BCU acts do not define human rights and obligations – Constitutional Court ruling

Decisions and other acts of bar self-government bodies regulate the professional activities of advocates and do not define their rights and obligations within the meaning of parts two and three of Article 57 of the Constitution of Ukraine and other provisions thereof.

This conclusion was made by the Constitutional Court in a case concerning the publication of acts of bar self-government bodies. As previously reported, the Second Senate of the Constitutional Court adopted decision No. 4-r(II)/2025 in the case of a constitutional complaint by Vyacheslav Pleskach regarding the constitutionality of part three of Article 57 of the Law «On advocacy and the practice of law».

According to this provision, decisions of bar self-government bodies come into force on the day they are adopted, unless another term is provided for in the decisions.

The complaint alleged that this provision contradicts Article 57 of the Constitution (regulatory legal acts defining the rights and obligations of citizens must be brought to the attention of the public in the manner prescribed by law, otherwise they are invalid), as it allows decisions of the BCU to take effect immediately upon their adoption. This violates the constitutional right of everyone to know their rights and obligations. The contested provision stipulates that rights, freedoms, and obligations are restricted by the normative acts of BCU without bringing them to the attention of the advocate in a manner that would ensure his or her awareness of the date, time, publication, authentic text, and fact of adoption of such a normative act.

The Constitutional Court confirmed that acquiring the status of an advocate does not deprive a person of their constitutional rights and freedoms. Relations between advocates and bar self-government bodies should arise and develop in the spirit of corporate unity and mutual respect. Therefore, bar self-government bodies must ensure the transparency of their activities, in particular the openness and accessibility of their decisions, which are binding on all advocates.

At the same time, the acts of bar self-government bodies are applicable only to a specific and professionally defined group of persons – advocates who have voluntarily chosen the profession of an advocate and the status of an advocate and, as a result, must comply with self-governing mechanisms for regulating the practice of advocate.

Such acts regulate the professional activities of advocates and do not define their rights and obligations within the meaning of parts two and three of Article 57 of the Constitution of Ukraine and other provisions thereof.

The Constitutional Court's decision also states that the date of entry into force of decisions of bar self-government bodies, which are normative acts, cannot precede the date of their adoption and publication. If necessary, a transitional period (vacatio legis) should be introduced for these acts to take effect, allowing advocates to adapt their activities to the new regulatory framework.

Given that a constitutionally consistent interpretation can be made with regard to Part 3 of Article 57 of the Law, and that there are no convincing and sufficient arguments for recognizing it as violating constitutional provisions, the Constitutional Court ultimately concluded that part three of Article 57 of the Law «On advocacy and the practice of law» complies with the Constitution of Ukraine.

Decision No. 4-r(II)/2025 of 10 September 2025 in the case concerning the publication of acts of bar self-government bodies can be viewed at this link.