The legal system of

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

is based on civil law, and belongs to the Romano-Germanic legal tradition. The main source of legal information is codified law.

Customary law A legal custom is the established pattern of behavior within a particular social setting. A claim can be carried out in defense of "what has always been done and accepted by law". Customary law (also, consuetudinary or unofficial law) exists wher ...

and

case law Case law, also used interchangeably with common law, is a law that is based on precedents, that is the judicial decisions from previous cases, rather than law based on constitutions, statutes, or regulations. Case law uses the detailed facts of ...

are not as common, though case law is often used in support of the written law, as in many other legal systems. Historically, the Ukrainian legal system is primarily influenced by the French

civil code A civil code is a codification of private law relating to property law, property, family law, family, and law of obligations, obligations. A jurisdiction that has a civil code generally also has a code of civil procedure. In some jurisdiction ...

Roman Law Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (), to the (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I. Roman law also den ...

, and traditional Ukrainian customary law. The new civil law books (enacted in 2004) were heavily influenced by the German

Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch The ''Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch'' (, ), abbreviated BGB, is the civil code of Germany, codifying most generally-applicably private law. In development since 1881, it became effective on 1 January 1900, and was considered a massive and groundbr ...

. The primary law making body is the

Ukrainian Parliament The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovna Rada building in Ukraine's capi ...

(''Verkhovna Rada''), also referred to as the legislature (). The power to make laws can be delegated to lower governments or specific organs of the State, but only for a prescribed purpose. In recent years, it has become common for the legislature to create "framework laws" and delegate the creation of detailed rules to ministers or lower governments (e.g. a province or municipality). After laws are published in Holos Ukrayiny they come into force officially the next day.

Areas

Ukrainian law is commonly divided into

Public law Public law is the part of law that governs relations and affairs between legal persons and a government, between different institutions within a state, between different branches of governments, as well as relationships between persons that ...

Private law Private law is that part of a legal system that governs interactions between individual persons. It is distinguished from public law, which deals with relationships between both natural and artificial persons (i.e., organizations) and the st ...

, and

International law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

. These areas of the legal system are further subdivided into Civil law (including

Family law Family law (also called matrimonial law or the law of domestic relations) is an area of the law that deals with family matters and domestic relations. Overview Subjects that commonly fall under a nation's body of family law include: * Marriag ...

, Inheritance law,

Contract law A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more Party (law), parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, Service (economics), services, money, or pr ...

and

Commercial law Commercial law (or business law), which is also known by other names such as mercantile law or trade law depending on jurisdiction; is the body of law that applies to the rights, relations, and conduct of Legal person, persons and organizations ...

Law of Obligations The law of obligations is one branch of private law under the civil law (legal system), civil law legal system and so-called "mixed" legal systems. It is the body of rules that organizes and regulates the rights and duties arising between individua ...

Property law Property law is the area of law that governs the various forms of ownership in real property (land) and personal property. Property refers to legally protected claims to resources, such as land and personal property, including intellectual prope ...

Intellectual property law Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, ...

Companies law Corporate law (also known as company law or enterprise law) is the body of law governing the rights, relations, and conduct of persons, companies, organizations and businesses. The term refers to the legal practice of law relating to corporat ...

Land law Land law is the form of law that deals with the rights to use, alienate, or exclude others from land. In many jurisdictions, these kinds of property are referred to as real estate or real property, as distinct from personal property. Land use ...

, and

Tort law A tort is a civil wrong, other than breach of contract, that causes a claimant to suffer loss or harm, resulting in legal liability for the person who commits the tortious act. Tort law can be contrasted with criminal law, which deals with crime ...

Criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and Well-being, welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal l ...

Constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in ...

(including laws on the structure of the state),

Administrative law Administrative law is a division of law governing the activities of government agency, executive branch agencies of government. Administrative law includes executive branch rulemaking (executive branch rules are generally referred to as "regul ...

, and

Civil law

Civil law regulates the everyday life of citizens and other legal entities, such as corporations. The main code of Ukrainian civil law is the

Civil Code of Ukraine The Civil Code of Ukraine (, ''Tsyvilnyi Kodeks Ukrayiny'') is a Ukrainian codification of private law (civil code), basic normative legal act. It regulates personal non-property and property relations (civil relations), based on legal equality, ...

