{"id":12061,"date":"2022-02-17T17:29:15","date_gmt":"2022-02-17T15:29:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ldn.org.ua\/?post_type=event&p=12061"},"modified":"2022-02-17T17:37:59","modified_gmt":"2022-02-17T15:37:59","slug":"evolution-of-free-legal-aid-or-how-partner-organisations-of-the-ldn-help-improve-access-to-justice-in-communities","status":"publish","type":"event","link":"https:\/\/ldn.org.ua\/en\/event\/evolution-of-free-legal-aid-or-how-partner-organisations-of-the-ldn-help-improve-access-to-justice-in-communities\/","title":{"rendered":"Evolution of Free Legal Aid, or How Partner Organisations of the LDN Help Improve Access to Justice in Communities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Halyna Kolesnyk, the Communications Manager of the Legal\nDevelopment Network<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the wide network of free legal aid<\/strong> <\/strong>(FLA)<\/strong>,<\/strong> which\nincludes more than 500 points of access to the state-guaranteed FLA<\/strong>, some people cannot use it. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the sociological studies WJP global insights on acccess to justice<\/em><\/a>, almost 50% of people in Ukraine have had at least one legal issue for the last two years, which is approximately 20 million people who have needed certain legal support. Only the governmental network of free legal aid ers works consistently in Ukraine. <\/em>According to this agency report for 2020, <\/em><\/a>its capacity is up to a million people a year. However, it satisfies only one-tenth of the actual demand. This fact cannot be ignored since there will be more and more people in need of legal aid in the future, and the free legal aid centers will be unable to handle the flow of even those clients who will physically attend their offices. \u201cTo avoid that, the local authorities must start working in two directions: to enhance people\u2019s readiness to resolve their legal issues legally, and to create the mechanism for satisfying the demand for legal aid at the local level,\u201d <\/em>says Vitalii Okhrimenko,<\/strong> the Program Manager of the Legal Development Network, in his comment on the implementation of the Programme for Providing Free Legal Aid to the Residents of the Khmilnyk Municipality for 2021-2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The document’s co-authors, Pravo (Right\/Law) NGO from Khmilnyk in Vinnytsia Region and Khmilnyk City Council, have been inspired by participation in The Human Rights Friendly Community Program.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s truly rare. In 2020, the partner organizations of the Legal Development Network studied access to justice in 15 communities in Luhansk and Donetsk Regions. There are no programs like that in any of them. The program of Khmilnyk is a comprehensive local-level solution for the challenges associated with<\/em> people\u2019s limited access to justice.<\/em><\/a> Such restrictions also include the low level of participation of the central and local authorities in provision of the primary legal aid, the imbalance in the funding of the free legal aid system, and the conservative approach of the governmental of the free legal aid system to the satisfaction of the people\u2019s legal needs in connection with access to justice,\u201d<\/em> notes Yevgen Poltenko<\/strong>, the Executive Director of the Legal Development Network. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/
Photo: Consultations on  the draft Program for Providing Free Legal Aid to the Residents of the Khmilnyk Municipality held in Khmilnyk City Council in March 2021. <\/em>Photo from the website of the Khmilnyk City Council<\/em><\/a>. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Program for Providing Free Legal Aid to the Residents of the Khmilnyk Municipality for 2021-2022 <\/a>(hereinafter the \u201cProgram\u201d) contains the comprehensive analysis of the challenges, the most efficient mechanisms that enable increasing people\u2019s awareness of their rights and remedies for legal issues. To improve the human rights friendliness of the community, the Program provides for the specific system for continuous tracing of the challenges and improvement of the mechanism via the social dialogue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How It Started<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The Program embodied the\nexperience gained by the study team made of the representatives of Pravo NGO,\nKhmilnyk City Council, and Khmilnyk Governmental Bureau of Free Legal Aid since\n2019 as a participant of the Human Rights Friendly Community Program. It\nstudied the legal needs of the residents of the Khmilnyk City Territorial\nCommunity (TC). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFollowing the study, we created the road map and found out\nthat the International Renaissance Foundation announced the competition. We\ndecided to apply with the project Creating the Free Legal Aid System in the\nKhmilnyk Community, which was made based on our road map, and obtained support\nand financing. According to our road map, we wanted to improve legal awareness\nof the public. After the consolidation, Khmilnyk municipality was joined by 41\nrural settlements, including the ones located in the other district. Everything\nd for many residents, and they do not know where to go to resolve certain legal\nissues. Another direction was mitigation of legal barriers. We zed the\ncommunity’s regulatory legal framework, and, where inconsistency was found,\noffered solutions. For instance, we found out that the jurisdiction of the\nMunicipal Improvement Rules or the Charter of the Territorial Community did not\ncover the entire territorial community. We managed to influence more than 20 local\npolicies and regulations. The third direction is the dialogue with the\nauthorities about specific issues. We are still monitoring posts and comments\nin social media. If there is some discussion, we initiate a round table for the\nstakeholders. We have managed to make changes employing their results, from the\nregulations on the public budget up to, for instance, outdoor trade in our\ncommunity,\u201d<\/em> says Vitalii Dorokh,<\/strong> the Head\nof Pravo NGO, an expert and a trainer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the