Author: Markiyan Bem

On March 27, Markiyan Kliuchkovskyi, Executive Director of the Register of Damages Caused by the Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine (the Register),announced that the Register would start operating on April 2. 

At the same time, the first package of documents regulating the procedural aspects of applying to the Register by persons who suffered damage from Russian aggression was made public. 

In this article, we provide a preliminary overview of the Registry's procedural documents. A more detailed analysis of the content and procedures will be published later.

First of all, we are talking about the"Rules for Submitting, Processing, and Entering of Claims". This document establishes general requirements for the procedure for submitting claims for damages, the criteria for the acceptability of such claims, and the procedure for their processing by the Registry. The rules stipulate that all claims are divided into categories, and the procedure for filing claims in each category is determined by a separate document.

The next document is the"Categories of Claims that may be entered into the Register", which provides a general understanding of what types of losses give rise to the claim to the register. In general, this document divides claims for damages into three categories: 

• category A - claims from individuals; 
• category B - claims of the state of Ukraine; 
• category C - claims of legal entities. 

Each of these categories is divided into several subcategories of claims depending on the type of damage. In total, there are 45 such subcategories. For example, category A includes claims related to:

• forced displacement (A1.1); 
• forced displacement outside of Ukraine (A1.2); 
• death of a close relative (A2.1); 
• disappearance of a close relative (A2.2), etc. 

This approach is in line with previous international practice of dividing damages from aggression into separate categories, in particular, the UN Compensation Commission.

The rules for submitting claims in each of these categories and the relevant requirements for the evidence base are approved by separate documents in the form of an "Claim Form" for each category.

Currently, only one"Claim Form" for category 3.1 has been approved. "Damage or destruction of residential real estate". This applies only to the relevant claims of category A - individuals - and does not apply to the state of Ukraine and legal entities. 

The "Claim Form" contains clear requirements for information and documents to be submitted by a person. In general, we are talking about information about:

• applicant's identity; 
• property identification; 
• applicant's rights concerning the relevant property (ownership or otherwise); submission of relevant information to other national registers; 
• event that resulted in property damage; 
• nature of the damage; 
• and damage assessment. 

All such information must be supported by relevant documents. 

Like all other documents, the "Claim Form" will be available electronically on the Diia platform, where the applicant will have to provide information and documents for each of the listed blocks in a structured manner.

Finally, the Register also adopted the Principles of Personal Data Protection in the Work of the Register of Damages Caused by the Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. According to this document, when processing personal data, the Registry must adhere to the principles of legality, fairness, and transparency of processing; legitimate purpose; proportionality; data relevance; limited data storage periods; observance of the rights of the personal data subject; data confidentiality and protection against unauthorized processing. It also provides for the possibility of transferring the data accumulated in the registry to a compensation mechanism created in the future. 

In general, these rules are in line with the general principles of personal data processing outlined in the Council of Europe's documents on this subject. In particular, Convention No. 108 for the Protection of Individuals concerning Automatic Processing of Personal Data and the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The latter is especially important because many victims now have the status of residents of European Union member states.

Markiyan Kliuchkovskyi also announced that the next set of documents regulating the work of the Registry and communication with victims will be published soon. However, it can already be stated that the launch of the Register in such a short time - less than a year after its official establishment - is an undoubted success and great progress towards ensuring compensation for Ukraine.