Ministry of Justice: Government enhances the fight against raiding in Ukraine

WATCH IN ENGLISH

Newly established Commission eliminates a set of functions previously aimed by the raiders, introducing responsibility on both side of the applicant and the government representative.

Kyiv, August 9, 2016. The Ministry of Justice enhances the fight against raiding in Ukraine. After the agency reassigned its functions in state registration of rights and business, the Commission for complaints on actions of civil registrars was founded, because without them no raiding is possible. If the Commission decides that the offense has been committed, it has the right to cancel the wrongful act. In general, consideration of a complaint lasts several weeks, while the court cases on these issues dragged on for years. This was informed by Pavlo Moroz, Deputy Minister of Justice on State Registration during a briefing at Ukraine Crisis Media Center. “When this body began to work, the raiders did not like it, because they had spent a lot of money, resources, including administrative resources, and then just did not have time to go through with it. That is why they began to exert pressure on members of the Commission. These were letters and calls for each member. Raiders also used the media space to somehow influence the Commission,” stated  Mr. Moroz.

 

Moroz informed that the Ministry of Justice established a working group at to amend the legislation that will strengthen the fight against raiding. It is planned to return the certificate of title to the real property item. “Any owner of any property will be able to voluntary receive the certificate of title to his property item on a secured form. The corresponding mark of will be made in the register and the subsequent registration action will be impossible without submitting this certificate,” explained the Deputy Minister. According to him, it is also planned to narrow the principle of extraterritoriality, giving notaries the same status as other registrars, to limit their activities outside the region, to increase the criminal responsibility of both the registrar and the applicant, and to complicate a procedure for opening a new chapter in the real estate register. Mr. Moroz stressed that in the preparation of the document the provisions of draft law 4216 will be taken into account. According to him, the new draft law will be prepared by the end of August to enable the Parliament to approve it in autumn.

 

Natalia Sevostyanova, First Deputy Minister of Justice, reminded that last year the Register was made public. From September it will be also possible to receive SMS-messages about any change in the Register relating to real property or business. “This will enable a quick response if something happens to your property, or you will see that someone has made changes to the register, and will immediately turn to the police to open a criminal investigation and to the Commission so that such actions be canceled,” explained the First Deputy Minister. Information about a form of application for receiving this function will be available on the Ministry of Justice website. This is a paid service. Its value will depend on the range of services. One can receive information about the property registration and about the fact that someone is viewing it in the Register.