Citizenship for Convicts

The training was organised by the charitable organisation “Chernihiv Women’s Human Rights Centre” as part of the project “Ensuring Access to Justice for Convicted Women, Imprisoned Minors, and Individuals Released from Places of Detention through the Provision of Legal Assistance”. Members of the charitable organisation, the Chernihiv Municipal Supervisory Commission, and Natalia Ivanivna Prykhodko, Head of the Department of Passport Work, Citizenship, Immigration, and Registration of Individuals of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in the Chernihiv region, participated in the preparation and delivery of the training.

During the training, the convicts were acquainted with the concept of Ukrainian citizenship, the principles of citizenship, belonging to citizenship, and the acquisition and termination of citizenship. Matters regarding the authority of bodies and organisations involved in resolving citizenship issues were examined in detail, specifically the powers of the President of Ukraine and the Citizenship Commission under the President. Particular attention was paid to the Presidential Decree of 27 March 2001, No. 215, “On Issues of Organising the Implementation of the Law of Ukraine ‘On Citizenship of Ukraine’”, in which the functions of the specially authorised central executive body for citizenship issues were assigned to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.
Furthermore, the convicts were introduced to the main provisions of Chapter 4 of the Code of Civil Procedure of Ukraine, “Separate Proceedings”, regarding the establishment of facts with legal significance, the procedure for opening a case to establish such facts, and the contents of the application. This information is important for many convicts, as at the time of the declaration of Ukraine’s independence and the adoption of the Law of Ukraine “On Citizenship”, they held passports of the 1974 model, into which the “Citizen of Ukraine” mark had not been entered in time, and they had not replaced them with the Ukrainian citizen passport of the 1993 model. Three months prior to release, in accordance with Part 4 of Article 153 of the Penal Code of Ukraine, the administration of the penal institution must take timely measures to obtain passports for those convicts who lack them. To obtain these, it is necessary to confirm the fact of permanent residence on the territory of Ukraine as of 13 November 1991 (the moment the Law of Ukraine “On Citizenship” came into force).
The organisers of the training prepared a sample application to the court for the establishment of the fact of permanent residence by an individual on the territory of Ukraine as of 13 November 1991 (the moment the Law of Ukraine “On Citizenship” came into force) and a list of necessary documents, as stipulated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Order No. 600, “On the Procedure for Processing and Issuing the Passport of a Citizen of Ukraine”.
For use in their practical activities, the following documents were provided to the convicts:
The Law of Ukraine “On Citizenship”,
The Presidential Decree of 27 March 2001, No. 215, “On Issues of Organising the Implementation of the Law of Ukraine ‘On Citizenship of Ukraine’”,
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Order No. 600, “On the Procedure for Processing and Issuing the Passport of a Citizen of Ukraine”, and extracts from the Code of Civil Procedure of Ukraine.
During the preparation for the training, the convicts were involved in producing visual materials.

A. Lepekha, Director of the CO “CWHRC”