Law enforcement in Ukraine

The Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs is the national police authority of Ukraine. It is a centralized agency headed by a Minister of Internal Affairs who is not only a formal member of the Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers, but also the actual commander of the country’s police. The generic term for the Ukrainian police is militia.

Militia of Ukraine The Law of Ukraine “On Militia” was approved on the 20th of December 1990. In accordance with the Ukrainian legislation the militia is the state armed agency of the executive power. Militia is assigned to provide a creative and effective functioning of reliable mechanism to protect a person, his life, dignity, honour, property, rights and freedoms, interests and environment. The most important forms and methods of the Ukrainian militia are: securing human rights; preventing violent crimes; combating organized crime; counteracting criminal elements; guarding property against criminal and administrative encroachments; protecting business activities and creating favourable conditions to attract foreign investments into the state economy. The militia of Ukraine structurally is a part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. Militia is composed of the following subdivisions: Criminal Militia; Militia of Public Safety; Transport Militia; State Traffic Inspection; Security and Protection Service; Specialized Militia Service. The characteristic feature of the militia in Ukraine is the centralized structural organization of its departments which corresponds to three levels of management in the Internal Affairs agencies, namely: General state level – the corresponding departments in the MIA, Regional level – Militia Departments of the Crimean Autonomous Republic within the MIA of Ukraine, Regional Departments of Internal Affairs and in such cities as Kyiv and Sevastopol, and on transport; Local level – militia subdivisions in districts, city departments of Internal Affairs and transport militia units. The staff of militia is composed of personnel serving in militia who has special militia ranks. Recruitment to militia is done on a voluntary basis. It enrolls persons over 18 years of age who by their qualities, education and state of health are able to perform the duties vested in them. There are 17 higher educational institutions in the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. The main educational establishments are the National Academy of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in Kyiv, the Kharkiv University of Internal Affairs, and the Law University in Kharkiv.

The “ Berkut ” is the system of special units of the Ukrainian militsiya (police) within the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Ukraine’s successor of the Soviet OMON. Its full name is Berkut Separate Special Assignment Unit(s) of Militsiya. There is a Berkut unit in every oblast and every big city of the country. The main duty of the unit is the security of general order or enforcement of civil order such as during any mass public activities (demonstrations, parades, sport or concert events, etc.) or in places of increased criminal activity in fight against the organized crime. Later one of few additional assignments was protection custody of physical person such as witness. The name means golden eagle in the Ukrainian language, which is associated with falconry on big mammals, particularly wolves.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) is Ukraine’s special purpose law enforcement agency and main government security agency in a sphere of counterintelligence activity and combating terrorism. The Security Service of Ukraine is vested, within its competence defined by law, with the protection of national sovereignty, constitutional order, territorial integrity, economical, scientific, technical, and defense potential of Ukraine, legal interests of the state, and civil rights, from intelligence and subversion activities of foreign special services and from unlawful interference attempted by certain organizations, groups and individuals, as well with ensuring the protection of state secrets. Other duties include fight against crimes that endanger the peace and security of mankind, terrorism, corruption, and organized criminal activities in the sphere of management and economy, as well as other unlawful acts immediately threatening Ukraine’s vital interests.

Incarceration in Ukraine is provided by the Criminal Code of Ukraine for the most of crimes both as single punishment and as alternate punishment. This punishment in general can be assigned for all categories of people. Incarceration can be provided for a period between 1 and 15 years. If there are two or more sentences, this period can be increased up to 25 years. Depending on maximum period of incarceration crimes can be classified: small crimes (maximum 2 years), medium crimes (up to 5 years), grave crime (maximum 10 years) and extra grave crime (up to 15 years or life imprisonment). There are also reduced terms of incarceration for minors. There are three types of colonies: of minimum security level, medium security level and maximum security level. Minors serve sentence in educative colonies. In these colonies areas of quarantine, diagnostics and distribution, re-socialization and intensified supervision are organized. Depending on behaviour of convicted person he can be moved from one type of colony to another.There are 32 preliminary prisons, 129 penitentiary establishments for adults and 11 colonies for minor criminals in Ukraine.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14