Ahead of the Congress the bar has to consolidate itself against the external challenges to the independence of legal profession — Lidiia Izovitova

The meeting of the Bar Council of Ukraine, which is usually held ahead of the Reporting and Election Congress of Advocates, has begun in Mukachevo. The agenda includes the issues that will be submitted for consideration at the Congress on June 9-10.

Opening the meeting, the UNBA/BCU President Lidiia Izovitova noted that the emphasis on the bar’s internal problems shall not lead to an underestimation of external threats to the independence of legal profession.

“Ahead of the Congress everyone thinks that the main thing is what is happening inside. However, they forget that the most terrible challenges of impingement on our independence are coming from outside. When today we are getting into internal squabbles, we can observe one thing only – how we destroy ourselves and cannot resist to external challenges”, - says Lidiia Izovitova.

As an example of the bar status restriction the UNBA/BCU President has cited the amendments to the CPC related to the mechanisms for enforcement of the tasks of criminal proceedings.

“That was an attack on our professional rights. We understood that our powers during the pre-trial investigation have been limited, and we spoke on behalf of the UNBA Committee, but unfortunately regions gave no assessment of those changes. After all, they still managed to lobby them through and they came into force”, - stated Lidiia Izovitova.

According to UNBA President, the draft amendments to the field-specific law, registered under the number 6451, is another attempt to attack the legal profession. The author of the draft law, People’s Deputy Ruslan Solvar, refers to the fact that the current version of the law is discriminatory as regards to the right to practice law, and offers to exempt the NABU judges, prosecutors, investigators and detectives from the obligation to undertake an internship. This is an extended concept developed under the auspices of the Judicial Reform Council, according to which only judges were supposed to be released from the internship.

“I will ask the Bar Council of Ukraine to vote today and adopt a decision concerning the need to express a professional opinion. This is a violation of human rights, when people that cannot defend a priori may be admitted to advocacy, even though they have a high level of professional knowledge”,- says Lidiia Izovitova.

The agenda of the BCU meeting includes preparatory issues related to the conduct of the Congress, as well as the reports of the higher bodies of the bar self-government, and draft amendments to the Regulation on HQDCB, the UNBA Statute and the Rules of Advocates’ Professional Conduct.