The process of signing the Convention for the Protection of the Profession of Lawyer was taken under control by the Verkhovna Rada

The Ministry of Justice sent the text of the translation of the Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of the Profession of Lawyer to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs «for review and approval». The main legal authority also expressed its support for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the signing and ratification of this Convention.

This was reported by State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Oleksandr Karasevych to the chairman of the Subcommittee on political reform and constitutional law of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on legal policy Maksym Dyrdin.

After the meeting of the relevant Verkhovna Rada Committee, which took place last week, the matter moved forward, said M. Dyrdin. The Minister of Justice confirmed his support for the signing and ratification of the Convention and undertook to submit an unofficial translation of it to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is currently being reviewed. «This is a painstaking process, because it is important to check every word. The work will take several weeks», - the MP said. «Parliamentary control is in action. We are gradually moving towards our goal», - he concluded.

As a reminder, the Convention for the Protection of the Profession of Lawyer was adopted by the Council of Europe during its meeting on March 12, 2025. It applies to both advocates themselves and professional associations. The document contains provisions on the right to practice, professional rights, freedom of expression, professional discipline, and provides for special measures to protect advocates and their associations. In particular, it provides for a clear mechanism for monitoring it. To monitor compliance with the provisions of the Convention, a group of experts on the protection of the advocate's profession (GRAVO) will be set up, comprising representatives of the participating countries. The UNBA made an unofficial translation of the Convention and published the text in Ukrainian on March 13, the day after the document was adopted by the Council of Europe.

The problems of slowing down the process of signing and ratifying the first international treaty aimed at protecting the advocate profession were discussed on August 20 at a working meeting in parliament. The event was attended by members of parliament, representatives of the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ukrainian National Bar Association. Members of parliament emphasized that parliament is ready to support the signing and ratification of the document, as it does not contradict current legislation and strengthens the guarantees of the independence of advocacy.

Recently, Andriy Misyats, acting chairman of the High Qualification Commission of Advocates, stated in an interview with a legal media outlet that Ukrainian legislation complies with the requirements of the Convention and no significant changes are needed for its implementation. In his view, there are no legal obstacles to signing, only questions of political will and the pace of decision-making. Ukraine should not delay and should join the international treaty that it itself helped to draft.

In 2022, the European Committee on Legal Cooperation established a Committee of Experts on the Protection of Advocates (CJ-AV), which included 15 experts from across Europe, including Ukraine. One of the drafters of the Convention was Valentin Gvozdiy, the Vice President of the UNBA, BCU, who was even elected Vice-President of CJ-AV.