Legal aid for female convicts

In the Chernihiv Penal Colony, as part of the project ‘Ensuring access to justice for female convicts, imprisoned minors, and persons released from places of detention through the provision of legal aid,’ the charitable organisation ‘Chernihiv Women’s Human Rights Centre’ is providing legal assistance to female convicts serving sentences in the Chernihiv Women’s Colony.

Having become an independent state, Ukraine aims to build a democratic society in which human rights and freedoms, the rule of law, and justice must be fully ensured. In accordance with current legislation, the state respects and protects the rights, freedoms, and legitimate interests of convicts, who enjoy all human and civil rights, with the exception of restrictions defined by the Laws of Ukraine, the Criminal Executive Code of Ukraine, and court sentences.
A month of legal awareness began at the Chernihiv Penal Colony on 1 April.
On 20 April, as part of this initiative, representatives of the ‘Chernihiv Women’s Human Rights Centre’ invited Iryna Petrivna Marchuk, Head of the Labour and Social Protection Department of the Novozavodsky District Council in Chernihiv, and Iryna Mykolaivna Dibrova, Deputy Head of the Department and Head of the Pension Assignment Division of the Pension Fund of Ukraine in the Novozavodsky District of Chernihiv, to the institution. They informed those present about the procedure for mothers to receive financial assistance at the birth of a child. Particular attention was paid to explaining the procedure for receiving financial assistance for mothers who gave birth in places of detention and were released before their child reached the age of 3.
The convicts were informed of the conditions and procedures for applying for state social assistance for persons who have been released from places of detention and have reached retirement age but lack the required insurance period.
I. P. Marchuk and I. M. Dibrova answered numerous questions from the female convicts regarding the order and conditions for processing pensions after serving a sentence, and the conditions and procedures for counting time worked in places of detention towards general employment records.
Legal aid for women serving sentences in the Chernihiv Penal Colony is, in our opinion, extremely necessary, as it contributes to the development of their legal culture, fosters the ability to use legal tools in practical activities, and will ensure their legal protection after release.
The awareness of convicts remains a criterion for the formation of a legally mature individual, which includes the conviction of the necessity and social utility of complying with laws and other regulatory acts, as well as the ability to use laws and other sub-statutory acts to protect their rights and legitimate interests.
A positive attitude and respect for the law, knowledge of the content of its norms, and the ability to comply with them, as well as lawful behaviour, will contribute to their return to an independent, generally accepted, and socially normative life after release.

A. Lepyokha, Director of the ‘CWHRC’