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Legal Aid and Legislative Initiatives to Protect IDPs: the Main Topics of Discussion at the Large-Scale Legal Forum of R2P in Kyiv
October 24, 2024
Representatives of international partners and government agencies dealing with human rights protection discussed the challenges faced by humanitarian organisations in the context of providing assistance to internally displaced persons during the panel discussions of the legal forum, Legal Protection of IDPs: from Response to Resilience, held by Right to Protection on 17–18 October.
According to Oleksandr Galkin, President of R2P, the legal forum is an opportunity to discuss the practical work of specialists and plans for the future. According to him, the Fund is working to provide the highest quality legal aid to internally displaced persons and the war-affected population.
Oleksandr Galkin, President of R2P
"It is very important for us to develop as lawyers, professionals, and community members. We try to share our experience not only in Ukraine. You know that we opened a representative office in Poland a year ago. There is also legal aid there, which is not as extensive as ours in Ukraine. However, we are planning to expand. We have many plans for long-term solutions. Legal aid will become more and more complex. It means more court cases and cases on the verge of strategic litigation and advocacy."
Over 110,000 consultations for more than 68,000 people provided by lawyers of regional offices, 57,000 legal consultations provided by lawyers of R2P's helpline, 140,000 unique users of the IDP Legal Advisor chatbot, 51 strategic cases in 2023, three applications to the ECHR, and a number of cassation cases under consideration — these are the interim results of the programme in 2024, which were also discussed during the legal forum.
In particular, Vitaliy Chornenkyi, Coordinator of the programme, announced these figures for providing legal aid to IDPs and the war-affected population.
Vitalii Chornenkyi, the Legal Aid Programme Coordinator of R2P
"We operate in 22 oblasts and provide a range of services, from the simplest information consultations to representing beneficiaries in complex cases in cassation courts and the European Court of Human Rights. We are proud of the programme's structure and the modalities we work to reach everyone. We are working hard to maintain the coverage and scope of assistance, which is still needed."
The first day of the legal forum was devoted to discussing legal aid in humanitarian response, particularly judicial protection of IDPs' rights.
Dmytro Hudyma, Judge of the SC Grand Chamber, held a panel discussion on some of the problems of filing cassation appeals and applying "cassation filters". In particular, the discussion focused on the preparation of cassation appeals, the grounds for cassation appeals of court decisions in civil jurisdictionб and the so-called "cassation filters".
On the second day of the legal forum, the participants discussed the Register of Damages Caused by the Russian Federation against Ukraine. In particular, this topic was the focus of a presentation by Hanna Khrystova, Head of the Kyiv Office of the Register of Damages Caused by the Russian Aggression against Ukraine.
Hanna Khrystova, Head of the Kyiv Office of the Register of Damages Caused by the Russian Aggression against Ukraine
"We have always had two options with you. The first option is to create the entire mechanism over years and decades, leaving it all to our grandchildren, ensuring full legal certainty and predictability. There is only one problem. Over the years and decades, the traces would disappear. As traces of criminal acts disappear much faster than we expect. Or we can follow the path the Government of Ukraine took in communicating with the international community — to develop processes in parallel. That is why the Register is being created. We already have a fairly clear understanding of the categories of harm and standards, which will constantly evolve."
During the discussion panel, Pavlo Frolov, Member of Parliament of Ukraine, Head of the Temporary Special Commission of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on the Protection of Property and Non-Property Rights of Internally Displaced Persons and Other Persons Affected by the Armed Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, Daria Marchak, First Deputy Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine, and Iryna Kalupak, Director of the Department for Monitoring the Observance of the Rights of Citizens Affected by the Armed Aggression of the Ombudsman's Office, spoke about legislative initiatives and main trends in the protection of war victims, as well as Iryna Kalupak, Director of the Department for Monitoring the Observance of the Rights of Citizens Affected by the Armed Aggression against Ukraine of the Ombudsman's Office.
In particular, MP Pavlo Frolov reminded that according to the World Bank, 3.5 million Ukrainians have lost their homes, while Ukrainian experts estimate that 4 million people have lost their homes.
Pavlo Frolov, MP, Chairman of the Temporary Special Commission of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on the Protection of Property and Non-property Rights of Internally Displaced Persons and Other Persons Affected by the Armed Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine
"One of the main focuses of our work is to solve the housing problem of the victims. We also considered the issue and gave suggestions and visions on financial assistance, humanitarian aid and improving the eVidnovlennia programme. We reviewed the situation with the protection of the rights of Ukrainian refugees abroad, who, according to the UNHCR, number 6 million. Our main legislative initiatives and draft laws relate to payment for financial assistance. The criteria for payment of living allowance is what people are most concerned about."
In addition, Pavlo Frolov spoke about other legislative initiatives.
Pavlo Frolov, MP, Chairman of the Temporary Special Commission of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on the Protection of Property and Non-property Rights of Internally Displaced Persons and Other Persons Affected by the Armed Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine
"This is a draft law on conducting an all-Ukrainian real estate inventory and creating a database system of all objects that can be used for IDPs. It is envisaged that this data will be available on an online map, and people who have been forcibly displaced and affected by the war will be able to apply for accommodation. I constantly communicate and ask international organisations to open their housing solutions when this system is created."
The legal forum is a unique platform where lawyers providing legal aid to IDPs and advocacy experts discuss current issues and strategies to protect their rights. The event aims to discuss the challenges faced by internally displaced persons and identify prospects for the development of legal support, contributing to building a fairer and safer society.