Law. Human. Environment

The article is devoted to the study of the free legal aid system in Ukraine in the context of compliance with the requirements of the Council of Europe’s European standards. The article analyzes the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights, which set out the conditions for granting a person legal aid on a royalty-free basis, namely the lack of sufficient funds to pay a lawyer to obtain legal aid, the so-called «financial criterion» and, if necessary in the interests of justice – «Legal criterion». On the basis of case-law studies and the legislation of European countries, problems and gaps have been identified in certain conditions of providing free legal aid and in the mechanism of ensuring the convention’s right to protection as a whole. Suggestions for improvement of legislation in the field of provision of free steam assistance were formulated and submitted.

free legal aid, judicial precedent, right to defense, European standards, legality, law and citizens’ freedoms