Legislative news digest: LEGAL HOTLINE 27.02.2020

Access is opened to the Unified State Register of Assets seized in criminal proceedings

The National Asset Management Agency (ARMA) has opened access to the Unified State Register of Assets seized in criminal proceedings.

The Register is still operating in test mode, but it is actively being filled, now it has information about more than 2 thousand assets. The Register contains only information available to ARMA on the arrested and transferred assets to the Agency.

The Registry shows data on assets arrested in criminal proceedings, their management or sale, forfeiture, proceeds from their sale, etc.

In the future, it is planned to integrate the Register with the Unified Register of Court Decisions, Automated Enforcement System, Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations, as well as filling the Register with information on arrested assets, mostly in an automated mode.

You can find the Register following the link: http://test.arma.gov.ua/.

The law on unhindered access to the embankments of rivers and seas has been promulgated

On February 21, 2020, the Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Ensuring Unhindered Access of Citizens to the Embankments of Water Objects for General Water Use” was put into effect.

According to this law, land plots of coastal protective strips (beach area) in the use of legal or natural persons cannot serve as a basis for limiting the common water use, including limitation of bathing and swimming on boats, amateur and sport fishing, mooring to the light time of day, except as provided by law.

Citizens shall be provided with unhindered and free access to the coasts of seas, gulfs, estuaries and islands in inland sea waters within the beach area, to the banks of rivers, reservoirs and islands for general water use, except for lands of protection zones, sanitary security zones, sanitary and protection zones, zones of special regime of land use, as well as land plots, on which there are hydrotechnical, hydrometric and linear structures, objects of high danger, recreation houses, rehabilitation and sports objects, sanatoriums, etc. and therapeutic facilities, children’s camps having relevant documents for construction and relevant activities, objects of nature conservation, cultural heritage stipulated by law.

The law prohibits the construction of fences or other structures preventing the access of citizens to the banks of rivers, reservoirs and islands, to the coasts of seas, gulfs, estuaries and islands in inland sea waters, except as provided by law. Such fences or other structures must be dismantled by their owners within 10 days of receipt of a written request from the local state administration or executive body of a village, town or city council. If this requirement is not met, the fences or other structures shall be dismantled by the decisions of the local state administration or the executive body of the village, town or city council, and the expenses shall be reimbursed by their owners or by the person who owned the land, on which the fence or other structures were installed.

In addition, restriction of access of citizens in any way (including by arrangement of fences or other structures) to the coast of water bodies on land areas of coastal protective strips used by legal entities or individuals, as well as fees for their usage are grounds for termination of the right to use the land plots of coastal protection strips by court decision.

Fences or other structures installed before this law enters into force and preventing citizens from accessing the coasts of seas, gulfs, estuaries and islands in inland waters within the beach area, as well as to the banks of rivers, reservoirs and islands (except as required by law) shall be dismantled within three months from the day this law enters into force.

The government is tightening control over compliance with labour law

The Prime Minister of Ukraine has instructed the State Labour Service of Ukraine to carry out information and inspection campaigns in order to eliminate the shadow labour market.

According to the Government, an information campaign was held from January 20 to January 31. 600 labour inspectors visited and provided explanatory works to more than 180,000 employers in the trade sector, with a third being visited by the Pension Fund, State Tax Service, State Employment Service, and local governments.

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine informs that the information campaign resulted in the conclusion of employment contracts with 202 thousand employees over 2 weeks in January 2020. In February 2020, an inspection campaign was carried out, that is, inspections for compliance with labour law.

According to the Government, information and inspection campaigns will be conducted throughout 2020 in the fields of agriculture, construction, transport and courier services. Indeed, inspections of the State Labour service are quite possible in other areas. According to O. Honcharuk, the Government will not interfere with the business operations by numerous inspections.

An Industrial Coordination Centre has been formed

On February 19, the Government decided to form an Industrial Coordination Centre. The main task of the Coordination Centre is to ensure the growth of industrial production and job creation, to strengthen cooperation with industry representatives in order to solve urgent industrial problems.

The Coordination Centre was headed by the Prime Minister of Ukraine, and it was composed of representatives of the central executive authorities: Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Infrastructure, Ministry of Energy, State Tax and State Customs Services, and State Statistics Service.

The tasks of the Coordination Centre are to coordinate the actions of the Government, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, and business to develop effective mechanisms for industrial policy, to respond to and avoid crisis in the industry.

Strengthening the role of private experts

The Ministry of Justice of Ukraine has made changes to a number of by-laws and regulations governing expert activity.

In particular, the Central Expert Qualification Commission will now assign (confirm) qualifications of the experts and consider their disciplinary responsibility regardless of whether the expert is an employee of a state expert institution. At the same time, this commission will include private experts.

Equally important is the fact that private experts have been given the opportunity to carry out nine new types of expertise, in particular, computer, telecommunications, electrical, land management, psychological, and hemologic.

Simultaneously with the increase of the powers of private experts, the procedure for exercising control over their activities is being improved, types of inspections, terms of their inspection, subject of inspection, powers of persons conducting the audit are determined, a new type of inspection is introduced: checking the compliance of the expert’s workplace.

These changes will take effect on April 1, 2020.