How will the group responsible for implementing the Roadmap for advocacy operate?

The working group on the implementation of the Roadmap on the rule of law in the area of advocacy will operate at several levels: plenary meetings as a platform for adopting framework decisions, a coordination bureau for compiling documents and calendar control, and thematic subgroups for preparing norms and their justification. International experts will verify the results against European standards and «red lines».

This general structure for the Working Group's activities was proposed by the President of the UNBA, BCU Lidiya Izovitova during the inaugural meeting. The meeting was devoted to agreeing on the framework for further work and the starting positions of the participants.

According to her, plenary meetings should become the key format. It is in the plenary that they plan to approve the principles, priorities, and «red lines» of the Roadmap, adopt the structure of the future draft law on amendments, the final text, and the accompanying package of documents, including an explanatory note and a comparative table.

In order not to overload the plenary sessions with technical issues, the chairman of the UNBA proposed to create a coordination bureau as the «core» of the process management. In her view, it could include the chairman of the Working Group, deputies as co-chairs, the head of the secretariat, an editor-coordinator who would compile the texts, and the heads of the subgroups. The bureau will ensure calendar coordination, deadline control, compilation of completed sections into a single draft, and preparation of issues for plenary consideration.

The substantive level of work will be ensured by subgroups working on sections of the law and thematic blocks. Their output should be short texts of amendments and specific proposals for regulations with justification, including references to European standards and the Roadmap.

L. Izovitova also outlined the mechanics of international experts' participation, emphasizing that this is a quality tool, not «participation for the sake of presence». It is expected that the subgroups will compile a concise list of requests and submit it through the coordination bureau, and experts will provide oral consultations or brief written recommendations on compliance with standards and potential risks.

According to the proposed model, the members of the Working Group are to be divided into subgroups (without the inclusion of international experts). According to the chairman of the UNBA, members of parliament will be able to join subgroups of their choice and receive materials for review and work.

The subject of the subgroups' work will be determined by the following topics: access to the profession; organization of advocacy and self-government; disciplinary procedures and legal ethics; guarantees of legal practice and protection of advocates; transparency, financial discipline, and internal audit; European integration, international practice, and digitization; and professional development.

In conclusion, L. Izovitova emphasized that the goal of the work is not to find a «single correct model» for advocacy (since there are different approaches in Europe), but the principles reflected in current legislation should remain common: independence and self-governance of advocacy, respect for professional ethics, fair disciplinary procedures, real guarantees for the practice of law, transparency, and accountability to the professional community.