Analysis of changes to the Government of Ukraine resolutions regulating the system of registration of internally displaced persons (IDPs), payment of financial assistance and other social benefits to IDPs following endorsement of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Resolution No. 636 “On Amending Specific Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Resolutions” as of August 26, 2015 INTRODUCTION On August 26, 2015 the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has passed a Resolution No. 636 “On Amending Certain Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Resolutions”1 (hereinafter referred to as “Resolution No. 636”) that introduced changes to the following Cabinet of Ministers resolutions: 1) No. 505 of October 1, 2014 “On Providing Monthly Targeted Financial Support Individuals Who are Moving from the Temporarily Occupied Territory of Ukraine and Anti-terrorist Operation Area to Cover Livelihood, Including Housing and Utilities”2: Terminology in the title of the Resolution and in Procedures that it approves was brought in line with the Law of Ukraine “On Ensuring the Rights and Freedoms of Internally Displaced Persons” (hereinafter referred to as “the Law”); Of 22 clauses of this legal act: o 7 were brought in compliance with the Law in terms of terminology; o 11 did not undergo any changes; o 4 were amended in substance; 2) No. 509 of October 1, 2014 “On Registration of Individuals Who are Moving from the Temporarily Occupied Territory of Ukraine and Anti-terrorist Operation Area”3: Terminology in the title of the Resolution and in Procedures that it approves was brought in line with the Law; Of 13 clauses of this legal act: o 5 were brought in compliance with the Law in terms of terminology; o 8 were amended in substance; The form of a Certificate of Registration as an IDP (IDP Registration Certificate) was changed;
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The Resolution No. 636 was published in the government newspaper “Uryadovyi Courier” on September 9, 2015 (#165), and entered into force on September 10, 2015 http://zakon4.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/636-2015-%D0%BF/paran27#n27 (access date and time: September 16, 2015; 21:00); 2 http://zakon4.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/505-2014-%D0%BF (access date and time: September 16, 2015; 21:00); 3 http://zakon4.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/509-2014-%D0%BF (access date and time: September 16, 2015; 21:00);
2 3) No. 535 of October 1, 2014 “On Approving the Procedure of the Use of Funds from Physical Persons and Legal Entities for Provision of One-time Financial Assistance to Affected Persons and Individuals Who are Moving from the Temporarily Occupied Territory of Ukraine and Anti-terrorist Operation Area”4: Terminology in the title of the Resolution and in Procedures that it approves was brought in line with the Law; Of 13 clauses of this legal act: o 2 were brought in compliance with the Law in terms of terminology; o 10 did not undergo any changes; o 1 clause was amended in line with the terms of the Law and the Law of Ukraine “On Charity and Charitable Organizations”; this clause was also amended in substance; 4) No. 637 of November 5, 2014 “On Making Social Payments to Individuals Who are Moving from the Temporarily Occupied Territory of Ukraine and Antiterrorist Operation Area”5: Terminology in the title of the Resolution was brought in line with the Law; Of 3 clauses of this legal act: o 2 were brought in compliance with the Law in terms of terminology; o 1 clause was amended in line with the terms of the Law and also changed in substance; 5) No. 595 of November 7, 2014 “On Specific Issues of State Funding of Public Institutions, Payment of Social Benefits to the Population, and Provision of Financial Support to Individual Enterprises and Organizations in the Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts”6: Terminology in the title of the Resolution and in Temporary Procedures that it approves was brought in line with the Law; Of 16 clauses of this legal act: o 15 did not undergo any changes; o 1 was amended in substance. OVERVIEW OF THE CHANGES 1) Five basic Government resolutions concerning the rights of IDPs were brought in line with the Law of Ukraine “On Ensuring the Rights and Freedoms of Internally Displaced Persons” in terms of terminology. 2) In addition, provisions of Resolutions No. 505 and 509 concerning foreign nationals and stateless persons were made consistent with relevant provisions of the Law. In particular, Article 1 of the Law reads that only a citizen of Ukraine may be considered as an internally displaced person. In other words, according to the Law foreigners and stateless persons are not regarded as IDPs.
