Meeting of representatives of the UNBA and the Norwegian Embassy in Ukraine

On 23 June 2016 a joint working meeting between the representatives of the UNBA and the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Ukraine was held in the premises of the UNBA Secretariat.

During the meeting, representatives of the Embassy of Norway, namely Mr Tonje Meinich - Head of Norwegian Mission of Rule of Law Advisers to Ukraine (NORLAU), officer of the Embassy of Norway in Ukraine on issues of justice; Mr Dag Bratole, Judge, and Dmytro Loza - Coordinator of the NORLAU Project, officer of the Embassy of Norway in Ukraine, took interest in the situation around the Ukrainian Bar and the bar self-government in Ukraine.

The UNBA was represented by Ms Ganna Kolesnyk, Head of the UNBA Committee on protection of advocate’s rights and professional guarantees, and Ms Tetyana Gnatyuk, Head of the UNBA Human Rights Committee.

In addition, the participants discussed the issues of violation of advocates’ rights in Ukraine, which unfortunately takes place, abuse of powers by pre-trial investigation authorities in criminal proceedings and the absence of real accountability of law enforcement officials for violations of the Law of Ukraine "On the Bar and Practice of Law".

At the same time, some positive aspects of broadening advocates’ powers in criminal proceedings in connection with the adoption in 2012 of the new Code of Criminal Procedure of Ukraine were noted.

The participants also paid attention to questions of observance of children’s rights in Ukraine, the need for conducting special trainings for children and developing and publishing guidelines for children concerning protection of their rights in a language they understand.

"For us, one of the priority tasks is cooperation with the bar and protection of children's rights" - summarized Mr Meinich.