A Baseline Assessment of Access to State-Guaranteed Legal Aid for Forcibly Displaced Populations in Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine

The full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine and the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh have generated increased levels of forced displacement across Ukraine and Armenia, as well as neighbouring countries including Moldova and Georgia. These developments have placed strain on national justice systems and increased demand for accessible, effective, and inclusive state-guaranteed legal aid for forcibly displaced populations.

In 2023, UNDP, with support from the German Government, facilitated the adoption of the Tbilisi Declaration on Access to State-Guaranteed Legal Aid for Forcibly Displaced Populations (Tbilisi Declaration) by the state legal aid authorities of Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. 

The Declaration sets out nine principles promoting access to effective legal aid services for displaced populations, reinforcing a people-centred approach to justice, and this assessment examines how these principles are being implemented in practice across the four signatory countries and identifies good practices, key gaps, and priority areas for reform.

The study shows that the countries have made meaningful normative and institutional commitments to improving access to state-guaranteed legal aid for forcibly displaced people, but also highlights persistent barriers that prevent displaced people from fully exercising their right to legal aid across all four countries.