Author
Persons who are subject to administrative detention or arrest, including foreigners and stateless persons, have the right to all types of legal services mentioned in Article 14(2) of the Law on Free Legal Aid.
As mentioned before, the UNHCR partners (R2P, The Tenth of April) regularly pay visits to the MCC and provide detainees with free legal aid, including legal assistance for the review of detention.
However, in 2023, the Parliament Commissioner reported[1] the facts of abuse by officials of the territorial bodies of the State Migration Service of Ukraine, violating the rights of detainees to legal aid in Volyn MCC. During confidential interviews with foreigners and stateless persons, numerous complaints were received that the persons were not informed of their right and possibility to receive free secondary legal aid in accordance with the Law on Free Legal Aid, as they did not understand the content of the administrative detention protocol, not being proficient in Ukrainian.
Thus, the Parliament Commissioner described the case of a Russian Federation citizen, who was not informed of his right to receive free secondary legal aid, as confirmed by a protocol on administrative detention. Moreover, the officials of the SMS seized his phone and did not allow him to call his lawyer.
Another case concerns the Bangladeshi citizen who was not informed of his right and eligibility for free secondary legal aid, as he did not speak Ukrainian and did not understand the content of the protocol on administrative offences. He signed the protocol in the places indicated by the officials of the Central Interregional Department of the SMS. Ultimately, he was provided with the services of a lawyer only after his placement in the temporary detention facility.
[1] Parliament Commissioner, Report on the results of the visit to the Volyn temporary stay centre for foreigners and stateless persons illegally staying in Ukraine of the State Migration Service of Ukraine, 06 July 2023, available in Ukrainian here.