UNBA Judicial Committee gets a new Chairman

Attorney Andriy Tsygankov has been appointed as the Chairman of the Committee on the Independence of Justice and the Judiciary of the Ukrainian National Bar Association.

Previously, Mr. Tsygankov headed the UNBA's Committees on Information Policy and Ethics.

The Committee on the Independence of Justice and the Judiciary was established in February 2022. Its tasks are as follows:

• scientific and practical study of the current state of judicial proceedings and the judiciary;
• developing generalized proposals and presenting them to the working bodies of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and other state authorities, commissions, working groups, etc;
• submitting such proposals and comments to the subjects of legislative initiative and subjects authorized to adopt bylaws related to the judiciary and the judicial system;
• analysis and generalization of law enforcement practice in the field of judicial proceedings, judicial system and judicial independence;
• in agreement with the UNBA management, discussing the formed proposals with judicial and other professional associations;
• holding public events (conferences, roundtables, seminars, etc.) on legal issues and practical implementation of judicial proceedings, judicial system and judicial independence;
• development of training programs aimed at expert discussion of problematic issues, advanced training of attorneys on practical aspects of the functioning of judicial governance and self-government bodies.

The Ukrainian National Bar Association has recently decided to study the effectiveness and accessibility of justice and invited lawyers from the regions to participate. In particular, it is planned to find answers to the following questions: what is the real reason for the length of time for consideration of cases in Ukrainian courts, are lawyers to blame for this problem, and how legitimate is the interference of judges in the competence of the bar's disciplinary bodies?