The UNBA presents Report on Legal Aid System in Ukraine
This Report, prepared by the Ukrainian National Bar Association, examines in detail these threats and challenges, and offers proposals to reform the administration of the system of legal aid.
Since the entry into force of the Law on Legal Aid, more than four years have passed. The application of the Law and the practice of legal aid to date have shown that the current law contains many shortcomings, and the legal aid system to be ineffective and bureaucratic, and one that violates both human rights and the professional rights and guarantees of attorneys. Ukraine’s legal aid system, as it exists currently, poses a genuine threat to the independence of the legal profession, including the judiciary, and to the rule of law.
The document is based on the analysis of existing legal acts of Ukraine, statistics taken from official sources, publicly accessible information and on direct conversations with a number of representatives of the legal community, including from the central and regional self-governing bodies of the Bar, as well as interviews and feedback from persons who were granted legal aid. All figures, legislation, statistics and other information referred to in this Report are stated as of 18 October 2015.
The purpose of this Report is to draw the immediate attention of the Government of Ukraine, civil society and the international community to critical issues within the system of legal aid in Ukraine, and the need for reform.
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