The Public Justice Center was presented in Chernihiv

On September 24, 2020, a presentation of the Public Justice Center of Chernihiv Oblast was held in Chernihiv. The event was held jointly with the Chernihiv Court of Appeal and the Territorial Department of the State Judicial Administration in Chernihiv Oblast.

The presentation was attended by judges of the appellate and district courts of the region, assistants and heads of court staff, lawyers and representatives of the public.

As noted by the program manager of the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights

Natalia Kulikova

, the Public Justice Center (PJC) in the Chernihiv region operates in two formats – in the city of Chernihiv on the basis of the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights and in the Ichnyan community of the Chernihiv region on the basis of the Ichnyan district court.

In particular, the Public Justice Center is a spatial platform where representatives of the judiciary, law enforcement agencies, the state legal aid system, local governments and the public will combine their efforts and resources to solve urgent legal problems at the level of the communities of the city of Chernihiv and Ichnyan AH.

The services of the Public Legal Service are comprehensive and include primary legal aid, legal consultations, secondary legal aid in strategic cases, client referrals, mediation, facilitation of processes in communities, legal education, etc.

Special attention within the framework of the activities of the Public Legal Service is paid to solving problems and challenges in communities related to public safety, juvenile prevention, combating domestic violence, labor and family issues related to the COVID-19 epidemic and quarantine restrictions, in particular through the use of pre-trial and alternative dispute resolution methods (mediation), ensuring other legal needs of vulnerable segments of the population at the level of communities in Chernihiv and Ichnya and at the level of Chernihiv region.

In Chernihiv, the activities of the Public Justice Center are also separately focused on the Chernihiv Court of Appeal and the Desnyansky District Court of Chernihiv.

An important task of the Public Justice Center branch at the Ichnyansky District Court of Chernihiv region is to provide free legal assistance and develop the School of Legal Sciences.

The participants of the event discussed the prospects for the development of such centers and work plans for the near future, as well as the possibility of expanding the activities of the Public Justice Center to other courts in Chernihiv region. Representatives of the judicial community emphasized the problems that courts are currently facing in the context of decentralization and the situation associated with COVID-19. It was also emphasized that there is an urgent need to conduct training not only for judges, but also for assistant judges and heads of staff in certain areas.

The Chairman of the Chernihiv Court of Appeal

Gennady Salai

focused the attention of those present on the court’s cooperation with the Public Justice Center and the National University “Chernihiv Polytechnic” in the direction of training law students. The Chairman of the Court thanked for the cooperation and assistance in increasing trust in the court through conducting legal educational events.

The Head of Staff of the Chernihiv Court of Appeal

Tetyana Kryvonos

also presented the Center for Professional Development and the communication strategy of the Chernihiv Court of Appeal, the purpose of which is to promote legal education, foster legal culture, form the correct perception of the functions of justice and its role in society, the role of a judge in society and the limitations imposed on a judge by performing such an important function.

During the event, representatives of the judicial corps shared successful work practices and concluded that it is necessary to publish “success stories” to increase trust in the courts and improve the legal culture of citizens in modern conditions.

The event was organized by the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights within the framework of the project “Development of the Public Justice Center in the Chernihiv Region”, which is implemented with the support of the American people, provided through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) within the framework of the “New Justice” Program.