On April 25th, 2024, in Kyiv, the Round Table on "Accessing Compensation for Housing Destruction: Challenges in Validating Property Rights and Paths to Resolution" was convened. This event was organized under the auspices of the Council of Europe's projects: " Strengthening judicial and non-judicial remedies for the human rights protection of the war-affected people in Ukraine" (hereinafter – the Project) and "Facilitating Housing Solutions for War-Affected People in Ukraine." These projects align with the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine "Resilience, Recovery, and Reconstruction" for 2023-2026. The Round Table was co-organized with the Non-Governmental Organization "Get It Back," the national consultant of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine.
The event was attended by representatives across the legislative, executive, and judicial authorities. Members of international and civil society organizations dedicated to aiding war-affected individuals, as well as notaries, state registrars, property rights protection experts, compensation commission representatives, local authorities, and members of the media have also participated in the Round Table.
The event commenced with welcoming remarks from Lilja Gretarsdottir, Head of the Co-operation Programmes Division at the Department for the Implementation of Human Rights, Justice, and Legal Co-operation Standards within the Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law (DGI) at the Council of Europe. She emphasized the significance of ensuring that national compensation procedures adhere to international legal principles, particularly the victim-centered approach, which prioritizes the interests of war-affected individuals.
Despite the security risks caused by the war, the Council of Europe will continue to expand its presence in Ukraine, assured the Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine Maciej Janczak. He noted that improving of national administrative and judicial mechanisms in the context of access to the compensation procedure is one of the priority tasks. "According to the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights, the rights under the European Convention must be “practical and effective and not theoretical and illusory” - Mr. Janczak emphasized.
The first panel of the round table focused on the administrative procedure for verifying property rights related to damaged and destroyed housing. Moderating the discussion was Olga Onishchuk, founder of the Non-Governmental Organization Get It Back and a private notary.
Nataliia Kozlovska, Deputy Minister for Communities, Territories, and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine, highlighted the scale of the issue concerning unverified owners of war-affected housing. She noted that only 26% of informational filings on damaged property submitted through Diia are verified with the State Register of Property Rights. Joining the discussion were Evgeniy Gorovets, Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine, members of Parliament, representatives of notary services, and other participants.
Olga Onishchuk concluded the discussion by presenting the Recommendations on improving the administrative procedure for confirming ownership of destroyed or damaged property for the purpose of receiving compensation. These recommendations were developed by Get It Back NGO with support from the Project.
The second round of expert discussions focused on property verification within the judicial process. Hanna Khrystova, the Project Manager, highlighted that many war-affected individuals who have lost both their homes and ownership documents or have been denied state registration of property rights to damaged housing through administrative procedures will need to seek recourse through the courts and reapply for administrative procedures.
Olga Stupak, Judge of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court, and Victoria Shebuyeva, Judge of the Kyiv Court of Appeal, provided insights into the specifics of court proceedings for this category of cases and addressed various challenges observed in the case-law. Representatives from the judicial branch and notary services, members of Parliament, and experts working on these issues also contributed to the discussion.
Natalia Shuklina, Vice-Rector of the National School of Judges of Ukraine, informed attendees that in September 2023, the National School of Judges of Ukraine began developing a comprehensive educational course for Ukrainian court judges titled “Compensation for Damages Caused by the Russian Federation during Military Aggression against Citizens and Legal Entities in Ukraine,” which is in its final stages of development. The creation of this important course for judges was made possible through the support of the Project in collaboration with the Council of Europe's Project “Support to the functioning of justice in the war and post-war context in Ukraine”.
The second panel was concluded by Andriy Slabinskyi, Head of the Non-Governmental Organization “Get It Back,” currently serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, presenting the Recommendations on advancement (simplification) of the court procedure on the restoration of property rights in case of loss of the original copies of the housing ownership documents.
The conclusions and recommendations from the Round Table participants will be consolidated in a dedicated Resolution aimed at enhancing administrative and judicial procedures for verifying property rights associated with damaged and destroyed housing for compensation purposes. This document will be disseminated through the informational channels of the event's organizers and submitted to relevant authorities for further consideration and subsequent implementation.