. It comprises provisions governing ownership, intellectual property rights, contracts, torts, obligations, inheritance law, and the definition of legal entities. The code introduces new types of business contracts into the legal practice, including factoring,

franchising Franchising is based on a marketing concept which can be adopted by an organization as a strategy for business expansion. Where implemented, a franchisor licenses some or all of its know-how, procedures, intellectual property, use of its busines ...

, rent service, and inherited contracts. Civil litigation is governed by the Civil Procedural Code of Ukraine.

Criminal law

deals with the prosecution and punishment of criminal offenses. The Criminal Code of Ukraine contains the written criminal laws of Ukraine. There is no

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

in Ukraine. The maximum

criminal punishment Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the Rehabilitation (penology), rehabilitation of of ...

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...

, which can be reduced by decree of the

President of Ukraine The president of Ukraine (, ) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, conducts negotiations and concludes international treaties. ...

to 25 years of imprisonment, but only after 20 years of sentence service. The Parliament of Ukraine has the power of

amnesty Amnesty () is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of people who are subject to trial but have not yet be ...

for prisoners not serving life sentences. Criminal proceedings, investigation, and court examination in criminal trials are regulated by The Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine, which was not changed since 1962 when Ukraine was a republic of the Soviet Union till the

passed the new Code of Criminal Procedure in April 2012.

Constitutional law

frames the constitution and the structure of Ukraine. It regulates the powers of democratic institutions, the organization of elections and the division of power between central and local government. See also the article on the

Constitution of Ukraine The Constitution of Ukraine (, ) is the fundamental law of Ukraine. The constitution was adopted and ratified at the 5th session of the ''Verkhovna Rada'', the parliament of Ukraine, on 28 June 1996. The constitution was passed with 315 ayes o ...

. Only the Constitutional Court of Ukraine is allowed to determine the constitutionality of laws created by the legislature.

Administrative law

is the area of law that regulates the operation of the various levels of Ukrainian Government, including the process for people and legal entities to appeal decisions by the government. This code is referred to as the Administrative Code in Ukraine.

International law

, also referred to as the Law of Nations, involves the application of international laws in Ukraine. International agreements, ratified by the Parliament of Ukraine, are a part of Ukrainian legislation. The Constitution of Ukraine allows the direct application of most international laws in Ukrainian courts. If an international agreement of Ukraine prescribes rules other than those set by the Law of Ukraine, the rules of that international agreement shall apply. Laws regulating jurisdiction with an international aspect, such as because parties come from different countries, are not part of international law, but form a specific branch of civil law. In September 2005, the Law of Ukraine on

Private International Law Conflict of laws (also called private international law) is the set of rules or laws a jurisdiction applies to a case, transaction, or other occurrence that has connections to more than one jurisdiction."Conflict of Laws", ''Black's Law Dictio ...

was enacted. The Law sets the procedure for the regulation of private legal relations which are subject to other legal systems in addition to that of Ukraine.

Commercial law

The Commercial Code of Ukraine describes the details for compliance with the Constitution of Ukraine's clauses for commercial activity. The Code regulates the fundamentals of commercial activity, including business entities, property basis, responsibility for violations, peculiarities of legal regulation, and foreign commerce regulation.

Types of corporations

* TOV ( :uk:Товариство з обмеженою відповідальністю, ТОВ) - Ukrainian "

Limited liability company A limited liability company (LLC) is the United States-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of ...

" with obligate charter capital * PP ( :uk:Приватне підприємство, ПП) - Ukrainian "Limited liability company" without obligate charter capital * TDV ( :uk:Товариство з додатковою відповідальністю, ТДВ) - Ukrainian "Additional liability company" * PrAT (in past ZAT), :uk:Приватне акцiонерне товариство, ПрАТ — Ukrainian "Private

joint-stock company A joint-stock company (JSC) is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareho ...

" * PAT (in past VAT), Публічне акцiонерне товариство, ПАТ — Ukrainian "Public joint-stock company"

Legal liabilities

Ukrainian legal liability includes constitutional liability, which is imposed on President or Deputy ( Member of Parliament) by the Parliament of Ukraine, criminal liability, which is imposed by local courts in the form of

sentencing In criminal law, a sentence is the punishment for a crime ordered by a trial court after conviction in a criminal procedure, normally at the conclusion of a trial. A sentence may consist of imprisonment, a fine, or other sanctions. Sentences f ...

, civil liability, which is imposed by local courts in the form of decision, administrative liability, which is imposed by administrative courts in form of decision, and disciplinary liability, which is imposed by superior officials or specially created organizations.

