UNBA requests the PGO to initiate a criminal case in relation to illegal proceedings against the advocate Tsyhankov

The Committee on Protection of Advocates’ Professional Rights and Guarantees held an emergency meeting to review the appeal filed by the advocate Andrii Tsyhankov concerning the criminal proceedings initiated against him. On April 28, 2017, a pre-trial investigation was initiated on the grounds of fraudulent actions of the advocate A.I. Tsyhankov and his client, who have submitted documents and other data in a civil case to the court, the content of which - in the opinion of the investigation bodies - does not correspond to reality.

Article 23 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Bar and Practice of Law” defines the guarantees of practice of law, pursuant to which, in particular, it is prohibited to interfere with or impede practice of law, and all search operations or investigative actions that require special court permission shall be conducted in relation to an advocate on the basis of the respective court decision made upon the motion of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, his/her deputies, prosecutor of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the region or the cities of Kyiv and Sevastopol.

The policy of interfering with the legal activity of an advocate on provision of professional legal aid is inadmissible, and the results of the advocate’s realization of his/her legal position in a court proceeding cannot be a reason for introduction of the aforementioned information into the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations.

The advocate performs actions in the interests of the client, with whom a contract on the provision of legal aid has been concluded, including filing of documents to the court on his/her behalf. The fact of contract conclusion cannot be construed as a conspiracy, since such an interpretation goes beyond the effective legislation and indicates that the law enforcement agencies have committed a criminal offense under Article 365 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (abuse of powers or official authority by an officer of the law enforcement agency). In addition, the provision of documents to the court by one of the parties to the civil process, the content of which, according to the  pre-trial investigation body, does not correspond to reality, is not a criminal offense under the Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

To that end, the UNBA requested the Prosecutor General's Office to verify and assess the circumstances set forth in the appeal filed by the advocate Tsyhankov. The UNBA also asks to enter the relevant information into the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations in connection with the abuse of powers by the officials of pre-trial investigation bodies, as well as to initiate the relevant pre-trial investigation on the grounds of a criminal offense under Article 365 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Moreover, the UNBA will forward the relevant appeals to the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (ССВЕ) and the International Bar Association (IBA).