study\nfindings themselves were not enough. Thus, the activists decided to hold\nadditional focus group studies. They involved representatives of the\nnon-governmental organisations, the police, and the city council officials. The\nfree legal aid program was created after all the persistent issues had been\nsummarised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Program Already in Effect<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The document adopted in May 2021 is already being implemented. An example of such implementation is the establishment of school mediation services where children can resolve conflicts amicably and achieve consent and are taught how to use legal tools. The practical actions include establishing a network of paralegals and engagement of village elders in consulting. The introduction of these tools to simplify access to justice is a response to the challenges identified in the community during the study. In particular, the study showed that the residents of the 41 settlements mentioned above in the Khmilnyk Community were not aware of the free legal aid system and other remedies to defend their rights. In general, the remote settlements in the community suffer from certain legal isolation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Photo: School students and their mentors studying at the mediation school. <\/em>Photo from the website of Pravo NGO<\/em><\/a>. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTraining of the mediators who would work in the school mediation services at three local schools was over at the end of August, 2021. Sixteen school students and their mentors, practicing psychologists, participated in this training.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, the third training session for fifteen paralegals who would provide primary legal aid was completed. Also, the village elders were also engaged owing to the primary legal aid process owing to the updated community regulations on the village elders,\u201d <\/em>says Vitalii Dorokh.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI’ve noticed that following the training the village elders\nhave a better understanding of the statutory activity of the community,\npeculiarities of operation of the free legal aid system and, which is very\nimportant, general key aspects of communication with the community,\u201d <\/em>says Nataliia Mazur<\/strong>, the Head of the Information Activity and Public\nRelations Department of the Khmilnyk City Council. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Program also provides an\nincrease in the level of trust in the governmental and local authorities since\nlack of trust is the main barrier that prevents the people from resolving their\nlegal issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe tasks of the Program include making residents of the\ncommunity better aware of the activity of the Khmilnyk City Council and its\nexecutive bodies. The study we had performed before the Program was created\nhelped us identify the principal legal issues that worry people: the three most\ncommon ones included consumer rights, medical services, and employment\nrelations. Most information in our channels is now focused on these issues,\u201d<\/em> notes Nataliia Mazur.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c<\/strong>We are also analyzing the\nregulatory framework of the local authorities, including the local regulations.\nOne of the local resolutions that pertained to the regulations was revoked as a\nresult of the consultations and meetings of the workgroups. We are improving\naccess to public information in the form of open data that are administered by\nthe local authorities,\u201d<\/em> says Vitalii Dorokh.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Owing to the Program, the\nteachers of Law will be able to improve their knowledge and skills in\nconnection with human rights and access to justice and share them with their students.\nIn its turn, it will help the children establish consistent basic competences\nas to human rights and develop the habit to defend them. Owing to this\napproach, the children will develop the need for justice, the readiness to take\nproactive actions, and the skills of actual involvement in the community life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Khmilnyk Community is an example of actual practical\napplication of the tools that simplify access to justice and are subordinated\nto human needs according to the people-centered approach. The Khmilnyk Program\nis an example of people-centered justice for the entire Ukraine. However, it is\nimportant to understand that the tools used in this Program are not a uniform\nsolution suitable for all the communities. It is only an example of the right\nvector of movement. Every community must find its own path based on common\napproaches and principles. Each model imposed will turn into a formality with\nno necessary effect.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We understand that Khmilnyk must succeed in the Program. The\nnext step that has not been stipulated in the document yet maybe a focus on\nengaging people into the improvement of the rules and procedures at the local\nlevel, including the efforts to expand the practice of using local democracy\ntools, such as public forums, electronic petitions, public hearings, consulting\nand advisory bodies, local initiatives, residents\u2019 access to meetings of the\ncollegial bodies, participation budget, citizens\u2019 addresses, controlling and\nsupervisory bodies, etc.,\u201d<\/em> sums up Vitalii\nOkhrimenko.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Practice from the Other Parts\nof the Country<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The Khmilnyk initiative is\nnot the only one. The Human Rights Friendly Community Program has helped create\nthe \u201ceco-system for access to justice\u201d in several other communities in\ndifferent regions, including Khmelnytskyi and Kyiv.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anastasiia Ploshchynska<\/strong>, the representative of the study\nteam from Khmelnytskyi Region and Executive Director of Podilska Pravova Liha\n(Podillia Law League) NGO, says that the participation in the Human Rights\nFriendly Community Program opened up new opportunities: the organization had\nnot developed local programs and policies in such a consistent manner before. