The BCU declared inadmissible the reorganization of the Odesa Law Academy

The Bar Council of Ukraine considers it appropriate to support the preservation of the National University Odesa Law Academy as an independent university, whose decades-long traditions and high standards of education and academic independence determine its distinctive uniqueness.

This decision was made on March 14 by the Bar Council of Ukraine, having considered the appeal of the Bar Council of Odesa Region, the Academic Council of the University and the staff of the Department of Organization of Judicial, Law Enforcement and Advocacy.

As a reminder, on February 12, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine issued Order No. 111-r on the proposal of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, according to which the Odesa Law Academy should be reorganized by joining the I. Mechnikov Odesa National University.

The university staff categorically disagreed with the Government's order, as there were no prerequisites for its adoption. The lack of objectivity, logical consistency, and clear arguments in this decision caused concern among the academic community and the public. The Bar Council of the region noted that the liquidation of the University would lead to the loss of a specialized law school, unique educational programs (in particular, in the field of advocacy), and would also destroy the established ties between the bar community and university legal science.

During the discussion of the issue at the meeting, UNBA member Oksana Kadenko reminded that the Odesa Law Academy is a unique educational institution that has been successfully operating since 1997. Until 2017, it was the only institution that had a special faculty of advocacy. Today, the university is one of the flagships of higher education in the scientific and educational space of Ukraine. Almost 8,000 students study at the university, and almost a thousand employees work there (including 333 doctors and candidates of sciences, 15 academicians and corresponding members of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine).

By many indicators, the university holds top positions among higher education institutions: in terms of the number of applicants, conditions for a safe educational process in the classroom format during martial law, graduate employment rate, etc. The university also ranks high in various rankings of higher education institutions. Among other things, the Odesa Law Academy is a member of the European Association of Universities (since 1998) and the European Public Law Association (since 2008), and a signatory to the Magna Charta Universitatum (since 2004).

«Recognition of the university by the scientific community, including on the world stage, is an important indicator and pride for the entire higher education of Ukraine», - said O. Kadenko. She also emphasized that for the bar it is crucial that the university is an important educational center that creates a favorable environment for human rights protection in Ukraine. Because the high quality of higher education, substantive scientific developments of the bar and absolute transparency to all forms of constructive inter-institutional cooperation make it an important tool for the Ukrainian National Bar Association to fulfill the tasks of bar self-government, and for Ukraine to form legal elites capable of building a state governed by the rule of law.

Pursuant to Article 44 of the Law «On the Bar and Practice of Law», the tasks of the bar self-government, among other things, are to maintain a high professional level of lawyers and to create favorable conditions for the practice of law.

To implement these tasks, on April 7, 2017, the Ukrainian National Bar Association and the National University Odesa Law Academy signed a memorandum of cooperation. Pursuant to the agreement, numerous joint events are held, projects and programs are implemented to train legal professionals. UNBA experts and university researchers jointly develop proposals for draft laws and other regulatory acts, work training and state programs and action plans, strategies, etc., and conduct joint research and publishing activities. The university has introduced normative disciplines on the history of the formation and development of the Bar, opened thematic classrooms and auditoriums. Also, educational, industrial and pre-graduation practices were organized on the basis of regional bar councils in accordance with the schedule of the educational process and in compliance with the requirements of the current legislation of Ukraine.

Following the discussion of the issue, the Bar Council of Ukraine decided to support the National University Odesa Law Academy and the university staff in maintaining it as an independent higher education institution.

Also, the Vice President of the UNBA, BCU was instructed to address the President of Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers, the Ministry of Education and Science, and other bodies and institutions with a request to take measures to preserve the Odesa Law Academy as an independent higher education institution.