Legal Knowledge Month for convicts and released persons

In today’s difficult conditions of financial and economic crisis, economic hardships, the social instability of the population, the high level of crime, and the criminalisation of society, the work of raising the level of legal awareness and legal culture of the population of Ukraine acquires special importance; this applies to a significant extent to convicts and persons released from places of deprivation of liberty.

In accordance with the Decree of the President of Ukraine ‘On the concept of the formation of free legal aid in Ukraine’, the provision of such assistance to convicts and persons released from places of deprivation of liberty, on the initiative of the charitable organisation ‘Chernihiv Women’s Human Rights Centre’, a regional centre for legal aid was created.

The work of the legal aid centre is aimed at the realisation of citizens’ access to justice in accordance with the Constitution of Ukraine and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Within the framework of the work of the regional legal aid centre in the Chernihiv Correctional Colony, a Legal Knowledge Month was conducted, in which employees of the regional prosecutor’s office, the Novozavodsky Local Court of Chernihiv, the Chernihiv Regional Department of Justice, the Department of Civil Registry of the Chernihiv City Department of Justice, lawyers of the city’s public organisations, and members of the Chernihiv City Supervisory Commission took part.
The Assistant Prosecutor of the Chernihiv Region, A. L. Kostyukov, addressed the convicts with a lecture in which he informed the women about the legal grounds for bringing them to criminal responsibility for malicious disobedience to the requirements of the administration and for actions that disorganise the work of correctional institutions.
Chief specialists of the Main Department of Justice in the Chernihiv Region – I. A. Kibets and V. A. Nevolko, chief specialist of the Chernihiv City Department of Civil Registry V. V. Aksyon, and chief specialist of the State Executive Service I. O. Yaroshevych familiarised the convicts with: the procedure for registration and termination of marriage, the annulment of marriage, personal non-property rights, the right of common joint property of spouses; methods for parents to fulfil their duty to support a child (alimony); the duties of parents and children; the procedure for issuing powers of attorney and concluding contracts for the sale and purchase of a land plot and a residential house (apartment); and the compensation for damages caused by convicts to victims of a crime.
The conducting of open court sessions by judges of the Novozavodsky Local Court regarding parole, the substitution of the unserved part of the sentence with a more lenient punishment, and the establishment of administrative supervision over a certain category of convicts contributes to the formation of law-abiding behaviour in them, and forms a conviction regarding the necessity and social usefulness of observing the requirements of criminal-executive legislation.
Members of the Chernihiv City Supervisory Commission took part in the Legal Knowledge Month: Deputy Chairman – H. M. Kropyva, Commission Secretary – V. A. Selivon, Commission members – V. A. Badyra and L. O. Mazur, and lawyers of public organisations A. V. Lanko and N. O. Piddubna. They held a reception for convicts and considered their appeals.

The conclusion of the Legal Knowledge Month was the holding of a competition in the Chernihiv Correctional Colony No. 44, in which three teams of convicted women took part. They competed for the best knowledge of the rights and duties of parents and children.
The competition jury included representatives of the City Supervisory Commission, the Centre for Social Services for Children, Family and Youth, the Main Department of Justice in the Chernihiv Region, and the charitable organisation ‘Chernihiv Women’s Human Rights Centre’.
The spectators present in the hall had the opportunity to supplement the answers of the team representatives, and jury member I. A. Kibets, a chief specialist of the Department of Justice, provided the final summary of the completeness and correctness of the answers.
The winners of the quiz were awarded prizes, which were prepared by members of the charitable organisation ‘Chernihiv Women’s Human Rights Centre’.
After the quiz, for its participants and those present, a concert was held by young performers of original songs, namely Olena Ivanova, Dmytro Nechai, and Yuriy Yakushko.
The result of the conducted competition was an increase in the legal awareness of the convicts, an increase in their legal and social activity, and assistance to them in mastering a body of legal knowledge on issues of family and marriage legal relations.
Since the opening of the centre, it has been visited by more than twenty persons released from places of deprivation of liberty, who received legal assistance and support in resolving their problems. In addition, legal assistance was provided in the centre to minors who are on the register at the criminal-executive inspection, and to their parents, guardians, and custodians.
Legal assistance, in our opinion, is extremely necessary because it contributes to the formation of a legal culture in citizens, the development of their ability to use legal tools in practical activities, and ensures their legal protection in everyday life.
The awareness of citizens on legal issues remains a criterion for the formation of a legally mature individual, which includes the conviction of the necessity and social usefulness of observing laws and other regulatory and legal acts, and the ability to use laws and other by-laws in the defence of their rights and legitimate interests.

Valentyna Badyra, Director of the charitable organisation ‘Chernihiv Women’s Human Rights Centre’.