UNBA demands from Mykola Onischuk to refute biased evaluations of the Bar’s role in reforming the profile legislation

UNBA appealed with the demand to refute public comments on the advocacy made by Mykola Onischuk, who is now heading the Working Group on issues of developing legislation and organization of judicial power within the Commission on issues of legal reform.

The reason for that was the broadcast on October 9^th 2019 on “Pravo TV” channel “President will remake the law on the bar: what will change for the advocates’ self-government”. In this video Onischuk has told about the need to make changes to the new version of the law of Ukraine “On the Bar and Practice of Law".

With that, he has said biased and harmful critiques on the current situation in advocacy, which are not true and cannot be acceptable for the politician, who is authorized to develop legislative initiatives for the President

«Dogmaticity of provided evaluations on advocacy surprises, because he is not an advocate and has never had an experience of working in the advocacy. Your comments on the reason, why the draft law №9055 wasn’t passed, show not only You not understanding principles of advocacy’s organization as a municipal institute and its constitutional role, but also not knowing countless threats on the advocacy’s independence in this», - says in the UNBA’s letter. It was also mentioned, that Mr.Onischuk was present during created by Presidential Decree of P.Poroschenko on issues of judicial reform, when its coordinator A.Filatov tried to silence the protests of the advocacy and push the draft law №9055 at any price.

«In such a context it wasn’t expectable Your statement about “the existence of corporative arguments’, which as were preventing the draft law №9055 to be passed. It is obvious, that such a position was formed by the experience of working as a member of Constitutional Commission at the Presidential Office of Petro Poroshenko and Your participation in the Council on issues of judicial reform. Which was coordinated by the head deputy of the administration of President Petro Poroshenko A.Filatov, who secretly developed and accepted scandalous draft law №9055. However, your comments make absurd and threatening thesis, that the UNBA was making obstacles on the way to increase the level of advocates’ protection and their status overall », - says in the letter.  

UNBA interpreted such comments as a threat to the reputation of advocacy and as an attempt to intervene into the single professional organization of advocacy by the politician

«Despite that, for the member of the Commission of issues of legal reform at the Presidential Office is not acceptable to lobby failed and harmful draft law, developed by legal team of the former government and interesting only certain group of people», - says in the letter.

UNBA payed attention, that the Main Principles of the UN on the role of lawyers, resolutions of PACE concerning Ukraine, conclusions of Venice Commission about current legislation on advocacy and interventional letters to the leaders of the Ukrainian state from the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) clearly recognize the obligation of the government to involve Bar association to the consultations during the development of national profile law. The attempt to ignore this international standard was one of the most serious reasons why the draft law №9055 failed.

«UNBA demands from you to apologize in public before all the advocates of Ukraine and refute all said during the broadcast of the “Pravo TV’ channel about existence of any “corporative arguments” in the advocacy. Now the comments provided by you are aimed at making conflicts within the advocates’ community and formation of the negative perception of UNBA by the people, we count as lobbyist to certain legislative initiatives and pushing forward the interests of certain people, who were developing the reform at the regime of the former government», - says in the letter to Commission’s on issues of the legal reform member.