Electronic warrant proposed to be enshrined in law

The warrant can be generated in the Personal Account of the Advocate on the official website of the Ukrainian National Bar Association and signed by applying the advocate's electronic digital signature.

The corresponding amendment to Article 26 of the Law «On the Bar and Practice of Law» is proposed in the draft law No. 12116 of 10/14/2024, the text of which appeared on the website of the Verkhovna Rada.

According to the current law, a warrant is a written document that, in cases established by law, certifies the authority of a lawyer to provide legal aid. The warrant is issued by an advocate, law firm or law office and must contain the signature of the advocate. The Bar Council of Ukraine approves the standard form of the order.

The Regulation on the order for the provision of legal aid was approved by the decision of the Bar Council of Ukraine dated 12.04.2019 No. 41. It establishes uniform rules for all advocates of Ukraine, law firms/law offices for the production, execution, storage, and accounting of warrants.

The authors of the legislative initiative complain that neither the law nor the Regulations specify the concept of an attorney's «signature», i.e. whether the warrant can be certified with an electronic signature or only with a handwritten signature, in their practice, courts abuse this legal gap and, in the absence of an advocate's handwritten signature on an electronically generated warrant signed with an electronic signature, indicate that it does not contain the mandatory details specified by the Regulations and close the proceedings on this basis.

«In fact, the issue of issuing a warrant in electronic form was settled by the Bar Council of Ukraine in June of this year, when the Regulations were amended accordingly, - said Valentyn Gvozdiy Vice president of the UNBA, BCU. - As of today, the warrant is considered signed in three cases: if its column «Advocate» contains either a handwritten (physical) signature; if the warrant is certified by an electronic signature; when an electronic signature certifies a document to which the warrant is an attachment».

The current version of the Regulation stipulates that an order is a written document in paper or electronic form. Forms of warrants, in accordance with the approved standard form, are generated in the relevant section of the «Personal Account of the Advocate» on the UNBA's official website following the system commands.

The order issued by the advocate, who carries out his or her activities individually, shall be signed by the advocate (in person or by electronic signature) and certified by the seal of the advocate (if any).

The order issued by a law firm or law office must contain the signature of the advocate (in writing or electronically) who provides legal aid on the basis of this order, and the signature (in writing or electronically) of the head of the law firm or law office and be sealed with the seal of the legal entity (if any).

The Regulation also specifies the mandatory details of the warrant (clause 12), including:

- the signature of the attorney (handwritten or electronic) who issued the warrant, if he or she is an individual practitioner (in the column «Advocate»);

- signature of the attorney (handwritten or electronic) who provides legal aid, if the warrant was issued by a law firm or law office (in the column «Advocate»);

- signature (handwritten or electronic) of the head of the law firm/attorneys' office, seal of the law firm/attorneys' office (if any) if the warrant is issued by the law firm/attorneys' office.

The relevant amendments to the Regulation were made by the decision of the BCU No. 36 dated 08.06.2024.