The lawyer helped restore the right of IDP children to social protection

According to paragraph 1 of article 3 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, in all actions regarding children, regardless of whether they are carried out by public or private institutions dealing with social security issues, courts, administrative or legislative bodies, the primary attention is paid to the best possible protection of the interests of the child.

However, the relevant institutions apply excessive formalism when considering issues related to the rights and interests of children protected by law.

For example, Ms. Liliya contacted the lawyer of the Kovel Legal Aid Bureau, whose work is supported by the DRC, and reported that in the spring of 2022, she and her minor children were forced to leave their place of permanent residence - the village of Velika Bilozerka, Zaporizhzhia Region - and move to the city of Kovel, Volyn Region. where they are registered as internally displaced persons.

In April 2022, Ms. Liliya also applied for housing allowance for herself and two minor children, however, as of September 1, 2023, the payment of allowance to her and the children was stopped due to the presence of funds in the woman's deposit account in a total amount exceeding 100 000 hryvnias.

In October 2023, the woman appealed to the Department of Social Protection of the Population (USZN) of the executive committee of the Kovel City Council with a request to renew the payment of housing allowance to minor children, but the employees informed her that there is no mechanism for extending the payment of housing allowance only to her children.

The lawyer studied the circumstances and prepared a statement of claim to recognize the actions of USZN, i.e. the termination of the payment of housing allowance to internally displaced children, as illegal and the obligation to renew the payment from the date of its termination.

In justifying the claims, the lawyer noted that a systematic analysis of the provisions of the Law of Ukraine "On Ensuring the Rights and Freedoms of Internally Displaced Persons", the Procedure for Providing Housing Assistance to Internally Displaced Persons, approved by CMU Resolution No. 322, CMU Resolution No. 709 "Some Issues of Support for Internally Displaced Persons "gives grounds to assert that the child is an independent subject of relevant legal relations with a special status - "internally displaced person", and his rights related to this status do not depend on the emergence, change and/or termination of such rights of his parents , other legal representatives.

By suspending the payment of accommodation allowance to minor children, the Department of Social Protection of the Population of the Executive Committee of the Kovel City Council did not pay due attention to the best possible provision of the children's interests, which led to a violation of their right to social protection.

The decision of the Volyn District Administrative Court in the case № 140/35219/23 Ms. Lilia's claim was fully satisfied, and minor children's right to social protection was restored.

Unfortunately, such cases are not isolated. However, the above-mentioned court decision had a direct impact on the law enforcement practices of the Department of Social Protection of the Population of the Executive Committee of the Kovel City Council. Thus, in a similar case (already after the decision in case No. 140/35219/23) the USZN changed its approach to the specified issue in favor of the internally displaced person and eliminated the violations that became the basis for filing a lawsuit - paid housing allowance to a minor daughter of another woman in full (case No. 140/1887/24).

The provision of free legal aid is implemented by the Western Interregional Center for the Provision of Free Legal Aid in cooperation with the Danish Refugee Council for funding within the framework of civil protection and humanitarian aid of the European Union.