Mental health, archives and cybersecurity: The UNBA and the IBA reviewed the progress of joint projects

The Ukrainian National Bar Association and the International Bar Association (IBA) reviewed the progress of joint projects that are of practical importance in the context of the war: supporting the mental health of advocates, digitizing archives, and strengthening the cybersecurity of the legal infrastructure.

On May 6, a working meeting was held in Kyiv between representatives of the Ukrainian advocacy community and IBA Executive Director Mark Ellis. The UNBA was represented by Vice President Valentin Gvozdiy, Head of the Secretariat Vadym Krasnik, leading expert on European integration Hanna Udovenko and Committee Coordinator Svitlana Hrusko.

Project coordinator Hanna Udovenko provided an update on the implementation of the project «Supporting the mental health of Ukrainian advocates during the war». Under this project, which has been active since November 2024, advocates can submit an application and receive a promo code for individual sessions with a psychotherapist, which can be used on the Rozmova platform.

She reported that due to the rising cost of psychological consultations, the value of the corresponding certificate for receiving assistance was recently increased from one thousand to four thousand hryvnias. Following this, demand for certificates has grown: in just two weeks, three dozen applications were received.

V. Gvozdiy emphasized that the topic of mental health is sensitive, so advocates are not asked to explain their personal circumstances or undergo interviews to receive assistance. Applications are submitted through the platform, after which only the individual’s status as an advocate is verified.

H. Udovenko also reported that 33 webinars have been held as part of the project, taking place regularly every two weeks. Recordings of these events remain available on the platform and the UNBA’s YouTube channel so that advocates can watch them at their convenience or revisit specific topics later.

The project to digitize the archives of the advocacy association was one of the first and was of critical importance. According to V. Gvozdiy, the war created a need to relocate the original archival documents and create digital copies of them. Particular attention was paid to regions close to the border with the aggressor country.

A significant portion of these documents consists of the personal files of advocates who gained admission to the profession and submitted the relevant documents. These materials may be of practical importance, as advocates may have lost their diplomas, educational documents, or other proof of professional status due to the war. In such cases, archival materials and registry data may serve as a source of verification for the information submitted when obtaining the right to practice law.

The Vice President of the UNBA also noted that the original documents submitted to the bar authorities were notarized. Therefore, creating digital copies of such materials is important for verifying the authenticity of documents in the future.

V. Krasnik outlined the state of cybersecurity of the digital infrastructure of advocacy, dividing the topic into two dimensions: protection of the UNBA’s platforms and the security of advocates’ daily work with clients.

He reported that during the war, the Unified Register of Advocates of Ukraine and the UNBA portal had been subjected to DDoS attacks at least four times. One of these attacks was so powerful that the website had to be restored from a backup copy. Approximately 4,000 electronic orders are generated daily on the UNBA portal. Therefore, the disruption of such services could create obstacles to advocates’ participation in proceedings and the exercise of the right to defense and representation.

At the end of the meeting, M. Ellis noted the importance of the work carried out and stated that he is personally proud of the opportunity to be part of this collaboration. He also emphasized that he has no doubts about the implementation of the programs undertaken by the UNBA.