The Committee on Legal Aid encourages the advocates to participate in the competition to fill the vacancy of the Director of Coordinating Centre for Legal Aid

The UNBA Committee on Legal Aid encourages the advocates to actively compete for the vacant post of the Director of Coordinating Centre for Legal Aid.

This was mentioned in the statement of the Head of the Committee, Serhii Vylkov.

In late April this year the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine announced its intention to conduct a competition to fill the vacancy of the Director of Coordinating Centre for Legal Aid. The Minister has informed that to hold the competition he will initiate the amendments to the Regulation on Centre, approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 504 “On establishment of the Coordinating Centre for Legal Aid and liquidation of the Centre for Legal Reform and Law Drafting under the Ministry of Justice” dated June 6, 2012.

In addition, to hold the competition the Ministry of Justice has announced the establishment of the selection panel and invited the civil society actors to become a member of the said panel. The Committee and the Ukrainian National Bar Association received no official statement from the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, although the parties are governed by a Memorandum of Cooperation between the Ministry of Justice and the UNBA for the provision of legal aid (signed on November 19, 2013).

Given that the procedure for appointment of Director of the Centre for Legal Aid will be changed in the future and, against the unilateral decision of the Minister, the open competition will be held, the UNBA Committee on Legal Aid encourages advocates to join in and propose their candidacies for both the member of the selection panel and the vacant post.

“It is beyond argument that the selected Director of the Centre shall be a professional having a certificate of the right to practice law and practical experience. Understanding legal profession is a key to the management of structure, which controls the entire system of legal aid across the country and which consists of over 5 thousand advocates, entered into the Register of Advocates Providing Legal Aid", - thinks the Head of the UNBA Committee, advocate Serhii Vylkov.

According to him, under the provisions of the aforementioned Memorandum of Cooperation the representatives of legal profession shall be mandatory included to the selection panel.

On July 4, 2015, by the Decision of the Bar Council of Ukraine No. 74, the UNBA Committee on Legal Aid was established, the purpose of which is to monitor the functioning and development of the legal aid system in Ukraine, to analyze and synthesize the information on legal aid, to develop amendments to the legislation of Ukraine on legal aid and related acts, and to establish relations in the field of ​​legal aid.

In the course of work the Committee has repeatedly drawn attention to the systemic problems in the legal aid system, both related to the observance of rights and guarantees of legal profession and those related to the effective protection of public interests. By supporting the legal aid system reform in accordance with the recommendations of the Council of Europe and sharing the positive assessment of the reforms’ promotion, the Committee is aware of the operating problems of legal aid system, evidenced by numerous experience-based examples of advocates providing legal aid.

In 2016 the Ukrainian National Bar Association prepared a topical report “Legal Aid System in Ukraine: Current Issues and Recommendations for Reform”, which presented the generalized comments and proposals for changes in the work of the said system based on the best international practices.

In addition, in September 2016 the Council of Europe has provided a peer review of the legal aid system in Ukraine. The need for a prohibition on external forces from interfering with the assignment of legal aid advocates, the simplification of payment of remuneration for advocates providing legal aid, the specification of the list of persons entitled to legal aid, and proper application of Article 53 of the Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine were mentioned among the issues requiring further improvement. These concerns relate not so much to the administrative activities of the centres as to the guarantees of practice of law.

These are the inconsistencies between the legal aid system and the provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On the Bar and Practice of Law” that were often publicly called to attention by the Committee on Legal Aid and the UNBA in general. The election of the representative of legal community as a Director of the Coordinating Centre for Legal Aid in the open competition shall, first of all, solve this problem and further guarantee the legitimate rights of the advocates, for them to ensure the professional protection of their clients. This problem is particularly important in the view of entry into force of the new constitutional amendments, providing for the advocates’ exclusive right to representation in courts.