Exemption from payment of fees in 2025: what advocates should know

The Bar Council of the region and the Ukrainian National Bar Association may, upon the applications of advocates submitted by December 31, decide to exempt, reduce, or defer the payment of the annual fee for the implementation of the bar self-government.

The issue is regulated by the Regulation on Contributions to the Bar Self-Government, approved by the BCU Decision No. 4 of February 3, 2017.

The conditions for dismissal are financial insolvency of the advocate, his or her financial condition, as well as other factual circumstances.

The following persons are entitled to benefits:

• persons with disabilities of groups I and II;
• persons with disabilities as a result of war, participants in hostilities (including persons who participated in hostilities in the territories of other states)
• persons who took part in the liquidation of the consequences of the Chernobyl NPP accident of categories I and II;
• persons who are forced to leave or abandon their place of residence as a result of or in order to avoid the negative consequences of armed conflict, temporary occupation and have acquired the appropriate status.

Original applications of advocates (applications signed with the help of an electronic digital signature) for exemption, reduction or deferral of the annual fee for the bar self-government will be considered by the bar councils of the region, the Bar Council of Ukraine/National Bar Association of Ukraine until January 31, 2025.

The decision is made if the bar self-government body has the financial capacity, if the provision of such benefits does not create obstacles to its normal activities, and if there are supporting documents of the applicant's relevant status and financial situation.

In 2025, the annual contribution to the bar self-government will continue to be one subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons (UAH 3,028, according to the Law on the State Budget). At the same time, its distribution will change. The payment of the fee is a professional obligation of an attorney. This obligation must be fulfilled by January 31, 2025 by transferring funds in two payments to the bank accounts of the bar self-government bodies. The new distribution will take into account the number of advocates in the regional bar councils as a criterion.

The regional bar council may grant the advocate an installment plan for the payment of the annual fee, provided that it is paid in equal installments in the first decade of each quarter of the current year. The decision on granting an installment plan for the payment of the annual fee shall be made by the regional bar council provided that the advocate is reasonably and documentedly unable to pay the annual fee in one payment.