The Council of Europe supports the development of UNBA
The Council of Europe Office in Ukraine will provide all possible support for the development of the Ukrainian National Bar Association and its initiatives for the benefit of Ukrainian society.
This was stated by the Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine Maciej Janczak during a working meeting with the leadership of the Ukrainian National Bar Association, held in Kyiv on July 16.
The Ukrainian side was represented by Lidiya Izovitova, the President of the UNBA, BCU, her Deputy Valentyn Gvozdiy, and Vadym Krasnyk, Head of the UNBA Secretariat.
The topic of discussion was the challenges of war in the context of UNBA 's activities and possible ways of cooperation to strengthen the implementation of Council of Europe standards. As a reminder, on December 14, 2022, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine «Resilience, Recovery and Rebuilding» 2023-2026.
Among the measures aimed at ensuring the support of the justice system in accordance with European human rights standards, paragraph 2.1 of the Plan provides for the provision of strategic and legal advice to public authorities, as well as to the bar and the system of free legal aid. In addition, it is planned to strengthen the professional capacity of lawyers, improve the quality of legal education and support the development of the Ukrainian National Bar Association, other legal associations and FLAs, as well as the free legal aid system.
As a result of the meeting, it was agreed to hold an operational meeting with the Council of Europe project managers to identify further concrete actions to support the UNBA.
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