Legal Aid to Victims of the War

The Centre has been providing free legal aid for many years. This has become an important part of the projects implemented by the Centre.

In the past few years in particular the Centre has been providing free legal aid to victims and people who became witnesses of severe human rights violation during the armed conflict in Eastern Ukraine.

It became possible thanks to effective cooperation with activists from a German NGO called Kurve Wustrow – Centre for Training and Networking in Nonviolent Action.

Services rendered in the Eastern Ukrainian Centre for Civic Initiatives include:

  • Providing legal information and consultations on legal issues, including preparation of cases, complaints, service and legal documents;
  • Representing and accompanying clients in the court and providing other services associated with the nature of the legal issue.

The Centre, in particular, focuses on providing legal aid to individuals who reside in non-government controlled territory in Ukraine and those people who were affected or became witnesses of severe human rights violations.

We remain open and available to any individual who wants to report incidents of human rights violation and seek help. The Centre will provide free and confidential legal aid to anyone affected.

In some cases legal aid can be provided remotely, for instance via Skype. Within the framework of their documenting activities, the Centre’s volunteers pay regular monitoring visits to Eastern Ukraine and visit front-line towns, where they detect legal needs of those affected and are able to provide legal aid at the same time.

In the event when all legal resources on the national level have been exhausted, the Centre’s legal experts prepare cases for submission to the European Court of Human Rights or they appeal to the office of the prosecutor of International Criminal Court in The Hague.