Publication date: 30.05.2024
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has expanded the grounds for termination of free legal aid to mobilized defendants.
ТекстThe provision of free secondary legal aid is terminated by the decision of the Free Legal Aid Center, especially when a criminal case is closed in connection with military service.
On May 23, the Verkhovna Rada adopted draft law 11186 on amendments to Article 23 of the Law on Free Legal Aid.
Thus, the provision of free secondary legal aid will be terminated by the decision of the Free Legal Aid Center in case of closure of a criminal case.
As the authors emphasize, the amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine regarding the improvement of the procedure for consideration of criminal cases under martial law stipulate that Article 335 of the Criminal Procedure Code provides that in case of drafting the defendant to the armed forces: as follows.
If mobilization is provided for by the Criminal Procedure Code, the court shall suspend the case of the accused for a special period, after which he or she shall be discharged from military service.
Courts often decide to postpone trials because a significant number of defendants are called up for military service.
Among other things, proceedings in which the defendant is entitled to free secondary legal aid are subject to suspension.
In such cases, free secondary legal aid is effectively suspended indefinitely.
However, the decision to terminate the activities of the support center cannot be made due to the lack of an appropriate legal basis.
The Procedure for Payment for Services and Reimbursement of Expenses of Attorneys Providing Free Secondary Legal Aid and Calculation of Fees of Attorneys Providing Free Secondary Legal Aid, approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of September 17, 2014 According to the Law No. 465, reimbursement of fees and expenses in criminal proceedings will take place only after the completion of the sixth stage of the proceedings, if the obligation to provide free secondary legal aid is terminated earlier.
Thus, even if a criminal case is closed due to the accused's military service, the procedure for providing free legal aid in a criminal case remains in place, making it impossible for lawyers to initiate a case.
Assistance with relevant services and compensation for services actually provided.
Current laws and regulations violate the rights of lawyers to timely payment for services rendered.
In addition, the absence of a mechanism for timely revocation of rulings automatically extends the duration of criminal proceedings for the period during which legal aid is not actually provided.
At the same time, the opinion of the Ministry of Justice states that the Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 465 of September 17, 2014 approved the procedure for payment for services and reimbursement of expenses of lawyers providing free secondary legal aid.
It is a methodology for calculating the amount of remuneration of attorneys providing free secondary legal support.
At the same time, the provisions of this methodology provide for the possibility of paying for the services of attorneys providing free secondary legal aid at each stage of the proceedings or court proceedings.
If a person who is entitled to such assistance is provided with free secondary legal aid, and the court subsequently closes the criminal proceedings, the provision of free secondary legal aid is not terminated (there are no legal grounds for this), (the stage of the procedure is not completed), so the lawyer has the opportunity to submit to the Free Legal Aid Center a certificate of free secondary legal aid with the relevant attachments to pay for the service, which is not available.
Thus, the question is not when the provision of free secondary legal aid is terminated, but whether the lawyer actually receives remuneration for the legal services rendered before the completion of the procedure or the relevant stage of the procedure or whether it is possible to do so.
In this regard, the Ministry of Justice, together with the Coordination Center for Legal Aid Provision, is developing draft amendments to the CMU Resolution No. 465 of September 17, 2014 "Issues of Payment for Services and Reimbursement of Expenses".
Improving the provision on "lawyers providing free secondary legal aid" and taking into account the Center's proposals for the provision of free legal aid.
In the opinion of the Ministry of Justice, given the above, the issue of payment for the services of lawyers providing free secondary legal aid in criminal cases closed by a court decision can be resolved by changing the methodology accordingly.
Before the end of the procedural stage, the lawyer submits a certificate of provision of free secondary legal aid together with the relevant annexes.
Thus, we can see that the changes were made not only in accordance with the current law, but also taking into account changes in the requirements of the time and the introduction of martial law in Ukraine, as well as the fact that a legal analysis of the situation , lawyer's help online, legal opinion of a lawyer
To analyze the situation, we will analyze the documents and have the documents reviewed by a evaluation. legal analysis of the situation.
