Are common ethical rules for judges, advocates and prosecutors possible?

The advocate, prosecutor and judicial communities have already tried to create ethical rules that are common to the legal professions. So far, this has not been successful. But the topic is interesting and deserves in-depth study.

The Council of Europe's HELP (Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals) program has launched a course in Ukraine: «Ethics for Judges, Prosecutors and Advocates. The course aims to define key concepts of legal professions and understand common values, ethical principles and virtues». The lecturers are experts from the National School of Judges of Ukraine, the Higher School of Advocacy, and the Training Center of Prosecutors of Ukraine.

Representatives of the Ukrainian National Bar Association took part in the opening of the project.

Lidiya Izovitova, the President of the UNBA, BCU drew attention to the problem of different understanding and application of the same substantive and procedural law by judges, lawyers and prosecutors. That is why the bar proposed to hold joint classes. However, these requests have not been answered for a long time. However, the need for joint action in this area is confirmed by the Constitution, which mentions these three professions responsible for justice in Ukraine in Section VIII. Therefore, the need to join forces to work on ethics issues is natural. Therefore, this course of the HELP program is extremely relevant.

Different tasks of the institutions operating in the justice system and different oaths of office for professionals - do they lead to differences in the rules of conduct for their representatives? Can ethics be built on the same principles, or should we clearly distinguish between ethics for prosecutors, ethics for judges, and ethics for lawyers? According to L. Izovitova, we need to look for something in common.

She also emphasized the dangerous tendency of political forces and the media to influence the behavior of judges, lawyers and prosecutors in specific proceedings. And this is disastrous both for justice and in terms of human rights protection, as it affects the basic principle of independence of activity.

L. Izovitova recalled that in September 2018, the Council of Judges, the Council of Prosecutors, and the Ukrainian National Bar Association signed a resolution on «Professional Ethics of Justice». But the attempt to find a consensus remained only good intentions. Therefore, she expressed hope that today's course will be a practical step towards understanding for the sake of a common goal - fair justice in our country.

Hanna Lazarchuk, a member of the Ukrainian Bar Association from Rivne region, drew attention to the primary purpose of creating all ethical rules (Rules of Attorney Ethics, Code of Professional Ethics and Conduct of Prosecutors, Code of Judicial Ethics). She emphasized that these rules exist not so much to protect professional rights as to protect human rights: the accused or suspect in criminal proceedings, or the plaintiff or defendant in civil proceedings. The most important thing is a person, his or her life and health, honor and dignity, inviolability and security. And we act and fulfill our professional duties in order to affirm this highest social value.