— The system providing free legal assistance was introduced in 1993 and officially enshrined in the law "On State Guaranteed Legal Assistance," adopted in 2009. In 2016, a Coordination Center was established under the Ministry of Justice, responsible for facilitating interaction between lawyers and those in need of legal assistance. In 2022, this law was amended, and the Center was transformed into a Legal Assistance Service under the ministry's control. The main task of the service became ensuring the accessibility of legal services for citizens in every district, where coordinators are currently working.
Considering the current needs, amendments were made to the law, allowing assistance to be provided not only to citizens in civil and administrative matters but also to those who have suffered from domestic violence, victims of human trafficking, children in difficult life situations, single citizens, low-income families, and parents of children with disabilities.
— What is the daily flow of inquiries to you, and what questions are the most common?
— We conduct regular analysis and monitoring of the system's operations. The established methodology has allowed us to determine that approximately 200 citizens contact our offices daily for consultations, while the hotline 114 receives between 35 to 50 calls.
— Yes, the campaign was successful. As a result, 6,419 citizens were able to receive free legal consultations. Of this number, 2,960 were men and 3,459 were women. The most common questions concerned document processing, land disputes, family matters, social security issues, and inheritance rights. During the campaign, mobile events were also held in schools and closed institutions to enhance legal literacy.
— This year, we organized four mobile visits to such institutions, where we provided legal consultations to inmates. We also ensured that those who needed lawyers were provided with them on-site.
— How does your assistance differ from the services of private law firms?
— As I mentioned, the right to state legal assistance is a constitutional right of citizens. We provide this assistance free of charge in accordance with the legislation. Our task is to protect citizens' rights by providing them with lawyers. The payment for the work of appointed defenders is made from the republican budget according to the rates established by the government. Additionally, we coordinate the entire system of legal assistance.
— Currently, we are implementing a feedback system in our automated information systems, which will allow citizens to evaluate our work. We are already receiving letters of thanks from satisfied clients, indicating an increase in trust. Additionally, independent experts are conducting an analysis of the level of legal literacy and trust in our system, and we plan to share the results later.
