Law of Ukraine
The legal system of Ukraine is based on civil law, and belongs to the Romano-Germanic legal tradition. The main source of legal information is codified law. Customary law and case law are not as common, though case law is often used in support of the written law, as in many other legal systems. Historically, the Ukrainian legal system is primarily influenced by the French civil code, Roman Law, and traditional Ukrainian customary law. The new civil law books (enacted in 2004) were heavily influenced by the German Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch.
This article is about the Ukrainian legal system. For primary legislation in Ukraine, see Law of Ukraine (legislation).The primary law making body is the Ukrainian Parliament (Verkhovna Rada), also referred to as the legislature (Ukrainian: законодавча влада, romanized: zakonodavcha vlada). The power to make laws can be delegated to lower governments or specific organs of the State, but only for a prescribed purpose. In recent years, it has become common for the legislature to create "framework laws" and delegate the creation of detailed rules to ministers or lower governments (e.g. a province or municipality). After laws are published in Holos Ukrayiny they come into force officially the next day.[1]
How positions are assigned[edit]
Judges are imposed by the Supreme Council of Ukraine. Attorneys at law are imposed by the Disciplinary Bar Commission. Notaries are imposed by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. Public prosecutors are imposed by regional Superior officials. Policemen are imposed by Superior officials.
The Constitution of Ukraine is a supreme law of Ukraine. Laws and other legislation should be adopted on its basis and conform to it.
Because Ukrainian legal system is code-based, there are a number of codified laws in the main spheres of national legislation. These include:
Only the Parliament of Ukraine is entitled to issue normative acts in the form of laws. The laws of Ukraine are the highest normative acts in Ukraine.[3]
The secondary legislation of Ukraine comprises other normative acts including decrees, resolutions, and orders issued by the President of Ukraine, Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, National Bank of Ukraine, ministries and other state agencies. They are adopted on the basis and in realization of the general provisions of laws.
Law schools[edit]
Ukraine has taken steps to reform its education frameworks in consistence with the Bologna process. By the mid-2000s, Universities started granting undergraduate Bachelor of Laws degrees (about 3 years for full-time students and 4 years for part-time students) and graduate Master of Laws degrees (about 5 years for full-time students and 6 years for part-time students). In Soviet times, the only undergraduate degree (following a 10-year secondary education) was a 5-year Specialist Diploma, with a thesis requirement, usually placing it somewhere between a bachelor's and master's degree in the West. Degrees are awarded by authorities of the State Examination Board of University. The University degree gives people the right to engage in professional legal activities in Ukraine as a legal advisor. However, judges and criminal defense attorneys must take an additional state licensing exam.
Lawyers and law firms[edit]
Law is practiced in Ukraine by jurists (legal consultants, counsels, attorneys), professionals awarded a diploma after graduation from a law faculty of a university. Law offices are maintained by lawyers who register it as a law firm in the Ministry of Justice, and are awarded state certification.
The Constitution of Ukraine defines an attorney's work as "securing the right for protection against accusation and provide legal assistance while considering cases in courts and other state bodies in Ukraine". In this case, the Law “On the Bar and Advocate's Activity” defines the Bar as a voluntary professional public association.
In order to defend a person charged with criminal offense, a person must be an attorney. An attorney under the Law “On the Bar and Advocate's Activity” can be a person who has higher legal education, stated by the diploma of Ukraine, or in line with the international treaties of Ukraine diploma of a foreign country, the work experience in the field of law no less than two years, fluent in the Language of the State, has passed a qualification exam, received a certificate entitling him to practice law, and taken the Ukrainian Oath of the Attorney.
The Law determines that attorneys cannot hold a previous conviction. The Law also stipulates that the attorney cannot work in court, a prosecutor's or state notary's office, bodies of internal affairs, security service, or state administration bodies.
In order to defend a person charged with criminal offense, an attorney must have a certificate entitling him to practice law (issued by Regional Qualification-Disciplinary Bar Commission) or a Power of Attorney letter.
There are 25 Regional Qualifications- Disciplinary Bar Commissions in Ukraine: each in every Region (oblast) and one in the City of Kyiv and the City of Sevastopol.
A list of attorneys is kept and published by the Supreme Qualification Bar Commission of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.[7]
To represent a client in a non-criminal case or to be an in-house a person must have a higher legal education.
A list of law firms is kept and published on the official website of Ministry of Justice of Ukraine.[8]
A list of lawyers from Kyiv University List of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv people.
A list of lawyers from Ukraine List of jurists.
Notaries[edit]
Notary in Ukraine is based on the guidelines set forth by the law entitled "On Notariate". According to the law, the Notariate is a system of bodies and officials obliged to certify rights, certify facts that have legal force and perform other notary actions as stated in the law with the purpose of giving them legal force.
In Ukraine, notary operations are carried out by state notaries, private notaries or officials of executive bodies of local (village, settlement, city) councils, if there are no notaries therein. The difference between state and private notaries is the service fees imposed by public notaries are fixed by the state, whereas the only aspect regulated by the State in regards to private notaries is the price floor.
Any person who considers occupation of the notary post must be a citizen of Ukraine, have higher legal education (university, academy, institute), work on probation during 6 months in a state notary office or at private notary, pass a qualification exam and receive a certificate permitting notary actions. A person with any outstanding convictions cannot be a notary by law.
The Certificate permitting notary activities may be abrogated by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine in the following cases:
- on notary's own initiative;
- loss of Ukrainian citizenship or departure to permanent residence outside Ukraine;
- notary's non-conformity to the occupied post because of health condition preventing him from accomplishment of notary activities;
- coming into force of conviction sentence against notary.
Notaries are not allowed by law to work in courts, police, and prosecutor offices, nor represent citizens in courts or any other government offices. The major role of notaries in Ukraine is to notarize documents and contracts between persons in accordance to Civil Code of Ukraine. Every notarized document, agreement, contract, etc. is issued on numerated, special paper form, protected by security features and is registered in the notary's records which is kept after completion in regional (oblast) archives indefinitely. A notary database is kept and accessible to public on the official website of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. As of 2007, about 13,000 registered notaries practice in Ukraine.
Criminal justice system[edit]
Criminal Investigations are carried out under official authority by law enforcement personnel
such as the Police,[9] the tax police (tax militia), Public Procurators (Public Prosecutors),[10] and the Security Service of Ukraine.[11]
In Ukraine and other civil law jurisdictions, the jury holds equal power to three professional judges. The jury and judges first consider the question of guilt. Then, if applicable, they consider the penalty to apply. Juries are only used for severe felony cases with a ten-year or higher sentence.
Prison system[edit]
The State Department of Ukraine for Enforcement of Sentences oversees the prison system of Ukraine.[12]
As of 2007, the total prison population in Ukraine was 240,000 people out of the 48 million population.
Prisons in Ukraine are classified as pre-trial or remand prisons (SIZO), high security prisons, medium security prisons, and low security prisons.
Those who are charged with criminal offenses which entail sentencing for three years or more are arrested and held before trial in investigative isolation during the period of criminal investigation and after sentencing are moved to the prison as indicated by the courts in the sentencing decision. Bail is rarely used by courts in Ukraine.