A bill has been registered in the Verkhovna Rada proposing that the Law on the Bar and Legal Practice provides attorneys with the right to traumatic weapons.

          Bill №4612 can be viewed on the official website of the parliament.

          It is proposed to add to Article 23 of the relevant law the right "to purchase, carry, record, store and use devices of domestic production for firing cartridges equipped with rubber or similar in their properties non-lethal metal shells."

          The current legislation does not provide a rule that would ensure such a right of an attorney, which deprives him of the opportunity to defend himself during the performance of his professional duties, the authors of the legislative initiative point out.

          Thus, according to the order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs №379 of June 13th, 2000, employees of courts, law enforcement agencies and their close relatives have the right to purchase active defense equipment (devices for firing cartridges equipped with non-lethal rubber or similar metal shells) as well as persons involved in criminal proceedings, journalists and freelance journalists, deputies of Ukraine, members of public formations for the protection of public order and the state border, servicemen, except for conscripts, civil servants with categories and ranks.

"The absence of a attorney's right to purchase, carry, record, store and use devices of domestic production for firing cartridges equipped with non-lethal rubber or similar metal shells - is not fair, because the attorney during the performance of his professional duties risks the life and health not less than a journalist or a member of a public formation,” the explanatory note reads.

          Therefore, the adoption of the bill will help increase the protection of attorneys in their professional activities, achieve equal status of attorneys with other professions that pose risks to life and health, as well as increase the prestige of the legal profession.

          "Today, in order for an attorney to obtain the right to purchase, carry, record, store and use domestically produced devices to fire cartridges equipped with non-lethal rubber or similar metal shells, it is necessary to circumvent the law by joining the public formation, or getting a freelance journalist's ID. This gap in the legislation should be eliminated by adopting this bill,”-the accompanying document states.

          The UNBA, and the relevant Committee for the Protection of Attorney' Rights have repeatedly publicly supported the idea of ​​giving attorneys the right to bear arms, given the risks to life and safety that attorneys face in connection with their professional activities.

          As you know, in 2020 the Committee for the Protection of Attorney' Rights and Advocacy Guarantees at the UNBA received 101 complaints about violations of attorney's rights and advocacy guarantees, in particular, about the destruction of attorneys' property - 6 appeals, threats to attorneys - 15 appeals, facts of physical violence against attorneys - 9 appeals. An allegation of attempt to murder of an attorney was also submitted to the Committee for Proper Response.