Reform of the bar is a disguised attempt of forceful takeover of the bar – Pavlo Grechkivskyy

Changes to the Law “On the Bar and Practice of Law” elaborated by the Working Group of the Council on Judicial Reforms are a disguised attempt of a forceful takeover of the bar in Ukraine. This was stated during the briefing at the Ukrainian crisis media centre by Mr Pavlo Grechkivskyy, the BCU Secretary.

He recalled that the representatives from the legal profession prepared article-by–article proposals to the draft law, which is being developed on Bankova Street, but those proposals have not changed the content of the document. On 20 May 2016 the Bar Council of Ukraine held an extraordinary meeting due to ignoring of the position of the bar by the drafters and the risks inherent in its current version.

"The Bar Council of Ukraine came to the conclusion that the proposed draft law is a combination of company law and the law on elections. Unfortunately, no one thinks about the interests of the bar. The BCU came to the conclusion that someone is preparing a forceful takeover of the bar”, - said Mr Grechkivskyy.

In his opinion the authorities thereby put the bar in a more severe opposition to them.

"If such law is adopted, the bar will be forced to go into a tough opposition to the government. This will not do any good to our country and development of society or the bar", - stated Mr Grechkivskyy.

He referred to conclusions made by experts of the EU Project "Support to justice sector reforms in Ukraine" who believe that the problems in the Ukrainian bar can be resolved without amending the current law. In particular, problems can be resolved by the bar itself, which ensures self-regulation of the profession.

In general, the “reform of the bar should be conducted by the advocates themselves, not by the authorities”.

Виджет Відео з Youtube: Press briefing “Advocates demand transparent reform of the bar” (in Ukrainian).

Відео

Press briefing “Advocates demand transparent reform of the bar” (in Ukrainian).