UNBA representatives visited Germany

During its visit to Germany, UNBA delegation held a series of expert discussions at the German Federal Bar with the aim of exchanging experience with the bar organization.

UNBA delegation included Deputy Head of the UNBA, BCU Valentyn Gvozdii, Head of the UNBA Committee on International Relations Ivan Grechkivskii, Head of the Kyiv City Bar Council Petro Ryabenko, Head of the Kyiv City QDBC Igor Orlov, members of the Kyiv City Bar Council and QDBC Diana Nazarenko, Ganna Lytvyn, Kateryna Nykytiuk, Head of Khmelnytsky Region Bar Council Natalia Vagina, Member of the UNBA Committee on International Relations Vladyslav Ryabenko, Head of the UNBA Secretariat Vadym Krasnyk and Head of the Secretariat of the HQDBC Victor Vovniuk.

The second day of the visit included a series of meetings with BRAK Vice President Johanna Aizer. Expert Discussion with BRAK Referee Jennifer Witte covered the topic of attorney's fees.

The UNBA delegation also met with the Ombudsman of the Bar Monica Niore. The Office of the Bar Ombudsman is the body that settles disputes between clients and advocates in Germany. Its decisions are advisory, but in most cases voluntarily implemented by the parties. An Ombudsman cannot be an advocate. The Ombudsman is currently a retired judge.

We would like to emphasize, that Germany provides one of the most significant among all European countries support in reforming the Ukrainian Bar. Cooperation between Ukrainian National Bar Association and the German Federal Bar was established in 2014 and is actively developing.

The UNBA foreign office in Berlin is headed by Valentyn Gvozdii.

In April 2018, Head of UNBA, BCU Lidia Izovitova, Deputy Head of UNBA, BCU Valentyn Gvozdii and Head of the UNBA Committee on International Relations Ivan Grechkivskii participated in a meeting of leaders of the Bar of Germany, Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.

The event was organized by the German Federal Bar (BRAK) to discuss topical issues in the organization of the Bar and legal regulation its activities. The agenda of the conference included such issues as organizational and legal forms of advocacy; taxation of advocacy; advocate's monopoly and its scope; Bar relations with authorities and cybersecurity and cyber law.