Regional activities > European police and judicial systems Ukraine

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1. Introduction

 1.1 Location

Ukraine is a country of Central-Eastern Europe. It occupies the South Western part of Eastern-European Plains and a part of the Carpathian and Crimean mountains. It stretches for 893 km from North to the South and for 1316 km from West to East. Ukraine is located in moderate latitudes and has outlets to Black and Azov Seas.

The total length of Ukraine land and maritime borders is 7590 km. Ukraine has land borders with the Russian Federation (2063 km), the Republic of Belarus (975 km), the Republic of Poland (542.5 km), Slovak Republic (98 km), Hungary (135 km), Romania (608 km) and the Republic of Moldova (1194 km).

 1.2 Area - Population - Language

The territory of Ukrainian State is 603,700 km2.
Ukraine has 49.5 mln residents (as of beginning of 2001). The majority of people (68%) live in urban areas. 32% live in countryside. For many years, gender structure remains stable - 46% are men, 54% are women.
Ethnic Ukrainians comprise 73% of population. The biggest national minority are Russians (11,400,000 people, 21% of population). For ages, Crimean Tatars, Jews, Romanians, Moldavians, Belarussians, Bulgarians, Poles, Hungarians, Greeks, Armenians, Gypsies, Germans, Azerbaijani, Gagaus, Uzbeks, Lithuanians, Kazakhs, Czechs, Slovaks and people of other ethnic groups have been living in Ukraine.
The state language of Ukraine is Ukrainian.

 1.3 Government

General foundations of political system of Ukraine are defined by its Constitution. The Constitution of Ukraine designates the President as the Head of State. The term of presidential office is five years. The only legislative body of Ukraine is the Parliament - the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Altogether 450 deputies are elected. The Cabinet of Ministers (Government) of Ukraine is the supreme executive authority.

2. Police system

 2.1 Law enforcement bodies

Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, General Prosecutors Office, Security Service of Ukraine, Border State Committee and State tax administration of Ukraine are responsible for protecting persons and property, maintaining public order and enforcing the law in Ukraine.
Police are within the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. It is engaging for investigating crimes, shadowing suspects, obtaining information and tracing wanted persons.

The Police

There are three levels of police authorities : central, regional and local. The central unit is the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. At regional level there are 27 departments of Ministry of Internal Affairs in regions, in the Crimea Autonomy and in Kiev and Sevastopol and 6 departments of Ministry of Internal Affairs on each of railways of Ukraine.

 2.2 Ukraine - Police Organization Chart

 2.3 NCB structure

National Central Bureau of Interpol in Ukraine is a department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. The main missions of the NCB of Interpol in Ukraine are the coordination of the law enforcement agencies of the country in the transnational crime fighting, ensuring of co-operation with the General Secretariat and competent agencies of the states - members of Interpol in the crime fighting and appreciation of the transnational crime expansion level and threat of the crime activities of the Ukrainian citizens abroad.

NCB comprises a monitoring unit, an international financial, informational and vehicles crimes department, an international search of offenders unit, an international organized crime unit, an illegal immigration and human trade unit, an information and technical support unit and a secretariat. The staff of NCB consist 53 police officers and 3 civilians.

 2.4 International investigations

NCB of Interpol in Ukraine operates as a central contact points for international investigations.

 2.5 Pre-trial police and judicial powers

3. Judicial system

 3.1 General

Justice in Ukraine is administered exclusively by the courts. The jurisdiction of the courts extends to all legal relations that arise in the State. The Supreme Court of Ukraine is the highest judicial body in the system of courts of general jurisdiction. The Constitutional Court of Ukraine is the only body of constitutional jurisdiction in Ukraine.

 3.2 Prosecution

Prosecutions are generally handled by the Public Prosecutors. Common law enforcement agencies carry out investigations under the supervision of the Public Prosecutors.
The General Prosecutor's Office is a unified system that is headed by the General Prosecutor. The General Prosecutor's Office deals with initiating the criminal prosecution according to procedures provided by laws, controlling the legality of investigations, submitting the case for the prosecution in court, bringing actions in court to defend the interests of the state, overseeing the execution of sentences, etc.

4. Investigation possibilities and international co-operation

 4.1 Possibilities

 4.2 Access to files (through NCB)

 4.3 Liaison officers

4.3.1 Ukrainian liaison officers posted abroad

Israel, Poland, Russia, Hungary, Romania, USA, Germany.

4.3.2 Foreign liaison officers posted to Kiev

Poland, Germany, USA, Austria, Great Britain, Hungary, Slovakia, Republic of Belorus.

5. Police/Customs co-operation

The customs has investigation powers within its competence (stolen property, smuggling). Customs officers are authorized to conduct preliminary investigation before institution of the criminal case.
The police co-operate with Customs authorities in practical activities including criminal data exchange and conduct joint operations (But police and customs authorities are empowered to conduct investigations regarding different crimes provided by Penal Code of Ukraine).

6. Miscellaneous

 6.1 Public holidays

• New Year (January 1)
  
• Christmas Day (January 7)
  
• Women's Day (March 8)
  
• Easter (in April)
  
• Labour Day (May 1)
  
• Victory Day (May 9)
  
• Whitsun (in June)
  
• Constitution Day (June 28)
  
• Independence Day (August 24)

Regional activities - European police and judicial systems