All HSA courses for veterans resuming their legal practice are free of charge for one year

Bar Council of Ukraine has exempted veteran advocates of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who are resuming their activities after a year or more of suspension due to their duty to defend the state, from paying for professional development courses conducted by the Higher School of Advocacy. The exemption is valid for one year from the date of resumption of the right to practice.

The relevant changes were made to the Procedure for professional development of advocates of Ukraine, approved by Decision No. 63 of the Bar Council of Ukraine on July 3, 2021, during a meeting on December 13.

We remind you that, in accordance with Article 7 of the Law «On advocacy and the practice of law», military service is incompatible with the practice of an advocate. And in the event of incompatibility, the advocate must submit an application to suspend their legal practice to the regional bar association at their place of work within three days of the occurrence of such circumstances.

At the same time, while practicing law, an advocate is obliged to improve their professional level (Article 21 of the Law), and maintaining a high professional level of advocates is the task of the bar self-government (Article 44). Therefore, according to the general rule established by the Bar Council of Ukraine, in the event of resumption of legal practice that has been suspended for a year or more, an advocate is required to take special courses to improve their professional level in accordance with the program and procedure developed by the Higher School of Advocacy of the Ukrainian National Bar Association and approved by the Expert Council on Accreditation and Certification of the UNBA. The advocate is required to complete these courses within three months of resuming the right to practice as an advocate (clause 1 of the Procedure).

Following the discussion of the issue, the BCU decided to exempt veteran advocates of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who had suspended their legal practice for more than one year in connection with the performance of their civic duty to defend the state from paying for advanced training courses for a period of one year after resuming their legal practice.