UNBA Committee for the protection of advocates' rights responds to accusations regarding the case of «hacker lawyers»

Dzerkalo Tyzhnia's publications about «hacker lawyers» contain false information, distortions and manipulations that undermine the authority of the Bar. They are a form of unlawful pressure on the UNBA and may be an element of a paid-for campaign.

The Committee for the protection of advocates' rights and guarantees of advocacy of the Ukrainian National Bar Association issued a statement condemning such methods of media work and appealed to the media and other resources to immediately stop spreading false information.

Here is the full text of the document:

Regarding the publications of Dzerkalo Tyzhnia

about «hacker lawyers»

On April 22 - 23, 2025, the Dzerkalo Tyzhnia published a number of publications about the criminal proceedings and the announcement of suspicion by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine to lawyers accused of unlawful interference with the Unified State Register of Court Decisions, namely:

• article by the editor of the internal policy department of ZN. ua internal policy department editor Iryna Vedernikova «The Case of Hacker Lawyers: How NABU Detected Parasites»
• news «Borzykh's group engaged a hacker to access the court register, against whom they had been fighting a case as military prosecutors, - sources»
• news «Borzykh's case points to a deep crisis of the Ukrainian Bar. The President's Office is only benefiting from it»
• news «The Bar Association headed by Izovitova has become a corporate shield in the Borzykh case»

The Committee for the protection of advocates' rights and guarantees of advocacy of the Ukrainian National Bar Association states that these publications contain false and distorted (and therefore manipulative) information about the role of the UNBA in the protection of advocates. The dissemination of such materials damages the reputation and undermines the authority of the Bar in the eyes of the public. In addition, the very fact of publishing the article and its systematic promotion by individual news outlets contains signs of unlawful pressure on the constitutional institution.

The UNBA does not interfere in criminal proceedings, does not assess the progress of crime investigations and does not defend criminals, as it is presented today by the Dzerkalo Tyzhnia.

The main task of the UNBA, according to the Law «On the Bar and Practice of Law», is to implement the tasks of the bar self-government, one of which is to ensure the independence of lawyers and protection against interference in the practice of law. After all, the professional rights, honor and dignity of advocates are guaranteed and protected by the Constitution and laws. The relevant law (Art. 23) provides a list of guarantees of the practice of law, including a special procedure for conducting operational and investigative measures and investigative actions, notification of suspicion, disciplinary proceedings, etc.

Thus, the UNBA, through its bodies (in particular, committees), in accordance with the law, protects the professional rights of advocates and ensures compliance with the guarantees of the practice of law, regardless of their personalities.

It is within the framework of fulfilling this task assigned to the UNBA by law that in 2024 the Committee for the protection of advocates' rights and guarantees of advocacy prepared a statement to the Prosecutor General's Office and the State Bureau of Investigation regarding the facts of illegal wiretapping of the lawyers' office, conducting a search there and its subsequent legalization. The court agreed with the arguments presented and ordered law enforcement officers to open criminal proceedings.

Having examined the content of the publications and the circumstances of their placement on the website of the Dzerkalo Tyzhnia publication, the UNBA Committee on protection of advocates' rights and guarantees of advocacy believes that in this case there is probably a paid media attack on the institution of the Bar. Its goals may be to shape public opinion in a particular criminal case in the interests of law enforcement agencies, in particular, the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine.

The UNBA Committee condemns such methods of pressure, therefore:

• appeals to the media and other resources to immediately stop disseminating false information;
• appeals to the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, the Dzerkalo Tyzhnia publication with a request to provide public information on the existence of commercial contractual relations and the availability of documents on the relevant financial settlements.

The Committee is also considering the possibility of filing a complaint about the commission of a crime by a group of persons involved in discrediting the bar.

Chairman of the Committee on protection of advocates' rights

and guarantees of advocacy

of the Ukrainian National Bar Association                                                                                                  E.Solodko

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