Author
The maximum term for detention may constitute 18 months in practice (initial detention for 6 months with the extension possibility for the following 12 months), and the periodic court review of detention shall be conducted every 6 months. A claim for an extension of the detention period shall be filed no later than five days before its expiry every six months in accordance with the requirements of part twelve of Article 289(12) of the Code of Administrative Judicial Procedure.[1]
However, human rights organisations have raised concerns regarding a significant risk of arbitrary detention.[2] The disproportionate and ungrounded practice of detention is carried out.
The European Court of Human Rights has repeatedly found Ukraine’s detention of migrants to violate Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights.[3]
For instance, in 2021 the ECtHR held that there was a violation of Article 5 of the Convention, namely protection against arbitrary detention in the case Shoygo v. Ukraine. The applicant submitted that his detention had been unlawful because the authorities had to be aware that the applicant did not have identification documents, that they would be unable to expel him because his detention was unnecessary and the possibility of using less restrictive measures was not examined and because the authorities had not pursued his expulsion with requisite diligence.[4]
One of the situations is currently being considered by the ECtHR in the case Vukolov v. Ukraine, an application for violation of Articles 5, and 8 of the Convention was filed at the end of 2020. The man was detained in October 2019, placed in MCC on 7 November 2019, and released on 7 November 2020. The Moldovan Embassy responded in November 2019 that the man’s passport was not documented, and there was no information about his citizenship. After March 2020, the migration service made no efforts to identify and expel the man to his country of origin, in particular, due to quarantine restrictions.[5]
[1] Para. 5 Model Regulation on the Migrant Custody Centres.
[2] R2P&HIAS, Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Ukraine Addressing Protection Risks During Wartime, 05 April 2023, available here.
[3] ECtHR, Nur and Others v. Ukraine, Application no. 77647/11, Jugement of 16 July 2020, available here; ECtHR, Turdikhojaev v. Ukraine, Application no. 72510/12, Judgment of 18 March 2021, available here.
[4] ECtHR, Shoygo v. Ukraine, Application no. 29662/12, 30 September 2020.
[5] ECtHR practiсe. Ukrainian Aspect, Will the ECtHR Help Change the Attitude of Officials towards Stateless Persons as Second-Class Citizens?, 21 January 2022б available in Ukrainian here.