On March 16, 2023, our partners, the Right to Protection Foundation (R2P), held an expert discussion in Kyiv on the topic: “Restoration of Ownership Documents in the Absence of Evidence” within the framework of our joint project, “Promoting Transitional Justice and Protection of Rights for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and Conflict-Affected Individuals.” This joint project is supported by the Norwegian Refugee Council and the European Union.
Participants discussed:
- Risks and threats to private property rights in real estate during Russian Federation military aggression,
- Mechanisms for protecting property rights during the war and after the victory,
- International practices and current Ukrainian legislation in the field of property rights protection,
- Minimizing potential negative consequences for property rights due to armed aggression by the Russian Federation and ways to overcome them.
The event was attended by representatives of government institutions, local executive authorities, civil society, the lawyer and notarial community, a Supreme Court judge, and a Ukrainian People’s Deputy.
Anton Krasov, a lawyer from our charitable foundation, also spoke at the event. He discussed the procedure for confirming property rights in cases where legal documents are absent during compensation for damaged or destroyed property. The lawyer emphasized that with the enactment of Law №7198, this issue becomes even more relevant for citizens whose homes were damaged or destroyed.
In Anton Krasov’s opinion, the procedure for confirming property rights should be simple, clear, comprehensible, and not bureaucratic. The list of documents that can serve as proof of property rights should include, among others, archival copies of transactions from state and private notaries, registration documents of housing cooperatives and associations of multi-apartment building owners, extracts from registers of territorial communities, utility providers, and testimonies of legitimate neighbors.
Furthermore, defining clear rules for cases with a lack of legal documents, as well as establishing an alternative dispute resolution system, could reduce the burden on the judicial system and expedite the resolution of most contentious issues.
Right to Protection Foundation
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This publication was developed with the assistance of the NRC – Norwegian Refugee Council and the financial support of the European Union. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of the Charity Foundation Stabilization Support Services and does not reflect the official viewpoint of the European Union or the Norwegian Refugee Council.