Starting July 1, 2015, 100 legal assistance centres with 5,000 lawyers will be opened to provide services to low-income citizens of Ukraine, said Minister for Justice Pavlo Petrenko during a television broadcast on Channel Ukraine, Forbes reports.
"Opening of centres is a large-scale social project. In Ukraine, the 1996 Constitution stipulates that the Ukrainians have the right to obtain free legal aid, in particular, free legal consultations and presentation in judicial proceedings. But during nearly 20 years not a single step to implement this right has been undertaken. For today, the Cabinet of Ministers has allocated funds to open legal aid centres, and the project will be soon embedded," told Pavel Petrenko.
According to the Minister for Justice, primarily those who cannot afford to hire a lawyer may rely on free legal aid.
"We will help the poor - those who cannot afford a lawyer. Secondly, we will help families of ATO members and immigrants from Donbas. This is a very ambitious project. So, 100 centres will be opened. Not enough? Yes, enough, given the fact that to date there have not been any centres at all, the opening of 100 legal aid centres is a decisive step toward protecting human rights in Ukraine", assured Pavlo Petrenko.
