Successful practices of cooperation between human rights defenders and free legal aid centers were presented in Chernihiv

On July 25, 2019, a press conference was held at the “Clean Politics” press center on the topic: “Successful practices in providing legal aid and protecting human rights in the Chernihiv region.”

During the event, speakers spoke about the results of the work of free secondary legal aid centers and human rights NGOs in the Chernihiv region.

The event was attended by the director of the Regional Center for Providing Free Secondary Legal Aid in the Chernihiv Region

Iryna Protchenko

and the program manager of the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights

Nataliya Kulikova

.

– Today we are trying to help communities not only with advisory assistance, but also by holding round tables with representatives of various state bodies, trainings, seminars on topical issues, conducting field consultations in communities together with the Regional and local centers of the BVPD, – noted the representative

Natalia Kulikova

. – So, over the past year, our Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights, together with the Regional Center and the Children’s Service of the Chernihiv Regional State Administration, has conducted trainings on combating domestic violence and establishing cooperation between all subjects, organized field trips to all communities of the region to provide consultations on various issues, including to the executive authorities and local self-government bodies themselves.

The Director of the Regional Center for the Provision of Free Secondary Legal Aid in Chernihiv Oblast

Iryna Protchenko

spoke about the results of the Center’s work in the first half of 2019.

Thus, during this period, the Regional Center for the Provision of Free Secondary Legal Aid in Chernihiv Oblast issued 879 orders for the protection of persons who are subjects of receiving free legal aid.

According to

Iryna Protchenko

, the provision of free legal aid is based on the activities of the Regional Center for the Provision of Free Secondary Legal Aid in Chernihiv Oblast, which coordinates the activities of three local centers located in the cities of Nizhyn, Mena and Chernihiv, which include 19 legal aid bureaus. The Chernihiv regional center of the free legal aid system has 75 full-time employees. 97 lawyers are involved in the process of providing legal aid on a contractual basis, whose activities are paid for from the budget according to the number and quality of completed assignments.

The Regional Center for Providing Free Secondary Legal Aid in Chernihiv Oblast is actively developing and increasing interaction with local governments and public organizations in order to increase legal awareness of citizens, as evidenced by 218 signed memorandums of cooperation in this area. It is worth noting that 188 joint methodological and consulting and informational and explanatory events were held with local governments and public organizations.

Also, citizens were informed about their rights, the activities of the center or current changes in the legislation of Ukraine by conducting 817 legal education events, placing 500 information materials of a legal nature in the media, 407 persons were provided with access to electronic services of the Ministry of Justice based on the centers and legal aid bureaus.

Separately, the Director of the Regional Center reminded that free secondary legal aid, in particular, includes protection, representation of persons in courts, local and executive authorities, and preparation of procedural documents. To optimize the operation of the system and reduce the burden on lawyers, representation of persons in civil or administrative cases is carried out by involving full-time employees, and protection in criminal proceedings is carried out by involving highly qualified lawyers who have passed a competitive selection.

In 2019, 907 powers of attorney were issued by local centers in Chernihiv region. Of these, 235 powers of attorney were issued to lawyers, and 672 – representation under powers of attorney was carried out by full-time employees of the centers.

The event was organized by the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights and the Regional Center for the Provision of Free Legal Aid in Chernihiv Region within the framework of the project “Strengthening the Legal Capacity of Communities in Chernihiv Region” with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation.