Українська
English
FrançaisLegal aid system strengthens its independence
Representatives of the free legal aid system in Ukraine study the experience of Dutch colleagues in providing legal aid to population, in particular, the use of innovative methods and technologies in ensuring access to legal aid, the organization of work of the Legal Aid Bureau at the local level and the provision of quality legal aid at all levels.
The visit of the Ukrainian delegation was organized with the support of the QALA Project and the International Renaissance Foundation.
For this purpose, the Ukrainian delegation, consisting of the representatives of free legal aid system in Ukraine and the partners: the Coordination Center for Legal Aid Provision – Deputy Director Vitalii Baiev, Head of the Department of Access to Legal Aid Olena Sinchuk, Head of the Department of Legal Analysis and legal Drafting Anna Meredova, Manager of QALA project Oksana Kikot, Head of the Organizational Support Department/Regional Coordinator of QALA project Alina Hladka; and Manager of the Human Rights and Justice Program Initiative of the International Renaissance Foundation Vasylyna Yavorska, as well as representatives of regional and local free secondary legal aid centers – Pavlo Nalyvaiko (Zaporizhzhia), Stanislav Skits (Cherkasy), Iryna Dovhanyuk (Chernivtsi), Vitalii Solskyi (Ternopil), Mariana Marchuk and Volodymyr Hoshovskyi (Lviv region), Maksym Palianytsia (Poltava region), Andrii Ilin (Kyiv).
Within the framework of the visit, the Ukrainian delegation will have meetings with representatives of the Legal Aid Board, the Center for International Legal Cooperation, the Citizens Advice Bureau, and law firms.
During the visit, the Ukrainian delegation will have an opportunity to learn about various LA practices in the Netherlands, in particular, regarding:
- services, available to the customers of legal aid system, and service standards;
- standard procedures of clients reception (including the electronic system for clients registration);
- systems and procedures of guiding applicants to relevant organizations (services available outside the legal aid system, and ways of informing clients about them);
- training programs for receptionists;
- knowledge management systems for reception staff (including the nature of consultations that can be provided to clients);
- methods of collecting information during the reception and its further analysis; reporting systems;
- procedures of checking whether the client meets the criteria: employees in charge of the verification, and the organization of verification.
Today, on 25 January, the delegates visited the Legal Aid Board (the city of Utrecht), where they discussed the peculiarities of the organization and management of the LA system in the Netherlands with the Executive Director of the Legal Aid Board Peter van den Biggelaar and the Director of Human Resources Herman Schilperoort, the history of the Dutch legal aid system with the Board’s staff member Edwin Borghs, the issue of reporting to the Ministry of Justice and Security, the legal aid boards and other stakeholders – with the researcher Lia Combrink, who also told the guests about the system monitoring, analysis of the received data, as well as customer feedback and evaluation of the degree of satisfaction with the local LA system.
Legal Aid Board (LAB) is an independent body operating under the auspices of the Ministry of Justice and Security, responsible for all issues of governance, supervision and funding of the legal aid system, as well as its practical implementation. This includes such tasks as the selection of legal professionals in accordance with requests for assistance, supervision of the services provision and quality control. Every year, a monitoring report with the situation review over the past five years is published. The LAB consists of 5 specialized bureaus and the central office. The LAB receives funding from the MJS and reports on the use of budget funds to this ministry. The legal aid system is mainly funded by the state (Legal Aid Fund), and an insignificant contribution, which depends on the size of the income, is made by the clients themselves.
As part of the legal aid system in the Netherlands, such aid is provided to people with limited material resources. Any person who needs professional legal aid but cannot pay for it (in full) has the right to avail him/herself of the provisions of the Law on Legal Aid (effective from 1994, the latest amendments to the law entered into force on February 1, 2015). The 1994 Law on Legal Aid superseded previous legal instruments on legal aid that had been effective since 1957.
According to the latest calculations, as our colleagues found out, from the viewpoint of financial position, about 39% of the Dutch population (total population of the country is 16.8 million people) may use the legal aid system, if their life circumstances so require.
Читайте також
