Convicts will be provided with a lawyer within 24 hours – Verkhovna Rada committee recommends draft law

In order to ensure that a person serving a prison sentence has access to a lawyer or legal expert within the framework of disciplinary proceedings, the administration will be obliged to provide an opportunity to apply for legal assistance immediately, but no later than 24 hours.

The Verkhovna Rada Committee on Legal Policy recommended that the Parliament adopt as a whole the draft Law No. 12073 dated 27.09.2024 «On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts on the Effective Ensuring of the Right of Prisoners and Convicts to Free Legal Aid», which contains the relevant clarification.

The current procedure for imposing penalties on persons deprived of their liberty (Article 134 of the Criminal Executive Code) contains a rule according to which, when imposing a penalty on a convict, the colony administration gives him the opportunity to notify close relatives, a lawyer or other legal professionals who are legally entitled to provide legal aid in person or on behalf of a legal entity in accordance with the established procedure. The draft proposes to put this obligation of the administration within a strict time frame: immediately, but no later than 24 hours.

It is proposed to introduce the same approach for the disciplinary procedure (Article 135 of the CEC): If a person serving a sentence of imprisonment does not have access to a lawyer or a legal professional, the administration of the penitentiary institution will be obliged to provide him/her with the opportunity to apply for legal assistance from the entities providing such assistance «immediately, but not later than 24 hours». In such a case, the disciplinary commission will be obliged to suspend the disciplinary proceedings until a copy of the decision to provide free secondary legal aid is received. Suspension of disciplinary proceedings will suspend the time limit for imposing a penalty.

Relevant clarifications are also made to the Law on FLA: if the administration of a penitentiary institution receives a request from a convicted person for free secondary legal aid, the FLA center will be obliged to immediately make a decision on providing such assistance to represent his or her interests during a meeting of the disciplinary commission.

The parliament believes that the adoption of the draft law will make it possible to resolve existing problematic issues and, in turn, create the necessary preconditions for the development and improvement of the quality of FLA provision. It will also be a significant step towards ensuring the right of prisoners and convicts to FLA when the administration of a penitentiary institution imposes penalties.