How positions are assigned

Judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

s are imposed by the Supreme Council of Ukraine. Attorneys at law are imposed by the Disciplinary Bar Commission.

Notaries A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is distin ...

are imposed by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine.

Public prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in civil law. The prosecution is the legal party responsible ...

s are imposed by regional Superior officials. Policemen are imposed by Superior officials.

List of acts of parliament

The

is a supreme law of Ukraine. Laws and other legislation should be adopted on its basis and conform to it. Because Ukrainian legal system is code-based, there are a number of codified laws in the main spheres of national legislation. These include: *

*Criminal Code of Ukraine *Family Code of Ukraine * Labor Code of Ukraine *Land Code of Ukraine *Water Code of Ukraine *Natural Resources Code of Ukraine * Administrative Code of Ukraine *Budget Code of Ukraine *Forestry Code of Ukraine *Customs Code of Ukraine *Maritime Code of Ukraine *Housing Code of Ukraine *Commercial Code of Ukraine *Air Transportation Code of Ukraine *Tax Code of Ukraine (pending) *Code of Civil Procedure *Code of Criminal Procedure *Administrative Procedure Code *Business Arbitration Code *Prison Code Only the Parliament of Ukraine is entitled to issue normative acts in the form of laws. The laws of Ukraine are the highest normative acts in Ukraine. The secondary legislation of Ukraine comprises other normative acts including decrees, resolutions, and orders issued by the President of Ukraine, Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, National Bank of Ukraine, ministries and other state agencies. They are adopted on the basis and in realization of the general provisions of laws.

Courts system

Ukraine's court system is widely regarded as corrupt. Ukrainian judges have been arrested while taking

bribe Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official duty, to act contrar ...

Courts A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and administer justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law. Courts gene ...

in Ukraine are divided by

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...

including

constitutional court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ru ...

s, general (criminal and civil jurisdiction) courts, economic courts, and

administrative courts An administrative court is a type of specialized court on administrative law, particularly disputes concerning the exercise of public power. Their role is to ascertain that official acts are consistent with the law. Such courts are usually co ...

. There is also the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, the

Supreme Court of Ukraine The Supreme Court of Ukraine () is the highest judicial body in the system of courts of general jurisdiction in Ukraine.Appellate Court An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear a case upon appeal from a trial court or other lower tribunal. Appel ...

s (in every Region

oblast An oblast ( or ) is a type of administrative division in Bulgaria and several post-Soviet states, including Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Historically, it was used in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. The term ''oblast'' is often translated i ...

of Ukraine), and

District Court District courts are a category of courts which exists in several nations, some call them "small case court" usually as the lowest level of the hierarchy. These courts generally work under a higher court which exercises control over the lower co ...

s in every

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

, or

raion A raion (also spelt rayon) is a type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet states. The term is used for both a type of subnational entity and a division of a city. The word is from the French (meaning 'honeycomb, department'), and is c ...

(which is a subdivision of oblast). As well, there is the High Administrative Court of Ukraine, Local Administrative Courts in every administrative district, usually

, the High Commercial Court of Ukraine, Local Commercial Courts in every administrative district, usually

, and

Military court A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the arme ...

in every Appellate Court in every regional

. There is also the Tertiary Court created in accordance to the law "On Tertiary Court" and registered in

Ministry of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

of Ukraine. In order to become a

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

in Ukraine, one must be 25 years old. Newly inducted judges are appointed by the President of Ukraine and serve for five years. Afterwards, judges are elected for life by the Parliament of Ukraine. Judges are not elected by the citizenry as practiced in many western countries. The judicial branch of power in Ukraine is not completely independent. To detain or arrest a judge, special permission by the Parliament of Ukraine is needed. A judge shall not refer to political parties and trade unions, as well as participate in any political activity, have representative mandate, occupy any other paid posts, or do any other paid work except that which is scientific in nature, teaching or creative value. According to the law, a judge, while executing justice, shall follow the Constitution and the laws of Ukraine and shall ensure full, thorough and objective consideration of the cases adhering to the terms set by law. They are also obliged to take measures concerning prevention of unauthorized dissemination of the information the state and/or commercial entity considers secret or is confidential and became known to him/her in the process of doing official duties. Moreover, the Law requires a judge to refrain from the actions that defame a judge and may cause doubt that she/he is objective, as well as unprejudiced and independent. The Law sets the system of guarantees of judge's professional activity which are necessary to approve unprejudiced and objective decisions. The Law guarantees to judges their personal immunity, secrecy of court decisions, legal protection, as well as material and social provision. The Law also prohibits any not envisaged by law interference in judge's activity concerning justice execution, detention or arrest of a judge without the consent of the ''Verkhovna Rada'' until bill of indictment concerning him/her is carried out by the court.

