Who will help deal with legal arbitrariness?

Who has not encountered our all-encompassing bureaucracy, who has not fought against the injustice of our Themis and who has not tried to overcome the greed and hardness of dear lawyers, especially those representing the opposite side? Probably, every Ukrainian and Chernihiv resident in particular goes through this. But to overcome the clumsy bureaucratic machine alone is an impossible task.

And the heroes of our material are a vivid illustration of this. A family with a young child, evicted from a legally obtained home; a man whose brother was beaten to death just for standing up for a comrade … – this list can be continued endlessly.

For almost a year, Pavlo Fedorovych Zelinsky has been unable to achieve justice: those responsible for his brother’s death should be punished, and they are still at large as if nothing had happened.

– It all happened back in January of this year. My brother lived on the outskirts of Chernihiv. At that time, he was hosting a friend and his girlfriend. The friend had previously had a conflict with a guy. So he somehow came to sort it out. And not alone, but with a group, all the guys are young, strong. So they lured his brother: “Come out, let’s talk like men.” He came out. A fight broke out. My brother was hit several times in the head. He died four days later, never regaining consciousness. The guy who later confessed to causing grievous bodily harm, even after being suspected of committing a crime, refused to give his testimony. Later, the guy was released from custody, and then the experts even came to the conclusion that the suspect influenced the witnesses!

In addition, according to the man, the prosecutor’s office is not working, and the current Criminal Procedure Code with its mild sanctions only plays into the hands of the perpetrators. Because a person who is suspected of causing grievous bodily harm, and even in a prior group conspiracy, and even causing the death of the victim, calmly walks through the streets of the city. And the law enforcement officers just wave their hands.

Evicted from an apartment with a 12-year-old child

Or here’s another story about the arbitrariness of our system. But through the eyes of a woman. Galina Danych is a housewife. She got married for the second time. Her current husband served in law enforcement agencies for almost 30 years. But even that didn’t save him from arbitrariness. Despite the fact that the husband was raising a 12-year-old child from his second wife at that time, representatives of Themis put him and his family on the street.

– Our courts went on for eight years. The subject of consideration was my husband’s two-room apartment, which at that time had not been privatized, and his ex-wife had equal rights to it with her ex-husband. There were no children in that marriage, – says Galina Danych. – The first wife moved the court, stating that she needed housing to take care of her elderly mother, who lives … in a distant village. And my husband was forcibly evicted from the well-equipped and earned housing.

The police major and his family ended up in a communal room without amenities, and the apartment went to his ex-wife. But even this seemed like not enough to the woman. After the family and child were evicted from their former apartment, she wanted to “hang” on Galina Danych’s husband the huge debts for rent, which she herself had incurred. Thanks to timely legal assistance, the Danych family managed to resolve this issue in their favor. Pavlo Zelinsky also achieved that the case, once almost written off in the archive, is again the subject of careful study by law enforcement officers. And today, Halyna Danych and Pavlo Zelinsky never tire of repeating: even half an hour of time spent communicating with a lawyer is worth it. After all, sometimes even a comma placed in the wrong place can significantly affect the course of the case.

Primary and secondary assistance

And how can you delve into the essence of all the legal squiggles if you are not a specialist and do not have the necessary knowledge? The state took care of this issue two years ago, when on July 9, 2011, the Law of Ukraine No. 3460 “On Free Legal Aid” came into force. Thereby guaranteeing people free legal information, consultations and explanations on legal subtleties, drawing up applications, complaints and other documents. Before that, such legal aid was provided only to low-income citizens. But with the entry into force of this Law, it began to be provided to all citizens of Ukraine, foreigners, stateless persons (including refugees) – regardless of financial status.

Moreover, from January 1, 2013, the norm of this Law on free secondary legal aid came into force. That is, from now on, the state guarantees each of its citizens a free lawyer to protect their interests in the event of criminal prosecution. A little later, from January 1, 2014, another norm will come into force – defenders will be provided free of charge by the state to protect the interests of such categories of citizens as war veterans, refugees, disabled people, people recognized as incapacitated, etc. Moreover, this norm will apply not only to criminal, but also to other branches of law.

The law is the law, and the bureaucratic machine is sluggish. In fact, there are only two centers in Ukraine that provide this kind of service – in Odessa and Skadovsk. But Chernihiv has every chance of becoming the third. The City Council and the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights are initiating the creation of a similar center here.

Viktor TARASOV, Head of the Center for Legal Information and Consultations of the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights:

– In Odessa and Skadovsk, communities have taken the path of creating such centers in the form of municipal institutions. And naturally, they are financed from the local budget. Also, the Law “On Free Legal Aid” provides for the creation of centers by attracting other legal entities of private law, the same public organizations, and bar associations on a competitive basis.

What in Chernihiv

In Chernihiv, they will obviously go the second way. For which the mentioned public organization will become part of the city-wide program of support for public organizations for 2014.

Iryna SOLOMAHA, Head of the Public Relations Department of the Chernihiv City Council:

– At the December session, a decision will be made on all public organizations that are financially supported by the city authorities. This is a whole program, which is supervised by our department of citizens’ appeals. The Chernihiv Public Committee is included in the list of such public organizations for the next year. This program has been formed, it has already passed preliminary consideration by the executive committee.

According to the official, the new center will be created on the basis of an existing public organization, that is, at 57/1 Gorkogo St. They do not plan to allocate a separate room for it. How will this structure work in conjunction with the city authorities? After all, some consultations on legal issues are provided by the same department for citizens’ appeals. They are clarifying this for us.

– Yes, but now all this will be considered more objectively. Due to the fact that people will first receive consultations at the center and will be properly prepared with documents, we, as representatives of the city authorities, will be able to respond to the problem faster and more efficiently. If necessary, we will also connect all relevant structures of the city council, including the legal department. And not waste time on preliminary collection of information. Accordingly, the term for considering citizens’ appeals will also be reduced,

– Iryna Solomakha is sure.

In addition, officials promise that the innovations will not stall the already extensive work of the City Council’s department for dealing with citizens’ appeals. By the way, in accordance with the Law, a free lawyer is currently provided to a citizen detained on suspicion of a criminal offense at the Center for Free Secondary Legal Aid of the Regional Department of Justice. Well, let’s hope that it will now be easier for Chernihiv residents to seek justice from Themis and the authorities.