The UNBA will seek abolition of amendments to the Tax Code

Amendments to the Tax Code, which introduced amendments to the Law "On the Bar and Practice of Law" should be abolished as unconstitutional and inconsistent with international standards. This was announced during the session of the Kharkiv Regional Bar Council by the UNBA President Lydia Izovitova. "This law interfered with the independence of the profession", - concluded Mrs Izovitova.

The UNBA immediately addressed the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko with a request to veto this law and reported the situation to the CCBE. While the largest European bar organization supported the UNBA concerns, the law was signed and entered into force.

At present, given that the law was passed in violation of the Rules of Parliament and limited the independence of the bar, the UNBA initiates a constitutional petition seeking the declaration of its unconstitutionality.

"The Rules of Parliament, which is constitutional law, was surely breached, and this is the reason to declare the new amendments unconstitutional in this part by the Constitutional Court", - said Lydia Izovitova.

In addition, the UNBA will prepare a draft law that will amend the changes made to the Tax Code which in turn amended the Law "On the Bar and Practice of Law". The provisions thereby the State directly interferes with the amount of advocates' contributions and payment for the bar exam and traineeship should be modified in order to return a decision on the appropriate rates to the powers of the bar self-government.

Lydia Izovitova publicly called on MPs, especially those who have the status of advocate, to support such initiatives aimed at restoring advocates’ rights to self-government.