Reforming legal education: a concept of changes is being prepared

By June 31, 2024, the Verkhovna Rada will develop a Concept of Legal Regulation of Higher Legal Education, which will establish the framework for further rulemaking in this area.

The decision was made following the first meeting of the working group on reforming legal education under the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Legal Policy. The group met on March 19 at the Institute of Lawmaking and Scientific and Legal Expertise of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. The event was attended by Valentyn Gvozdiy, the Vice President of UNBA, BCU.

As a reminder, on November 8, 2023, the European Commission published its 2023 Report on Ukraine, in which, while addressing the issues of justice and human rights, it also outlined recommendations on legal education:

«High-quality and corruption-free legal education and training of justice and law enforcement professionals are key to strengthening the rule of law and fulfilling EU membership commitments. In recent years, Ukraine has taken a number of measures to improve legal education. Standards for legal education have been adopted and improved, standardized exams for admission to law schools and master's programs have been introduced, and an institutional quality assurance system has been developed. However, progress has been uneven and further reform efforts are still needed, in particular to create a clear institutional separation between legal education and law enforcement training, strengthen admission and licensing standards for law schools, ensure transparent and fair (merit-based) distribution of public funds for training future lawyers, modernize curricula with a focus on ethics, practical training, EU law and international exchanges, introduce a single state qualification exam and fight against corruption and plagiarism».

As early as December 14, 2023, the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Legal Policy formed a working group on legal education reform and approved its composition. The group includes MPs, judges, representatives of the Office of the President, the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance, the Ministry of Education, the National Bar Association of Ukraine, prosecutors, the National Academy of Legal Sciences, higher education institutions, and international organizations.

During the meeting of the working group on March 19, Oleksandr Pyzhov, PhD, Expert on Education Policy and Human Rights of the CoE Office in Ukraine, presented the achievements of previous working groups and outlined the main aspects of the regulation of higher legal education and professional experience in the field of law in the context of European integration, namely:

• qualification requirements;
• education standards and practical training;
• Unified State Qualification Exam (USQE);
• licensing of educational activities;
• accreditation of educational programs;
• distinguishing between legal education and law enforcement training.

Following the discussion, it was decided to prepare the Concept of Legal Regulation of Higher Legal Education by June 31. The co-chairs of the working group, MPs Yulia Gryshyna and Mykola Stefanchuk, were appointed as the persons responsible for its development.

The Ukrainian National Bar Association supports the idea of improving the quality of legal education and advocates the application of equal approaches to the study of law by all representatives of legal professions.