ANNUAL REPORTOF UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS 116 Monitoring of court decisions recorded in the Unified State Register of Court Decisions indicates that in dozens of similar cases, decisions have been made in favour of citizens of Ukraine51. In response, the banks argue that the courts ignore the fact that it is not possible for them to return money to the plaintiffs, due to the fact that under the laws of the Russian Federation and in accordance with the decision of the Central Bank of the aggressor state of 21 April 2014 and decisions of the courts of the Russian Federation, responsibility for returning money from these savings accounts rests with an autonomous non-profit organization of the Russian Federation, the Depositors Protection Fund. According to Article 1 of Law of Ukraine 1207-VII “On Ensuring the Rights and Freedoms of Citizens and Legal Regime in the Temporarily Occupied Territory of Ukraine” of 15 April 2014, the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine is an integral part of the territory of Ukraine, where the Constitution and laws of Ukraine have effect. Therefore, the failure of banks to fulfil their obligations to return money on these grounds is unjustified. Complexity of the procedure for civil registration (births and deaths) State registration of births and deaths in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine currently takes place in accordance with Article 317 of the Code of Civil Procedure of Ukraine, taking into account Article 49 of the Civil Code of Ukraine and Law of Ukraine 2398-VI “On State Registration of Civil Status” of 1 July 2010. This means that a court decision is needed to register a birth or death. This mechanism has several disadvantages. In particular, applications to establish the fact of birth can be submitted to any court in Ukraine, while an application to establish a fact of death in the temporarily occupied territory can only be made at a court in a special list52. CHAPTER 5 In addition, another significant barrier to establishing a fact of death in the temporarily occupied territory is that applicants entitled to go to court do not include the heirs of the deceased who have no family ties with the testator but have a reasonable and legitimate interest in establishing the legal fact of his/her death. Such circumstances significantly complicate observance of the rights of Ukrainian citizens to inheritance. In April 2017, the Supreme Specialized Court of Ukraine for Civil and Criminal Cases issued an explanation to the oblast-level courts of appeal and the city of Kyiv court of appeal with clarification on the use of wording in court decisions that determine the place where births and deaths occurred. This document, among other things, emphasizes the case law of the European Court of Human Rights in cases against Turkey, as well as the case law of Moldova and Russia53. The courts make such decisions taking into account national banking legislation and acts adopted in connection with the aggravation of the security situation in the Crimean peninsula, in particular, National Bank of Ukraine Resolution 260 “On Revocation of Banking Licenses and General Licences for Foreign Currency Exchange Operations of Individual Banks and Closing of Separate Bank Divisions located on the Territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol” of 6 May 2014. Not surprisingly, however, certain courts refer to the decision of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation RH-33/I of 21 April 2014, which states that since the adoption of this decision the activities of separate structural units of Ukrainian banks in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea are terminated. 51 An application to establish the fact of birth in the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea may be filed by the parents or other legal representatives of a child to any court of Ukraine outside the temporarily occupied territory. An application to establish the fact of death in the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea may be filed by the relatives of the deceased or their legal representatives to a court of Ukraine outside the temporarily occupied territory. [Article 12 of Law of Ukraine 1207-VII “On Ensuring the Rights and Freedoms of Citizens and the Legal Regime in the Temporarily Occupied Territory of Ukraine” of 15 April 2014. Information letter of the Supreme Specialized Court of Ukraine for Civil and Criminal Cases regarding the use in court decisions of wording reflecting the place where legal facts happened 9-697/0/4-17 of 11 April 2017]. 52 The Court concluded that documents issued by bodies and institutions (such as medical institutions) in the temporarily occupied territory could be taken into account by national courts in exceptional cases and in conjunction with other evidence when considering cases on establishing legal facts. This practice is fully consistent with the foundations of international humanitarian law – the Geneva Conventions. 53