The implementation of the Justice Development Strategy should be carried out together with the Bar - Oleksandr Drozdov

The Justice System and Constitutional Judiciary Development Strategy for 2021-2023, approved by Presidential decree, should be implemented according to the implementation plan, which will be developed together with the Bar.

This was announced by Oleksandr Drozdov, the Head of the Committee on free legal aid, who is also a member of the President of Ukraine Commission on the Legal Reform.

As defined in the decree, a detailed list of tasks, measures, expected results, and indicators for further implementation of the reform of the judiciary and other legal institutions is reflected in the Action Plan for the implementation of the Strategy, approved by the Commission on the Legal Reform. The development and implementation of the Action Plan should be accompanied by comprehensive discussions involving the public and expert community.

"This decree contains two parts, and the first part concerns what the Commission on the Legal Reform should do… and coordinate everything related to the improvement of the bar with attorneys. For the strategy to be implemented, we need an action plan, which we will work on together with you. " - Oleksandr Drozdov said during the Public hearing of the report on the UNBA activities in 2020.

The main problems addressed by the Strategy are the functional imperfection of the system of the attorneys` self-government, the difficulty of access to the profession, and the insufficient effectiveness of the protection of attorneys` rights.

To introduce a systematic approach concerning improvement of the Bar in Ukraine, it is necessary to ensure:

-strengthening guarantees of advocacy, its types, and professional rights of attorneys,

-improving the self-government of the bar;

- expanding access to state registers and databases in the field of advocacy.

"One of the proposals to improve the self-government of the bar, which is currently being discussed, stipulates that the law on the bar should contain a rule that in case of changes in the law on the bar, the relevant conclusions should be made by the Bar Council and submitted to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. This, in turn, will form a clear coordinated communication between the bar and the parliament. " - Oleksandr Drozdov told.

He also drew the attention of participants to the need of joint development of proposals for improving the status of attorney`s assistant in court proceedings, giving the latter a certain range of procedural rights, which should be conditioned by the relevant procedural powers of the attorney. "Next should be the step of the legislator, who must take into account the work of the bar in the process of improving the legal regulation of advocacy," - Oleksandr Drozdov proposed.

The full version of Oleksandr Drozdov`s presentation can be viewed here.

It shall be recalled that the Bar Council of Ukraine at its meeting held in Kamianets-Podilskyi adopted the Development Strategy for 2021-2025.

The document consists of four main stages: planning (including strategy development), implementation, evaluation of results and consequences (analysis of the reasons for achieving or not achieving results), and refining the strategy to maintain its relevance and contains 26 items that clearly outline the main objectives, goals, and priority areas of activity.