UNBA supported the pilot project of involving the students to pro bono legal assistance
The pilot project of the law clinic “Pro bono” of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv providing free legal assistance will begin early in 2019. First of all, it is about providing primary legal aid, and then there will be considered a possibility of representation in of citizens' interests in minor cases in the courts.
This is the joint initiative of the law clinic and the Coordination Centre for Legal Aid Provision, which will be implemented with the support of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine and the Ukrainian National Bar Association.
The Ukrainian Legal Aid Foundation joined the cooperation. Eventually, international partners will also be involved. Memorandum on cooperation on the implementation of the pilot project was signed on December 14.
The students of the Faculty of Law of the National University of Kyiv will study a special course on the development of communication soft-skills on working with vulnerable groups of clients. They will undergo a production and pre-diploma practice at the centers for the provision of legal aid. In addition, students involved in the law clinic work will have an internship at the committees of the Ukrainian National Bar Association.
In addition, the Faculty of Law of the National University of Kyiv, the Association of its graduates, UNBA, the Ukrainian Legal Aid Foundation and the Coordination Centre agreed on the joint development of curricula and distance courses for students who are invited to work in the law clinic. They will also conduct joint activities aimed at raising the skills of the staff of the legal aid system, the teaching staff, and students of the University. The scientific and pedagogical staff, postgraduate students and doctoral students of the University will be involved in the development of proposals for draft laws and other normative and legal acts in the field of providing legal aid.
In the future, a pilot project for the creation of an independent provider of free legal aid based on law clinics is planned to be extended all over Ukraine.
More about the project here.
Popular news
URAU
Access to advocate contacts in URAU has been restored
The Bar Council of Ukraine has opened up public access to data from the Unified Register of Advocates of Ukraine, which was closed at the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022. The decision was made at a meeting on December 12–13.
Self-government
Members of the QDCB are not required to submit declarations - BCU
Bar Council of Ukraine examined the legal status of members of bar self-government bodies and found that they are not required to submit declarations of persons authorized to perform functions of state or local self-government.
Self-government
BCU has identified 12 areas for implementing the Roadmap for advocacy
During its meeting on December 12, the Bar Council of Ukraine considered the Roadmap on the Rule of Law, approved by Order of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 475-r dated May 14, 2025. The document provides for the development and adoption of a draft law on improving the legal regulation of advocacy by the fourth quarter of 2026.
Guarantees of the practice of law
The Ombudsman acknowledged the problem of violation of the human right to legal aid in the TCC
The Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for human rights Dmytro Lubinets confirmed the existence of a problem with ensuring the constitutional right to professional legal assistance in territorial recruitment and social support centers.
Guarantees of the practice of law
The UNBA presented a report on violations of advocates' rights in the TCC
The Committee for the protection of advocate's rights and guarantees of legal practice of the UNBA has prepared a consolidated report on violations of advocate's professional rights and guarantees of legal practice by territorial recruitment and social support centers for the period from 2022 to the first half of 2025.
Self-government
Statement by the UNBA Committee regarding manipulative journalistic material
Statement by the UNBA Committee on information policy and interaction with the media regarding manipulative journalistic material aimed at discrediting the advocacy institution.
Greetings
Congratulations on the anniversary of the establishment of the Ukrainian National Bar Association
November 17 marks the thirteenth anniversary of the establishment of the Ukrainian National Bar Association, a professional self-governing organization that has united advocates from all regions of the country into a single independent institution.
Guarantees of the practice of law
10 changes necessary for the implementation of the Convention on the protection of the profession of advocate
Most of the standards enshrined in the Convention on the protection of the profession of advocate have already been implemented in Ukrainian legislation. At the same time, in order to ensure a higher level of guarantees for the independence of advocacy, certain amendments should be made to the codes and the relevant law.
Publications
Censor.net Protecting advocates – protecting justice: addressing concerns about the new law
Ihor Kolesnykov A BRIEF SUMMARY REGARDING THE APPLICATION OF THE ORDER ON EXTENDED CONFISCATION IN LATVIA REGARDING FINANCIAL ASSETS OF…
Valentyn Gvozdiy WORKING IN A WAR ZONE
Lydia Izovitova Formula of perfection
Sergiy Vylkov Our judicial system is so built that courts do not trust advocates
Iryna Vasylyk Advocacy in the proclamation of Independence of Ukraine
Oleksandr DULSKY When we cross the border of the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court, we get into another department of the National Anti-Corruption…
Vadym Krasnyk The UNBA will work, and all obstacles and restrictions are only temporary inconveniences
