Volyn NGO instills Civic Oversight of Ukraine’s Criminal Law Process
Last year, high-school student Roman Danylchuk, 17, was accused of aggravated robbery. Allegedly, he and a friend assaulted another minor and took his cell phone in the process. Danylchuk faced two years of incarceration and would most likely have ended up in a prison if it were not for help from a pro bono lawyer.
The lawyer conducted his own investigation, which found that Danylchuk had acted alone and had obtained the cell phone by tricking the unwitting victim. Danylchuk pleaded guilty, and then apologized to the victim and reimbursed him for the cost of the phone. After reviewing his case and issuing a stern warning, the judge decided to reduce the charge to fraud and release Roman to his parents after three days in a holding cell.
Danylchuk’s legal defender belongs to the Volyn Protection Association, a team of lawyers headed by a young social activist, Petro Verzun. They are dedicated to ensuring due legal process for minors, and their current project - Protecting the Rights of Volyn Youth - aims to instill civic oversight over Ukraine’s criminal law process, which currently still operates under the guise of “guilty until proven innocent.”
The idea of a criminal rights protection campaign originated when the Association was developing a rehabilitation program for ex-convicts. They were shocked to see Ministry of Justice statistics that showed a 100 percent conviction rate for minors for the period from January 1, 2003, to July 1, 2004, in Volyn Oblast. Over 70 percent were put behind the bars instead receiving sentences of community work, probation or fines. This fact, compounded by a 7.9 percent increase in the juvenile crime rate and a high recidivism rate in Volyn for 2004, led Verzun to conclude that not only did youth offenders lack knowledge of their basic rights but that public defenders weren’t doing their jobs in defending minors accused of crimes.
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A lawyer from the Volyn Protection Association consults with an
incarcerated minor
Photo Credit: Volyn Protection Association |
After examining these findings, Verzun decided to launch a campaign aimed at systematically changing the way criminal proceedings were carried out. With financial assistance from USAID, he held a series of roundtable discussions with lawyers, prosecutors, judges and police investigators, as well as other stakeholders that eventually led to the formation of advisory councils in two city councils in the region, which reviewed and oversaw every step in criminal proceedings. On the national level, they lobbied for changes in the criminal law, including amendments that would secure significant increases in salaries for public defenders (currently they receive a paltry 15 UAH per day of work) and give civic groups access to prisons and correctional institutions. On the local level, they called for unified efforts among school principals, parents and teachers in learning proper criminal procedures to taking the necessary steps to identify and address at-risk children. On the regional level, they created a watchdog organization to oversee the entire process.
On the ground, the association visited 61 schools throughout the region and gave informational seminars to over 15,000 high-school students on their rights and the consequences related to breaking the law.
Vezun states, “Most convicted minors are undereducated, lack parental supervision, and come from poor rural backgrounds or small mining towns in the East, including the Roma population.”
The association enlisted a group of lawyers to offer cost-free representation in court through contracts involving three parties: a minor, the lawyer and the association. The minor received a protection card, which he carries and presents to police when detained. The police required to call the lawyer defending the cardholder. A total of 215 cards and contracts have been signed to date. In addition, lawyers and psychologists started visiting a correctional institution in Kovel (Volyn region), where they reviewed individual cases for possible sentence reduction, reversal or appeal.
“We’ve almost succeeded in assuring that guilty minors are charged for the crime they have actually committed, not what the investigators claim they did,” asserts defense attorney Andriy Osipov.
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