You have the right to freely choose and hire a lawyer to represent you in administrative proceedings. There is no right to free legal aid in the administrative court, except for return proceedings for immigrants.
Right to a lawyer
You have a right to hire a lawyer at any stage of administrative proceedings. This means that you can already choose a lawyer during the proceedings at the state institution.
Your lawyer can be present at any time your presence is required at proceedings.
State-paid lawyer
The state must guarantee your right to a fair trial. Therefore, the state should provide you with a lawyer only if:
- you cannot afford one, and
- if a fair hearing cannot be ensured without legal aid
In such cases, human rights dictate that you should be given a free lawyer to ensure that you are not placed in a worse situation than your opponent and that you can effectively defend yourself. Otherwise this could result in a violation of your right to a fair trial.
example You will be entitled to a lawyer if your case is so complex that you cannot meaningfully participate in the trial without the help of a lawyer and understand what is happening in your case.
Ukrainian law
Ukrainian law provides for a free lawyer in the administrative procedure to representatives of many vulnerable social groups. Also, legal aid is necessarily provided for certain categories of cases which defined by law on free legal aid.
In any case, if you cannot afford an attorney in your case, you should request that a representative be assigned to you and that this be noted in the administrative record.
important In most cases the lack of free legal aid should be balanced by the court’s obligation to partially step into the role of your lawyer and to investigate the case independently. However, if the court fails to fulfil that function properly and you could not meaningfully participate in the trial because you could not afford a lawyer, your rights may have been violated.
How to complain
If you are not entitled to a lawyer under national law, but you cannot participate meaningfully in the court process without a lawyer, your right to a fair trial may be violated.
If you genuinely cannot afford a lawyer and you cannot understand and participate in the trial because it is legally too complex, you should still, in all instances, ask the court to provide you with a lawyer free of charge. Even if your request is refused, you will later be able to complain about a potential violation of your rights in other national or international human rights institutions.