Justice for advocates in the TOT: criteria discussed by the UNBA and IBA leaders

One of the topics currently being discussed by the professional legal community is the problem of the activities of Ukrainian lawyers in the temporarily occupied territories. How legitimate are the initiatives to criminalize it?

This was discussed during a working meeting between Lidiya Izovitova, the President of the UNBA, BCU, and Mark Ellis, the Executive Director of the International Bar Association (IBA), in Kyiv on April 17.

As a reminder, several draft laws have been registered in the Verkhovna Rada (No.8077 of September 26, 2022, No. 10136 of October 09, 2023), which propose to expand Article 111-1 (Collaboration) of the Criminal Code. In particular, it is proposed to consider the exercise of independent professional activity in cooperation with the occupation administration of the aggressor state as such a crime.

Despite the fact that some of the territories are temporarily occupied today, they remain part of Ukraine under the law. This was emphasized by L. Izovitova, referring to the Law «On Ensuring the Rights and Freedoms of Citizens and the Legal Regime in the Temporarily Occupied Territory of Ukraine». One of the goals of state policy in such territories is to ensure the protection of the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of individuals and legal entities. And this is the constitutional function of the Bar - to ensure the realization of everyone's right to legal aid.

Therefore, according to the logic of the authors of such initiatives, citizens who remain under occupation should be deprived of constitutional guarantees, and lawyers who dare to comply with the Constitution should be punished as criminals.

In addition, the UNBA head emphasized, collaborationism is cooperation with the enemy's government. And the legal profession is professional and independent of the state. It is in no way related to politics, propaganda, or aggression. In such circumstances, the punishment of lawyers does not fit in with European standards of a fair trial.

Earlier, M. Ellis himself emphasized the need to comply with high international standards of fair trial even in times of war. «It is important to understand that protecting the right to a fair trial is not only about ensuring that the processes protect the fundamental rights of the individual, - the lawyer believes. - It is also about ensuring that the world perceives Ukraine's criminal justice system as fair and just».

The Executive Director of the IBA directly linked Ukraine's ensuring fairness in such processes to further international support. «Ukraine is extremely interested in demonstrating that its trials are fair, - he said. - This will become part of the Ukrainian heritage. The absence of fair trials will undermine the rule of law and jeopardize the international community's support for Ukraine».

«The message should be this: «Without justice in these lawsuits, we are no better than Russia», - M. Ellis summarized.

In addition, during the meeting, the areas of cooperation between the UNBA and the IBA were assessed. Vadym Krasnyk, Chairman of the UNBA Secretariat, expressed his gratitude for the systematic support provided by the IBA to the Ukrainian Bar. Among the successfully implemented projects he mentioned:

• technical provision of uninterruptible power supply to the points of inviolability on the basis of the bar self-government bodies
• digitization of archives stored in the Bar Councils and regional CDCs (purchase of copying and scanning equipment)
• assistance of the international community to Ukrainian lawyers through the work of the Board of Trustees.

Hanna Lazarchuk, representative of the Rivne region in the Ukrainian Bar Council, spoke about the rules of the Board of Trustees, the principles of its distribution of funds, and the total amount of income and expenses. She assured the IBA head of full transparency of the body's activities and systematic reporting to donors.

For his part, M. Ellis assured of the IBA's further support of the UNBA's initiatives to provide assistance to lawyers who suffered during the war.

The Executive Director of the IBA visits the UNBA for the fourth time. The first three visits were in August 2022, February and August 2023.