On Free Legal Aid

According to the Minister of Justice, Mykola Onishchuk, the draft law ‘On Free Legal Aid’ was developed in fulfilment of the provisions of Article 59 of the Constitution of Ukraine, the first part of which enshrines the right of everyone to legal assistance. The Basic Law stipulates that, in cases provided for by law, this assistance should be provided free of charge.

The development of the draft law is also provided for by the fulfilment of Ukraine's duties and obligations arising from its membership in the Council of Europe. According to the Minister of Justice, in 2008 the draft law passed an expert assessment at the Council of Europe and received positive reviews.

The law proposes to define the content of the right to legal assistance, the procedure for its implementation, the grounds and procedure for providing free legal assistance, state guarantees regarding the provision of free legal assistance, the powers of executive authorities in this sphere, and the procedure for appealing the decisions, actions, or inaction of public authorities, local self-government bodies, and their officials regarding the provision of free legal assistance.

With the adoption of the aforementioned law, it is envisaged that a mechanism will be created in Ukraine to implement the constitutional right of citizens to legal assistance at the state's expense.