Advocacy is allowed to be combined with lobbying – BCU

A person who has a certificate of the right to practice law may, subject to the relevant procedures, simultaneously be a subject of lobbying.

This was discussed at a meeting of the Bar Council of Ukraine, which is taking place on June 7-8 in Zakarpattia.

Earlier, a lawyer asked the bar self-government body to provide answers to two questions:

• whether a person who has a certificate of the right to practice law outside the scope of his or her practice of law has the right to provide lobbying services and be included in the Transparency Register;
• whether the advocate needs to suspend the certificate in order to be able to provide lobbying services.

Hanna Lazarchuk, a member of the BCU from Rivne region, pointed out that advocacy and lobbying do not overlap. This follows both from the provisions of the Law «On the Bar and Practice of Law» and the provisions of the Law «On Lobbying».

Law No. 3606-IX dated 23.02.2024 adjusted the meaning of the term «other types of legal aid» in clause 6 of Article 1 of the Law «On the Bar and Practice of Law», namely: lobbying carried out in accordance with the Law «On Lobbying» does not belong to other types of legal aid.

At the same time, lobbying is not listed among the types of activities incompatible with the practice of law (Article 7 of the Law on the Bar and Practice of Law). And an advocate must submit an application to the regional bar council to suspend the practice of law only in case of incompatibility.

The National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption recently expressed a similar opinion that lawyers have the opportunity to acquire the status of a lobbying entity in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Lobbying. At the same time, they can engage in lobbying outside the scope of their legal practice.