Legal news in Ukraine: The Law on Social Benefits for Political Prisoners has come into force, the Constitutional Court has announced new decisions, Ukraine will create a Single Address Register

The Law of Ukraine «On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Enhancing Social Protection of Certain Categories of Victims of Nazi Persecution and Political Repressions» came into force on October 11, 2018.

The law amends the Code of Labor Laws of Ukraine, the Housing Code of the Ukrainian SSR, the Laws of Ukraine «On Vacations», «On Mandatory State Social Insurance», «On the Housing Fund for Social Purposes».

The document provides the former juvenile and minor concentration camp prisoners with the right to free travel for all types of urban and suburban passenger transport; on privileged passage by rail, sea, river transport, buses of suburban and intercity routes of interregional communication; free drug provision; on privileges for payment for the use of housing and communal services.

These are individuals covered by Articles 61 and 62 of the Law of Ukraine «On Victims of Nazi Persecution».

Also, according to the Law, persons rehabilitated in accordance with the Law of Ukraine «On Rehabilitation of Victims of Repressions of the Communist Totalitarian Regime of 1917-1991», who were deprived of their liberty or forced unreasonably placed in a psychiatric institution, have the right to receive social guarantees provided for persons with «combatant» status. Persons with disabilities receive the rights of persons with disabilities as a result of the war.

They, in particular, are entitled to additional leave, to preferential housing, to 100% payment for sick leave.

Ministry of Finance’ right to obtain personal data is unconstitutional, - the Constitutional Court

The Constitutional Court of Ukraine has declared unconstitutional the granting to the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine the right to receive information containing personal data, states the Communications Department of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and legal monitoring.

The court upheld the decision on the constitutional petition of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights on the compliance of certain provisions of the first paragraph 40 of Section VI «Final and Transitional Provisions» of the Budget Code of Ukraine with the constitutionality of Ukraine (constitutionality).

The Court found this Decision to be inconsistent with the Constitution of Ukraine to obtain information containing personal data.

According to the content of this norm during the exercise of powers to monitor compliance with budget law in terms of monitoring pensions, benefits, benefits, subsidies, other social benefits, the Ministry has the right to receive free information on personal data and access to automated information and reference systems, registers and data banks, the owner (administrator) of which is the state bodies or local authorities. The Ministry does not require the consent of individuals for the receipt and processing of such personal data.

The Constitutional Court of Ukraine has come to the conclusion that interference with the constitutional right of a person to private and family life will be considered lawful if there are grounds in the national law, as well as provided that such a law will comply with the constitutional principle of the rule of law.

The constitutional principle of the rule of law requires the legislative consolidation of the prevention mechanism of arbitrary interference by public authorities in the exercise of their discretionary powers in the rights and freedoms of the individual.

The Constitutional Court of Ukraine believes that the Ministry’s authority to receive free information containing personal data is discretionary, and therefore it is imperative that the disputed provisions of the Code, which are the basis for the respective powers of the Ministry, are in line with the constitutional principle of the rule of law, in particular, its elements such as legal certainty and the prohibition of arbitrariness.

At the same time, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine notes that the Ministry may be authorized to receive and process information containing personal data only for the achievement of a legitimate aim. However, due to the absence of any limits of discretion established by law, regarding further actions with information containing personal data, even the minimum protection of the personal data is impossible.

That is, according to the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, the disputed provisions of the Code do not provide criteria for determining the content and amount of information containing personal data, categories of persons as subjects of personal data, intervals of time, which should relate to personal data, terms, order and conditions of their storage, which makes it impossible for the state to take responsibility for possible abuses.

Since the Constitutional Court of Ukraine has found that the contradictory provisions do not comply with such a criterion as the quality of the law, there is no need to check whether the interference with the constitutional right of a person to privacy by receiving and processing by the Ministry of Personal Data without the consent of this person pursued some legitimate aim.

Therefore, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine has grounds to state that certain provisions of the first paragraph of section 40 of Section VI «Final and Transitional Provisions» of the Code concerning the right of the Ministry to receive information containing personal data contradict part one of Article 8 and part two of Article 32 of the Constitution of Ukraine.

The above provisions shall lapse from the date of adoption of this Decision by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.

The Constitutional Court has issued a decision in a case concerning the appeals of persons declared incompetent by the court

The Constitutional Court of Ukraine has made a decision in a case under the constitutional petition of the Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on human rights regarding the constitutionality of certain provisions of part two of Article 8, the second sentence of part four of Article 16 of the Law of Ukraine «On appeals of citizens» – the case of appeal of persons declared incompetent by the court, reports press service of the CCU.

The court recognized that the provisions of the Law of Ukraine «On Citizens’ Appeal» No. 393/96-VR of October 2, 1996, as amended, are not in compliance with the Constitution, namely: part two of Article 8, which does not consider «the appeal of persons recognized as incapacitated by the court»; the second sentence of part four of Article 16 regarding the filing of a complaint in the interests of incapacitated persons only by their legal representatives.

In accordance with part two of Article 8 of the Law, appeals of persons declared incompetent by the court are not considered, including those that meet the requirements of the established Law. Authorized officials or officials of state authorities and local self-government bodies are exempted from the duty to consider applications, petitions, complaints from this category of persons.

The Constitutional Court of Ukraine proceeded from the fact that in legislative regulation it is inadmissible to introduce provisions according to which officials of state and local government bodies do not consider any appeals of persons solely on the grounds of their recognition as incapacitated in accordance with a court decision.

The reason for the authorities, local self-government bodies and their officials to refuse to consider the relevant applications may not be the recognition by the court that a physical person is incapacitated, but the failure to comply with the requirements for the content and form of appeal that apply to all.

In resolving the issues raised in the constitutional petition, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine proceeded from the fact that in legislative regulation it is inadmissible to introduce provisions according to which officials do not consider any appeals of persons only on the grounds of their recognition as incapacitated according to the court decision.

The Constitutional Court of Ukraine draws attention to the fact that Article 40 of the Constitution of Ukraine does not provide for the possibility of limiting the right of every person to apply to bodies of state power, bodies of local self-government and their officials.

Consequently, in the opinion of the Court, recognition of an individual as legally incapable does not mean the automatic deprivation of his capacity - the ability to have rights and obligations in the relevant areas of legal relations, including the right provided by Article 40 of the Constitution of Ukraine – to appeal to state authorities, bodies of local self-government and their officials.

The Constitutional Court of Ukraine has obliged the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to bring the unconstitutional provisions of the Law into conformity with the Constitution of Ukraine and this Decision.

The above provisions shall lapse from the date of adoption of this Decision by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.

The Unified Address register will be created in Ukraine

The Government formed an Interagency Working Group on the establishment of the The Unified Address register of Ukraine. This is stipulated by the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated October 10, 2018, No. 822.

The resolution approved the composition of the working group, which was established to facilitate coordination between the executive authorities in preparing proposals for determining the basic principles for the establishment of the Register.

The Deputy Minister of Justice on state registration issues will head the group.

The main tasks of the working group are the preparation of proposals on the creation and operation and participation in the development of draft regulatory acts on matters that govern the activities of the Register.

Creating a single address register will help to make and accumulate the most reliable information about the addresses of objects that were assigned exclusively in accordance with the procedure established by the legislation; will allow to prevent the commission of illegal actions with real estate, in particular, will make it impossible to duplicate these addresses during the registration of rights to various objects of real estate and vice versa prevents the possibility of registration of the same object at different addresses.