The BCU has removed controversial issues of training standards for young lawyers

The Procedure for the Continuing Legal Education of Advocates of Ukraine provides for special requirements for training in the first three years (after obtaining a certificate) of an advocate's practice. In practice, technical issues have arisen in the application of these requirements.

During a recent meeting, the Bar Council of Ukraine clarified the wording of the relevant paragraph 19 of the Procedure, approved by Decision No. 63 dated July 03, 2021.

As a reminder, according to the general rule (clause 20 of the Procedure), all advocates are required to improve their qualifications at the level of 10 hours per year. Attorneys who have acquired the status of an attorney-at-law, during the first three years of their practice of law, were obliged to improve their professional level at the level of 48 hours, of which at least 16 hours were required annually. In case of obtaining a certificate for the right to practice law in the second half of the relevant year, such an advocate was entitled to receive a lower number of points in the first year of obtaining the certificate, provided that the total number of points for 3 years is not less than 48 hours.

«This wording can actually be read in different ways, - explained Valentyn Gvozdiy, the Vice President of UNBA, BCU, who drafted the decision at the request of the Higher School of Advocacy. - It seems that lawyers should study a little more, since not all of them will receive a certificate at the beginning of the year. Therefore, we must remove any controversial issues and make the application of this requirement transparent, fair and just».

Now, young lawyers are required to improve their professional level by at least 16 hours every year. In the first year of obtaining a certificate of the right to practice law, such an attorney is entitled to receive a lower number of points. Clause 20 of the Procedure will apply to such attorneys starting from the next year after the year in which the person gained three years of experience in practicing law.