Valentyn Gvozdiy elected as Vice-President of the Council of Europe's Committee of Experts on the Protection of Advocates' Rights

Valentyn Gvozdiy elected Vice-President of the Committee of Experts of the Council of Europe on the Protection of Advocates Rights.

The first meeting of the Committee of Experts of the Council of Europe on the Protection of the Rights of Advocates is taking place on April 6-8 in Strasbourg, France. Ukraine represented in this committee by the Vice-President of UNBA, BCU Valentyn Gvozdiy. Today he has been elected Vice-President of this crucial working body of the Council of Europe.

It should be noted that in 2020, the European Committee of the Council of Europe on Legal Cooperation (CDCJ) conducted a study on the feasibility of a new, mandatory, or optional, European legal instrument for the legal profession.

Based on this study, the Committee of Ministers agreed to establish a committee of experts on the protection of advocates' rights (CJ-AV) under the auspices of the European Committee on Legal Cooperation (CDCJ).

The CJ-AV is expected to develop "a draft legal instrument aimed at strengthening the protection of the legal profession and the right to practice law without prejudice or restriction" by December 2023.

It is expected that, under the auspices of the CDCJ, the CJ-AV will consult with the CDCJ at each stage of the preparation of the draft legal instrument and take into account their comments. The CJ-AV should prepare proposals for consideration by the CDCJ on the nature of the legal instrument, whether mandatory or optional, given the added value of the options available. At its plenary session, the CDCJ will consider the proposal (s) prepared by the CJ-AV and recommend to the Committee of Ministers the nature of the legal instrument in the light of the provisions of the draft instrument.

According to the CJ-AV's competence, the draft legal instrument should provide for a full set of minimum standards concerning the right of advocates to practice freely and to ensure the protection and independence of the profession. This may include setting up a mechanism entrusted with the implementation of standards by Member States or providing guidance on their application.

A key requirement in developing an appropriate legal instrument under the CJ-AV's remit is the need to formulate fundamental principles and rules that protect human rights, democracy, and the rule of law, while complementing existing standards in these areas and addressing existing gaps, if any.

Building primarily on the Council of Europe's experience in this area, the future instrument should also take due account of the relevant initiatives of other international and regional fora in order to provide a common legal framework.