Law schools

Ukraine has taken steps to reform its education frameworks in consistence with the Bologna process. By the mid-2000s, Universities started granting undergraduate

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

degrees (about 3 years for full-time students and 4 years for part-time students) and graduate

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

degrees (about 5 years for full-time students and 6 years for part-time students). In Soviet times, the only undergraduate degree (following a 10-year secondary education) was a 5-year Specialist Diploma, with a thesis requirement, usually placing it somewhere between a bachelor's and master's degree in the West. Degrees are awarded by authorities of the State Examination Board of University. The University degree gives people the right to engage in professional legal activities in Ukraine as a legal advisor. However, judges and criminal defense attorneys must take an additional state licensing exam.

Post-graduate education

The post-graduate system has not been reformed. Law

academic degree An academic degree is a qualification awarded to a student upon successful completion of a course of study in higher education, usually at a college or university. These institutions often offer degrees at various levels, usually divided into und ...

s in Ukraine are the Candidate of Science of Jurisprudence (CSJ) and Doctor of Science of Jurisprudence (DSJ), equivalent to Doctor of the Science of Law (L.Sc.D.) The

Diploma A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offi ...

is awarded after the successful defense of dissertation (

thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...

) by the Higher Attestation Commission (VAK). Full text of all defended dissertations are kept in the Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine.

Fields of study

Scientific degrees awarded by VAK are classified into an established list of specialties, grouped into the following major sections. *12.00.01 Theory of law *12.00.02

*12.00.03 Civil law *12.00.04

Economic law Economic law is a set of legal rules for regulating economic activity.Ferdinand Joseph Maria Feldbrugge, Gerard Pieter van den Berg, William B. Simons (1985) "Encyclopedia of Soviet Law", '' BRILL'', O. S. (Olimpiad Solomonovich) Ioffe, Mark W. Ja ...

*12.00.05

Labor law Labour laws (also spelled as labor laws), labour code or employment laws are those that mediate the relationship between workers, employing entities, trade unions, and the government. Collective labour law relates to the tripartite relationship be ...

*12.00.06

*12.00.07

, finance law *12.00.08

*12.00.09

Criminal procedure Criminal procedure is the adjudication process of the criminal law. While criminal procedure differs dramatically by jurisdiction, the process generally begins with a formal criminal charge with the person on trial either being free on bail ...

*12.00.10 Court system *12.00.11

*12.00.12

Philosophy of law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

A database of all practicing Doctors of Science of Jurisprudence is maintained by the Ministry of Education of Ukraine.

University docents

docent The term "docent" is derived from the Latin word , which is the third-person plural present active indicative of ('to teach, to lecture'). Becoming a docent is often referred to as habilitation or doctor of science and is an academic qualifi ...

of a university is one who has the right to teach. The qualifications include one dissertation (CSJ) and demonstrating the competence of conducting scientific research independently.

University professor

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of a university is one who has the right to teach. The qualifications include one dissertation (

doctoral degree A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

(DSJ)) and demonstrating the competence of conducting scientific research independently.

Academician

The title Academician denotes a full member of the National Academy of Sciences of Law.

Corresponding member

There also exists a lower-rank title, variously translated corresponding member or associate member of the National Academy of Sciences of Law.

Lawyers and law firms

Law is practiced in Ukraine by

jurists A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a legal practition ...

(legal consultants, counsels, attorneys), professionals awarded a diploma after graduation from a law faculty of a university. Law offices are maintained by lawyers who register it as a

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise consumer, clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and Obligation, respon ...

