Obtaining a certificate again: changes to the procedure

According to the law, a person deprived of the right to practice law may return to the profession on a general basis two years after the imposition of the relevant disciplinary sanction. The Bar Council of Ukraine clarified certain procedural issues.

The relevant changes were made by the decisions of the BCU of 11-12 August 2023:

• No. 70 «On Displaying Profiles in the Unified Register of Advocates of Ukraine»;
• No. 71 «On Amendments to the Procedure for Admission to the Qualification Exam, the Procedure for Passing the Qualification Exam and the Methodology for Evaluating the Results of the Qualification Exam for Acquiring the Right to Practice Law in Ukraine and to the Decision of the Bar Council of Ukraine No. 137 dated 16-17 November 2022 as amended».

The documents are published on the website of the Ukrainian National Bar Association.

From now on, a person applying for admission to the qualification examination must also provide, along with the application, a handwritten certificate certified by his/her personal signature stating that he/she has (or has not) previously received a certificate of the right to practice law and, if such a certificate has been received, the reason on the basis of which the right to practice law was terminated (Decision No. 71).

Such changes are related to the fact that according to clause 3 of part 2 of Article 6 of the Law «On the Bar and Practice of Law», a person deprived of the right to practice law within two years from the date of the decision to terminate the right to practice law cannot be an advocate. And the Qualification and Disciplinary Commission of the Bar should be able to verify the information about the presence/absence of the candidate's previous status as an advocate.

Also, the decision of the BCU No. 71 establishes that the provision of false information by a person who has expressed a desire to take the exam about the presence (absence) of the status of an advocate is a ground for termination of the right to practice law by cancelling the certificate of the right to practice law in accordance with clause 5 of part 1 of Article 32 of the Law «On the Bar and Practice of Law».

In addition, since information about the termination of the right to practice law is entered into the URAU, a different profile is created when the certificate is obtained again. In order to synchronise the available information about a person, the URAU database administrator will provide links in the new profile to other profiles available in the URAU about the specified person, indicating in the «Other information» section information about previously valid certificates of the right to practice law with the possibility of switching to previous profiles (BCU Decision No. 70).