ON JULY 27, AN OPEN DISCUSSION WAS HELD ON THE TOPIC “IS THE LAW ON TRANSITION A STEP TOWARD SECURE REINTEGRATION?” WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF THE DONBAS REGIONAL JUSTICE REFORM COUNCIL (RJRC) OF THE EU PROJECT “PRAVO-JUSTICE”. THIS FRAMEWORK DRAFT LAW IS THE FIRST OF A PLANNED PACKAGE OF LEGISLATIVE INITIATIVES TO ENSURE THE DE-OCCUPATION AND SAFE REINTEGRATION OF THE TEMPORARILY OCCUPIED TERRITORIES OF UKRAINE AND THE CITIZENS CURRENTLY RESIDING THERE.

“We welcome the draft law on the transitional period, because for the first time in seven years, the state is trying to legislatively solve the painful problems that have existed since the occupation of Crimea and certain territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions by the Russian Federation,“ emphasized Olena Fonova, PhD in Law, judge of the Economic Court of Luhansk region, coordinator of the Donbas RRHRP. In her speech, the judge emphasized the importance of restoring postal services, which will greatly simplify access to Ukrainian courts and administrative services for residents of the occupied territories, including many elderly people. “It is very good that in this draft law the state has identified the restoration of postal services as one of the main areas of protection of the rights and freedoms of citizens from the uncontrolled territories. It will not be easy and will require decisions on both sides of the conflict, so it is important to determine now how, by whom and when it will be implemented,” emphasized the Donbas RRRP coordinator. In addition, Olena Fonova emphasized the importance of legislative regulation of a number of other procedures specified in the draft law, in particular:

• convalidation (recognition) of transactions concluded in the uncontrolled territory, which will facilitate the exercise of the right of citizens to dispose of their property.
• state registration of civil status acts that took place in the occupied territories, which will simplify people’s access to these services and relieve the workload of the courts.

According to Olena Fonova, it is also important to educate the public and the legal community about the provisions of the draft law that may cause misunderstandings or political speculation. The event was organized by the National Platform “Dialogue on Peace and Secure Reintegration” within the framework of the project “Building Conflict Resilience through Dialogue” funded by the European Union. In January 2021, the Donbas RPRC submitted proposals to the draft law “On the State Policy of the Transition Period” developed by the Ministry for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine.