An international conference was held in Belarus to exchange experience of reforming the bars in the CIS
On November 2, 2018 an international conference "The Bar and the State: ways of interaction" was held in Minsk, where the advocates discussed topical issues of the organization and functioning of the Bar of Belarus, Ukraine, Latvia, Russia, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan. The Ukrainian delegation included HQDBC Chairman Oleksandr Drozdov, advocates Nana Bakayanova, UBA member Olga Golovchenko and Olena Jaburia.
The interaction of lawyers from different countries is a prerequisite for the bar development, as an exchange of experience contributes to solving problem issues and improving legislation in each country.
Oleksandr Drozdov, the Chairman of the High Qualification and Disciplinary Bar Commission of Ukraine, outlined the urgent issues of bar development in Ukraine, described the content of the changes to the Constitution of Ukraine and their significance in the practice of law enforcement, pointed out certain problems of the Ukrainian Bar, in particular, the "fee for success", unreasonable answers to the lawyer's requests, stressed the importance of applying the practice of the European Court of Human Rights in advocacy.
Olena Jaburia, a member of Odessa Region Bar Council, outlined the tasks and directions of the reform of Ukrainian Bar. As seen from the 3 draft laws submitted to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in 2018, there are different views on the further bar development in Ukraine. Elena Jaburia presented a brief analysis of the draft laws, mentioned the most controversial issues discussed within the bar community. It is important to prevent the introduction of advocates-civil servant, advocates-local self-government bodies, advocates-members of business associations and employees working in enterprises under labor contracts. Positive is the expansion of the professional rights of advocates, but it is advisable to formulate certain provisions concerning the guarantees of advocacy, the contents of which the Ukrainian lawyer reported to the participants of the conference, more precisely.
Nana Bakayanova, the secretary of the disciplinary chamber of the Qualifications and Disciplinary Chamber of the Odessa region, spoke about the main stages of bar development in Ukraine, starting with the first success of the Ukrainian Bar - the adoption of the Law in 1992 - to the results of the activities of the Ukrainian National Bar Association reporting as of the current year.
The lawyer outlined how the principle of self-government of the Ukrainian Bar, its independence from the state and local self-government bodies was implemented in accordance with the existing Law, defined the role of the bar in the formation of the High Council of Justice, the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine, and the Qualification and Disciplinary Commission of Prosecutors of Ukraine.
The interaction of lawyers with the Coordination Centre for Legal Aid Provision, regional and local centers for the provision of free secondary legal aid needs to be improved by transferring part of the authority from the state authorities to the Ukrainian National Bar Association. Today, the mechanism for assessing the actions of advocates providing free legal assistance provides for that employees of the centers have the right to monitor the actions of advocates, to check advocates' files, to interview advocates’ clients, which does not comply with the basic principles of the activity of the bar. At the same time, Ukrainian National Bar Association signed the Memorandum of cooperation with the Coordination Center (2013), on mutual understanding with the Coordination Center for Legal Aid Provision, the Ukrainian Legal Aid Foundation, the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union, the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group on enhancing expert capacity in the area of access of vulnerable social groups to justice in criminal proceedings. Such cooperation involves a joint search for the best ways of interaction between the Bar and the State in terms of the duty to guarantee the observance of the rights of citizens.
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