads and secretaries of village and settlement councils of the Chernihiv region. The main topic of the event was to familiarize local community leaders with the possibilities of implementing mechanisms to provide their residents with affordable legal aid.

During the seminar,

Head of the Department of Interaction with Entities Providing Free Primary Legal Aid of the Chernihiv Local Center for the Provision of Free Legal Aid, Olena Mykhailenko

highlighted the current process of reforming the justice system in Ukraine, the specifics of the implementation of the Law of Ukraine “On Free Legal Aid” in the context of local self-government bodies, presented the opportunities and advantages of cooperation between local councils with existing local centers for the provision of free legal aid, as well as legal aid bureaus, which are due to begin their work in September 2016.

In particular,

Ms. Mykhailenko

emphasized that through the mechanism for developing and adopting local Programs for the provision of free legal aid, local communities will be able to involve public organizations, centers for the provision of free legal aid and other entities in the provision of legal aid in remote communities.

Directly about legal regulation, education and ensuring access to legal assistance in the field of land relations at the current stage, practical issues of observing property and land rights of citizens, as well as the procedure for granting ownership of land plots and developing technical documentation for ATO participants, was highlighted

Igor Puzan, Deputy Head of the Main Department of the State Geocadastre in Chernihiv Region

.

“One of the priority tasks of executive authorities and local governments is to satisfy the applications of ATO participants for the provision of land plots, – noted

Igor Puzan

. – Local councils should maximally facilitate this process and provide legal support to ATO participants in this matter.”

The issue of ensuring access to public information and implementing the Law of Ukraine “On Citizens’ Appeals” as one of the effective mechanisms for exercising citizens’ rights to information and legal assistance was highlighted by

an expert in the field of information legislation, assistant to the People’s Deputy of Ukraine Oleksandr Solomakha

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

The event was organized by the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights within the framework of the project “Integration of primary and secondary free legal aid at the level of territorial communities of Chernihiv region” within the framework of the Project “Affordable and quality legal aid in Ukraine”, which is implemented by the Canadian Bureau for International Education with the support of the Government of Canada and the Program Initiative “Human Rights and Justice” of the International Renaissance Foundation.