Laws and regulations governing the issuance of personal documents Another body of legislation governing access to personal documents is related to the procedure for issuing the passport of a citizen of Ukraine. The Law of Ukraine on the Single State Demographic Register and the Documents that Confirm the Citizenship of Ukraine, Identify a Person or His/Her Special Status36 prescribes the procedure for issuing passports for citizens of Ukraine. According to this legislation, every person from the age of 14 is obliged to obtain an internal passport. In order to obtain the passport, applicants need to demonstrate that they meet the criteria for obtaining Ukrainian citizenship37 and to be identified by the acting authority. This means that, in accordance with the legislation and the Rules of Procedure (RoP)38, in order to receive an internal passport, the applicant in the procedure before the SMS needs to submit the following: - the original birth certificate, either issued by the Ukrainian authorities or by the authorities of some other state, and - original documents certifying the citizenship and identity of one or both parent(s). In cases where the applicant cannot provide the SMS with all the necessary documents, an SMS official informs the applicant that the documents have not been accepted and the reasons for such refusal. In situations where an applicant does submit all the required documents, problems can arise with the linking of the personal documents (the claimed identity) to the actual applicant appearing before the administrative officer. The usual practice is to express official rejection verbally, according to the former applicants who were interviewed and to representatives of the SMS. At the applicant’s request, the refusal must be provided in writing and for an official to refuse to do so would be illegal.39 Reportedly, in situations when a person older than 18 applies for a first internal passport and cannot provide photographic identification,40 different practices exist. In these cases, the SMS conducts a procedure for identification of a person41 consisting of a number of inquiries being submitted to all the relevant state authorities that could have data in their registries about the applicant – the police, the Ministry of Justice, tax authorities, educational institutions, the military, detention centres and prisons, etc. In exceptional cases, when the applicant cannot 36 Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Law of Ukraine on the Single State Demographic Register and the Documents that Confirm the Citizenship of Ukraine, Identify a Person or His/Her Special Status, Law No. 5492-VI, 20 November 2012, <http://zakon3.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/5492-17>. 37 Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Law of Ukraine on Citizenship of Ukraine, Law No. 2235-III, 18 January 2001, <http://zakon2.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/2235-14>. 38 Government of Ukraine, Rules of procedure for processing, issuing, exchanging, delivering, seizing, returning to the State, recognizing as inactive or annulling the passport of a citizen of Ukraine (hereinafter: RoP), Regulation No. 302, 25 March 2015 (in the edition of the Regulation of the GOU No. 745, 26 October 2016), <http://zakon3.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/302-2015-%D0%BF/print1489007495067300>. 39 Ibid., Article 24. 40 For example, in April 2017 in Transcarpathia a certificate with a picture issued by a prison about release of a person after sentence was accepted as a valid document for the identification of a person. The list of documents is not exhaustive but they must be valid and reliable to identify the applicant for passport. 41 RoP, op. cit., note 38, Article 43. 22