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http://zakon4.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/535-2014-%D0%BF (access date and time: September 16, 2015; 21:00); http://zakon4.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/637-2014-%D0%BF (access date and time: September 16, 2015; 21:00); 6 http://zakon4.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/595-2014-%D0%BF (access date and time: September 16, 2015; 21:00). 5
3 Since Resolutions No. 505 and 509 were adopted before the Law itself, earlier provisions of these Resolutions allowed issuance of IDP Registration Certificates, as well as financial assistance for housing and utilities to foreign nationals and stateless persons, which contradicted provisions of the Law. The situation required adjustments, which were made by the newly adopted Resolution. From now on said Certificates can only be issued for the citizens of Ukraine, subject to criteria of IDP definition, described in Article 1 of the Law, namely: Citizens of Ukraine, + permanent residents of Ukraine, + who were forced to leave or independently left their places of residence + as a result of or for the purpose of avoiding negative consequences of: а) armed conflict, b) temporary occupation, c) pervasive acts of violence, d) mass violations of human rights, e) natural disasters or manmade emergencies. As a result, all regulations on the procedure of receiving financial assistance by foreigners and stateless persons are currently null and void. 3) IDPs are no longer required to present information about availability of housing on the territories other than Crimea, ATO zone, and the line of contact in their applications to receive financial assistance. 4) Currently financial assistance can be designated even if a family owns 2 or more vehicles. Previously families possessing such property were normally denied such assistance. 5) The Resolution introduces new requirement to persons of working age who receive financial assistance to inform not only about their employment, but also about their registration as unemployed. 6) The Resolution No. 636 changes the procedure of information sharing on the periods of registration of able-bodied family members in the State Employment Service, or job seekers. As a result, this information sharing that previously occurred at the local level was raised to the level of the Ministry of Social Policy, the State Employment Service, and the Pension Fund. 7) Provisions of the Resolution No. 509 on the registration of unaccompanied IDP children were brought in conformity with the relevant provisions of the Law (part 4 of Article 4). In particular, Article 4 (part 4) of the Law determines that if orphans, children deprived of parental care, or unaccompanied children on the move have no legal representative, relevant application shall be submitted on their behalf by child protection (guardianship) authorities at the place of identification of such children. Amended provisions of the Resolution No. 505 are finally fully in line with the Law, indicating that registration of displaced persons under the age of 18 without parental supervision shall be carried out by:  EITHER HIS/HER LEGAL REPRESENTATIVE (one of the guardians, caregivers, adoptive parents, foster parents, administration of health, educational or other children’s facility where a child has been living);
4 OR BY THE CHILD SERVICES at the place of identification of a separated/unaccompanied child in case of absence of legal representatives, including situations when a child has arrived: o with relatives (grandparents, adult aunts, uncles, siblings), friends; o independently, after being admitted to vocational and technical school or school of higher education at the place of displacement. 8) In addition, a person is no longer required to present personal identification (tax) number during registration. 9) Moreover, an application must include a person’s declaration about his/her non-involvement in criminal activities. Considering the fact that according to Clause 2 of the Procedure, the application form shall be approved by the Ministry of Social Policy, the order of the Ministry of Social Policy No. 738 of October 8, 2014 “On Approving the Form of Application on the Registration of Individuals Who Are Moving from the Temporarily Occupied Territory of Ukraine and Anti-Terrorist Operation Area” (registered in the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine on October 8, 2014, No. 1209/25986), is also expected to be amended appropriately. 10) Moreover, the applicant is no longer required to inform about his/her current workplace and the duration of employment. 11) Provisions of Clause 4 of Resolution No. 509 were brought in line with part 7 of Article 4 of the Law that determines the list of documents that need to be presented by the applicant with his/her application: A document that identifies a person and proves Ukrainian citizenship, or a temporary ID of the citizen of Ukraine; (in other words, if an IDP does not have a national passport, he or she may present: International (travel) passport; Diplomatic passport of Ukraine; Service passport of Ukraine; Seafarer identity card; Crew member identity document; Returnee’s identity card; Temporary ID of the citizen of Ukraine); If available – the document (proof) of residence in administrative and territorial unit from which a person has moved (a document confirming Ukrainian citizenship, proving his/her identify or special status with confirmation of residence; military service card with military records; record of service with records of employment; a document confirming title to real estate/property); If necessary – birth certificate of orphaned children and children deprived of parental care. Brought in line with part 14 of Article 4 of the Law of Ukraine “On Ensuring the Rights and Freedoms of Internally Displaced Persons” on information that needs to be included in the Single IDP Database. 12) In addition, the new Resolution No. 636 adds a provision that requires inclusion of information about deaths of IDPs to the Single IDP Database on the basis of data from the divisions for the state registration of civil status acts.
5 13) Provision of the Resolution No. 509 was brought in line with parts 2 and 3 of Article 8 of the Law of Ukraine “On Ensuring the Rights and Freedoms of Internally Displaced Persons” concerning the 6-month validity period of the Certificate and the procedure of its prolongation for the next 6 months. 14) The Resolution introduces a new requirement for IDPs to apply for new certificates to local departments of labour and social protection of the population (UPSZN) not only in cases of change of residence, but also in cases of change in family composition (e.g. birth of a child or other circumstances). 15) The Resolution No. 636 has a new provision ensuring free issuance of duplicate copy of IDP Registration Certificate. 16) Earlier documents determined that the procedure of information sharing between government bodies concerning displaced persons was to be approved by the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine. New Resolution establishes that government bodies and agencies have the right to obtain information free-of-charge from a Single IPD Database. This information, however, can only be provided with observance of personal data protection legislation. 17) Resolution No. 535 no longer contains provisions that when legal entities, residents and non-residents, provide funds indicating the areas of their use, these funds can only be used for such purposes; 18) The Resolution establishes direct link between payment of all social benefits and the validity of an IDP Registration Certificate. For example, all social payments and other benefits shall be suspended from the month that follows the month of termination of the Certificate’s validity period. In case of prolongation of the validity period, said payments shall be resumed from the date of suspension. The Resolution also determines that pensions and other social benefits from budgets of all levels and from the state compulsory social insurance funds shall be paid to IDPs (upon application) throughout the entire period of validity of a Certificate of Registration as an IDP.