in the

, and are awarded state certification. The Constitution of Ukraine defines an attorney's work as "securing the right for protection against accusation and provide legal assistance while considering cases in courts and other state bodies in Ukraine". In this case, the Law “On the Bar and Advocate's Activity” defines the Bar as a voluntary professional public association. In order to defend a person charged with criminal offense, a person must be an attorney. An attorney under the Law “On the Bar and Advocate's Activity” can be a person who has higher legal education, stated by the diploma of Ukraine, or in line with the international treaties of Ukraine diploma of a foreign country, the work experience in the field of law no less than two years, fluent in the Language of the State, has passed a qualification exam, received a certificate entitling him to practice law, and taken the Ukrainian Oath of the Attorney. The Law determines that attorneys cannot hold a previous conviction. The Law also stipulates that the attorney cannot work in court, a prosecutor's or state notary's office, bodies of internal affairs, security service, or state administration bodies. In order to defend a person charged with criminal offense, an attorney must have a certificate entitling him to practice law (issued by Regional Qualification-Disciplinary Bar Commission) or a Power of Attorney letter. There are 25 Regional Qualifications- Disciplinary Bar Commissions in Ukraine: each in every Region (

) and one in the City of

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

and the City of

Sevastopol Sevastopol ( ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base th ...

. A list of attorneys is kept and published by the Supreme Qualification Bar Commission of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. To represent a client in a non-criminal case or to be an in-house a person must have a higher legal education. A list of

s is kept and published on the official website of

of Ukraine. A list of lawyers from Kyiv University List of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv people. A list of lawyers from Ukraine List of jurists.

Notaries

Notary A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is distin ...

in Ukraine is based on the guidelines set forth by the law entitled "On Notariate". According to the law, the Notariate is a system of bodies and officials obliged to certify rights, certify facts that have legal force and perform other notary actions as stated in the law with the purpose of giving them legal force. In Ukraine, notary operations are carried out by state notaries, private notaries or officials of executive bodies of local (village, settlement, city) councils, if there are no notaries therein. The difference between state and private notaries is the service fees imposed by public notaries are fixed by the state, whereas the only aspect regulated by the State in regards to private notaries is the price floor. Any person who considers occupation of the notary post must be a citizen of Ukraine, have higher legal education (university, academy, institute), work on probation during 6 months in a state notary office or at private notary, pass a qualification exam and receive a certificate permitting notary actions. A person with any outstanding convictions cannot be a notary by law. The Certificate permitting notary activities may be abrogated by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine in the following cases: - on notary's own initiative; - loss of Ukrainian citizenship or departure to permanent residence outside Ukraine; - notary's non-conformity to the occupied post because of health condition preventing him from accomplishment of notary activities; - coming into force of conviction sentence against notary. Notaries are not allowed by law to work in courts, police, and prosecutor offices, nor represent citizens in courts or any other government offices. The major role of notaries in Ukraine is to notarize documents and contracts between persons in accordance to Civil Code of Ukraine. Every notarized document, agreement, contract, etc. is issued on numerated, special paper form, protected by security features and is registered in the notary's records which is kept after completion in regional (

) archives indefinitely. A notary database is kept and accessible to public on the official website of the

of Ukraine. As of 2007, about 13,000 registered notaries practice in Ukraine.

Criminal justice system

Criminal Investigations are carried out under official authority by law enforcement personnel such as the

Police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

, the tax police (tax militia), Public Procurators (Public Prosecutors), and the Security Service of Ukraine. In Ukraine and other civil law jurisdictions, the

jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence, make Question of fact, findings of fact, and render an impartiality, impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty or Judgmen ...

holds equal power to three professional

s. The

and judges first consider the question of guilt. Then, if applicable, they consider the penalty to apply. Juries are only used for severe felony cases with a ten-year or higher sentence.

Prison system

The State Department of Ukraine for Enforcement of Sentences oversees the prison system of Ukraine.Detailed information is on th
official website
of the department. As of 2007, the total prison population in Ukraine was 240,000 people out of the 48 million population. Prisons in Ukraine are classified as pre-trial or remand prisons (SIZO), high security prisons, medium security prisons, and low security prisons. Those who are charged with criminal offenses which entail sentencing for three years or more are arrested and held before trial in investigative isolation during the period of

criminal investigation Criminal investigation is an applied science that involves the study of facts that are then used to inform criminal trials. A complete criminal investigation can include Search and seizure, searching, interviews, interrogations, Evidence (law), ...

and after sentencing are moved to the prison as indicated by the courts in the sentencing decision. Bail is rarely used by courts in Ukraine.

Identification

In Ukraine, every person over 18 years of age must carry a

passport A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that certifies a person's identity and nationality for international travel. A passport allows its bearer to enter and temporarily reside in a foreign country, access local aid ...

or (for foreigners) an alien document. A person unable to provide passport is allowed to be arrested and held in police custody for up to 72 hours in order to establish the identity thereof.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Law Of Ukraine

Statutory law