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the program\ntraining, they studied the legal needs in the Oleshyn Community, which ceased\nto exist soon following its consolidation with the other community.\nNevertheless, Podilska Pravova Liha still performs awareness raising, legal\neducation, and legal aid activities there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The knowledge gained was\nused in another study of the legal needs of the residents of Zhvanets\nTerritorial Community. When they had received funding from the International\nRenaissance Foundation and expert support within the Human Rights Friendly\nCommunity Program, they developed the local program for free legal aid.<\/a> The program provides for\nlegal aid during on-site visits, designation of the special office at the\npremises of the Zhvanets Village Council for on-site consultation by the\nlawyers engaged in the project and the specialists of the governmental free\nlegal aid centers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe program is one of the first reliable steps of the local authorities\nto create conditions for access of the community residents to justice. No funds\nhave been allocated to finance the program yet, but prospects are. At present,\nthe program is being implemented at the expense of the stakeholders under\npartnership and cooperation conditions,\u201d<\/em> says Anastasiia Ploshchynska.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within the program, the human rights defenders from the Khmelnytskyi Region also use video conference consulting, which simplifies the access of the residents of the remote settlements to legal aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/
Photo: Presentation of the study of the gender-based violence in Uzyn (Kyiv Region)<\/em>. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Participation in the Human Rights Friendly Community Program has brought the zation called Pravova Yednist (Legal Unity) from Bila Tserkva to a considerably higher level since it has developed an understanding of the need to study legal needs and advocacy skills. The knowledge gained has been used in several studies, including beyond the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen we learned how to conduct a study at quite a\nfundamental level, we managed to become persuasive in the community. We studied\nthe legal and security issues in the Uzyn TC at a good level, and we have also\nstudied domestic violence issues this year. You can\u2019t have the full-scale\ndialogue with the authorities until the community requests are recorded in a\ncertain manner,\u201d<\/em> says Olha Nastina<\/strong>, the organization’s\nlawyer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Presentation of the gender-based\nviolence study findings was quite hard-hitting because the organization had\nengaged all the local services, including the Labour and Social Protection\nDepartment of the Uzyn Territorial Community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe \u201clegalized\u201d our relations with the authorities and\nobtained<\/em> the opportunity to have the dialogue with\nthe decision-makers as equal parts,\u201d<\/em> says Olha Nastina. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were in Bila Tserkva today and discussed the matter of gender-based\nviolence. The local human rights defenders conducted the study. The police\nofficers presented the statistics. The governmental free legal aid system\nlawyers shared their practical experience and advice. One of the victims, the\nbrave woman, told about her painful experience. During all those three hours of\nthe event, I had a weird feeling that I was in an average democratic European\ncountry where the community did hear its residents, and the authority supported\nsmart people-centered approaches. It could be because of the pleasant and tidy\nenvironment or adequacy of representatives of different institutions or\nfriendly and sensitive atmosphere: I reminded myself again in Bila Tserkva\ntoday that Ukraine<\/em> is Europe. I wish I could\nhave this feeling more often, not only a few hours a day,\u201d <\/em>says Olha Halchenko<\/strong>, the Coordinator of the\nHuman Rights and Justice Program of International Renaissance Foundation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Halyna Kolesnyk, the Communications Manager of the Legal Development Network Despite the wide network of free legal aid (FLA), which includes more than 500 points of access to the state-guaranteed FLA, some people cannot use it. According to the sociological…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":10898,"template":"","project":[],"section":[],"event-type":[],"region":[],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldn.org.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event\/12061"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldn.org.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldn.org.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/event"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldn.org.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/ldn.org.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event\/12061\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12066,"href":"https:\/\/ldn.org.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event\/12061\/revisions\/12066"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldn.org.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldn.org.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"project","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldn.org.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project?post=12061"},{"taxonomy":"section","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldn.org.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/section?post=12061"},{"taxonomy":"event-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldn.org.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event-type?post=12061"},{"taxonomy":"region","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldn.org.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/region?post=12061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}