Before reforming bar, professional assessment of compliance of current legislation with European standards should be conducted – UNBA

The Ukrainian National Bar Association (UNBA) believes that the approval of the roadmap for reforming the bar without the participation of the UNBA is a violation of the state's international obligations.

Lidiia Izovitova, the head of the Ukrainian National Bar Association, the Bar Council of Ukraine (BCU), stated this during the Reform of the Bar round table, organized by the EU project "Pravo-Justice", the Ukrainian News agency reports.

According to her, the recently approved roadmap for accession to the EU in terms of reforming the bar appeals to non-existent European standards and was adopted in violation of international principles. She believes that before talking about changes, it is necessary to compare the current model of the bar institute with the standards of the Council of Europe, which were embodied in the Convention for the Protection of the Profession of Lawyer.

On behalf of the Bar Council of Ukraine, Izovitova stated that the approval of the roadmap took place without prior consultations with the Ukrainian National Bar Association. But in accordance with the Recommendations of the Council of Europe of October 25, 2000 and the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers of December 14, 1990, any legislation regulating the activities of lawyers cannot be adopted without prior notification and consultations with the professional organization of lawyers. And this is precisely the international principle that was violated with the approval of the roadmap on May 14, the head of the UNBA argues.

"So the approval of the roadmap on May 14 on the recognition of the bar is a failure by the state to comply with international obligations in the field of independence of the professional reform of lawyers. Therefore, analyzing the facts - references to non-existent standards, ignoring genuine documents, violation of the procedure, attempts to successfully reform the European functional system - a reasonable suspicion emerges that the authors of the reform have a hidden goal of preventing Ukraine from joining the EU,” the association notes.

The UNBA reported that on May 14, 2025, the Cabinet of Ministers' Order No. 475-r approved roadmaps for cluster 1 "Fundamentals of the EU accession process." The document, in particular, provides for legislation on the bar by harmonizing it with "European standards" and best practices.

Izovitova raised the question before the participants of the event of what standards the authors of the next reform had in mind, as at the moment of preparing a roadmap, there were no formalized European standards in the field of the bar. "French, German, English, Scandinavian models of the bar - they all differ significantly from each other. And each of them is a standard in our country," the round table said.

According to Izovitova, before talking about the reform, it should be clearly indicated which standards the initiators of the changes refer to and in which documents they are enshrined.

At the same time, the roadmap suggests problems that have already been actually resolved, for example, the admission of foreign lawyers. Therefore, according to the UNBA, it seems that the authors of the next reform are not familiar with the current law.

The UNBA Chairman noted that the current Law of Ukraine "On the Bar and Advocacy" was adopted in 2012 precisely to fulfill obligations to the Council of Europe. And its compliance with standards was confirmed in the Joint Opinion of the Venice Commission, which recognized it as meeting "European constitutional standards". And in May of this year, the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) recognized the Ukrainian rules of lawyers' ethics as the best in Europe.

The Association also recalled that on the day the roadmap was approved, the countries signed the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of the Profession of Lawyer, which became the first international treaty in the world to establish formalized European standards of advocacy. Deputy Chairman of the UNBA, BCU Valentyn Hvozdii was the vice-president of the commission that developed this Convention.

Izovitova called not to ignore new legal realities and emphasized that before reforming the Ukrainian bar, it is necessary to conduct a professional assessment of the compliance of the current legislation with the European standards enshrined in the Convention. And only after that — if necessary — to talk about changes. According to her, the bar is ready for a constructive dialogue, but on the basis of real, not fictional, international European standards.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, the head of the UNBA previously stated that draft laws on the establishment of military courts must guarantee their independence and comply with European standards.

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