Notary services have become more accessible to convicts

The provision of notary services to individuals serving sentences of imprisonment had, until recently, remained a matter not sufficiently regulated by legislation.
While the head of an institution could perform the procedure of certifying a power of attorney, there were a number of situations where a convict’s signature had to be certified by a notary, and only a notary. In such situations, a host of problems arose for both the institution’s administration and the convict, as the administration must somehow ensure that the convict has the opportunity to have their signature certified by a notary.
In particular, the problem involved arranging for a notary to visit the institution and paying for their travel if necessary. In the event that a notary refuses to visit the institution, there are no mechanisms to compel them to perform the necessary notarial acts. This is even the case when the convict has the funds to pay the required fees. The situation is entirely hopeless in cases where the convict has no funds, and the state does not provide a mechanism to ensure that convicts can receive notarial services if they lack the means. Consequently, convicts in places of detention faced major difficulties in obtaining notary services that the head of the institution could not provide.
In connection with these problems, the public organisation “Donetsk Memorial” submitted inquiries to the Committees of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Ministry of Justice, and the State Department for the Execution of Sentences with a proposal to take measures to rectify the situation.
And the situation was changed.
The adoption of the Law “On State Registration of Civil Status Acts” by the Verkhovna Rada on 1 July 2010 was accompanied by amendments to other laws, specifically the Law “On Notaries”. Article 40-1 of this law now reads as follows:
“Article 40-1. Certification of the authenticity of a signature on documents by the head of a penal institution.
The head of a penal institution shall certify the authenticity of the signature of a person located in such an institution, in accordance with Article 78 of this Law.
Certification by the head of a penal institution of the authenticity of a signature on documents is equivalent to notarial certification of the authenticity of a signature.”

From now on, the head of an institution can provide notary services in full, and the opportunities for convicts to obtain such services have significantly expanded.