Report of the UNBA Board of Trustees is published

The Ukrainian National Bar Association publishes the fourth Report on International Charitable Assistance to Ukrainian Advocates, which covers the period from the beginning of the full-scale aggression of the Russian Federation to 15 August this year.

The document contains information on the distribution of assistance by categories, benefactors and the amount of their donations, the number of appeals for assistance by Ukrainian advocates by regions of the country, the composition and results of the Board of Trustees.

«We have seen the incredible power of uniting international legal organisations around our lawyers and the invaluable moral, organisational and material support from our foreign colleagues, - said Lidiya Izovitova, the President of UNBA, BCU. - We are sincerely grateful for the charitable funds that have become a source of inspiration and support for our advocates during the war».

It should be reminded that the UNBA Board of Trustees, established in March 2022, is responsible for the distribution of donors' funds. During the reporting period, it held 27 meetings, making decisions on providing assistance to the following categories of advocates and their family members

• advocates whose housing was completely destroyed, seriously injured advocates, elderly advocates, families of deceased advocates;
• advocates whose housing was partially destroyed, advocates who received moderate injuries, advocates who are single parents;
• advocates who need to take vital medicines on a regular basis and do not have the means to purchase such medicines.

«Receiving such important financial support in difficult times, Ukrainian lawyers express their gratitude to their foreign colleagues, professional bar associations and organisations that, even if they are on other continents, remain with Ukraine and the Ukrainian bar», - says Hanna Lazarchuk, chairman of the Board of Trustees, member of the Bar Council of Ukraine.

The report also states that in 2022 the Bar Support Centres will be established on the premises of the regional bar self-government bodies - regional bar councils and qualification and disciplinary commissions of the Bar. At that time, the members of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) and the International Bar Association (IBA) provided assistance in their arrangement to overcome the consequences of the state of emergency related to the power outage.

In August 2023, the Bar Council of Ukraine launched a project to digitise the archives of the Ukrainian Bar. Its implementation was made possible thanks to the financial support of the IBA.

«Each donation was used as efficiently and fairly as possible, - assures Valentyn Gvozdiy, UNBA Vice President. - The whole world sees how courageously Ukrainians are fighting for their independence and freedom. However, the price of this fight against the enemy is very high. And today, more than ever, we need strong and stable support from our international partners. We are confident that the international community will not leave Ukrainians alone in their trouble».