The Ukrainian Bar Association invites you to the 13^th Judicial Forum – one of the most significant and influential legal events of the year, aimed at addressing key issues facing Ukraine's judicial system, with a special focus on challenges arising from the ongoing war.

Speakers and guests will include representatives from the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, the Supreme Court and other levels of the judiciary, members of parliament, prosecutors, leading lawyers and legal practitioners, international experts, diplomats, legal scholars from universities and research institutes, representatives of civil society and human rights organizations, heads of legal departments of businesses, financial institutions, media experts, and journalists.

Time and venue: 

December 5, 2024 - online (Zoom).

December 6, 2024 - Hyatt Regency Kyiv (separate entrance on the right side of the main entrance), 2nd floor, 5 Alla Tarasova St., Kyiv / online (Zoom).

The event is supported by the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the USAID Justice for All Activity.

December 5, 2024
online (Zoom)

PROGRAM

11:00 - 14:00 Round table “The role of civil society in judicial reform”

11:00 - 11:10 Opening remarks

Mykola Stetsenko, President of the Ukrainian Bar Association, Managing Partner at AVELLUM

Brian LeDuc, Deputy Chief of Party at USAID Justice for All Activity

11:10 - 12:30 Panel 1: General tasks and challenges faced by CSOs in judicial reform in Ukraine

Moderator: 

Sergiy Gryshko, Head of the Queritius Kyiv office, Chairman of the UBA Committee on Procedural Law

Focus areas:

1. What were the main challenges faced by civil society in the judicial reform process?
2. What are the difficulties in coordinating civil society organizations with each other and with the state, and how does this affect the reform process?
3. How to overcome the low involvement of activists in public councils?
4. Conflicts of interest and integrity of CSOs: is there a problem?
5. Under what conditions will the need for public councils disappear? Is it possible to transfer the functions of the PIC to the renewed HQCJ in the future?

12:30 - 12:40 Technical break

12:40 - 14:00 Panel 2: Urgent problems of the role of civil society in reforms

Moderator:

Karyna Aslanian, Judicial reform expert at the Agency for Legislative Initiatives

Focus areas:

1. Problematic issues of formation and access to judicial dossiers
2. Criteria of integrity and professional ethics: is unification necessary for different competition procedures?
3. Overcoming the staff shortage and attracting professional and honest judges: how to achieve a balance
4. Increasing the motivation of lawyers to participate in competitions: what should be the effective approaches and strategies
5. The role of civil society in the reform of the Bar in Ukraine

Participants:

1. Ilona Boliubash, GIZ Ukraine lawyer 
2. Kateryna Butko, Head of the All-Ukrainian Union “Automaidan”, Head of the Public Council at the NACP
3. Dmytro Gudyma, Judge of the Supreme Court in the Civil Court of Cassation
4. Oleksandra Egert, Operations Director of the Agency for Legislative Initiatives
5. Denys Zboroshenko, Justice expert of the IDLO 
6. Veronika Kreidenkova, member of the Public Integrity Council, advocacy manager of the DEJURE Foundation
7. Roman Maselko, Member of the High Council of Justice
8. Ivan Mishchenko, Head of the Competition Commission for the Selection of Candidates to the HQCJ, Supreme Court Judge in the Commercial Court of Cassation
9. Olha Nikolaieva, Legal and judicial advisor at USAID Justice for All Activity
10. Daria Pysarenko, Director of the Tomorrow’s Lawyer Program
11. Roman Sabodash, Member of the HQCJ
12. Andriy Savchuk, Partner at MORIS
13. Oleksandr Sydelnikov, Legal advisor at USAID Justice for All Activity
14. Margarita Sytnyk, Сo-founder of the Golka civic initiative, head of international cooperation projects
15. Andriy Sotnyk, Expert of the Anti-Corruption Action Center         
16. Iryna Ursu, Legal advisor at USAID Justice for All Activity
17. Iryna Fedoriv, Co-founder and leader of the Golka civic initiative
18. Oleg Yakymyak, Member of the Public Integrity Council, lawyer

December 6, 2024
Hyatt Regency Kyiv / online (Zoom)

PROGRAM

09:30 - 10:00 Participant registration. Welcome Coffee

10:00 - 10:10 Opening remarks

Mykola Stetsenko, President of the Ukrainian Bar Association, Managing Partner at AVELLUM

Amanda Fagerblom, Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Team Lead, Office of Democracy and Governance USAID/Ukraine

Iryna Kobets, Partner, Head of litigation practice at LCF Law Group

10:10 - 11:30 SESSION 1. Law enforcement under martial law: topical issues

Moderator:

Sergiy Gryshko, Head of the Queritius Kyiv office, Chairman of the UBA Committee on Procedural Law

Experts and topics:

Andrii Avtorgov, private enforcement officer, Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Association of Private Enforcement Officers of Ukraine 

• Enforcement of rulings concerning military personnel

Olena Volianska, Partner, Head of Insolvency and Restructuring Practice at LCF Law Group

• Recovery of damages from the Russian Federation in bankruptcy proceedings and the international compensation mechanism, prospects and problematic issues

Volodymyr Vashchenko, Co-founding Partner, Head of Dispute Resolution Practice at VB Partners

• Impact of sanctions policy on private law relations: How to avoid harming bona fide businesses?

Vasyl Krat, Judge of the Supreme Court in the Civil Court of Cassation

• Problems of applying requisition under martial law

11:30 - 12:00 Special interview “Strategy for the development of the justice system and constitutional justice: what will be the tactics of implementation?”

Co-moderators: 

Dmytro Gudyma, Judge of the Supreme Court in the Civil Court of Cassation

Julian Khorunzhiy, Senior Partner at Ario Law Firm

Interviewee: 

Viktor Dubovyk, Director General of the Legal Policy Directorate of the Office of the President of Ukraine

12:00 - 12:30 Coffee Break

12:30 - 14:00 SESSION 2. Judicial reform in Ukraine: a year after the European Commission’s recommendations

Moderator: 

Vadim Medvedev, Partner at AVELLUM’s Tax and Litigation practices

Focus areas:

• The most relevant milestones of the judicial system reform from the point of view of the Supreme Court
• Judicial reform roadmap
• The evolution of the integrity check of a judicial candidate: is fairness ensured in long-term competitive procedures?
• Formation of a disciplinary inspector service
• Staffing issues
• Competitive procedures

Experts:

Karyna Aslanian, Judicial reform expert at the Agency for Legislative Initiatives

Rasim Babanly, First Deputy Chief of Staff - Head of the Department of Analytical and Legal Work of the Supreme Court

Volodymyr Kravchuk, Supreme Court Judge at the Administrative Court of Cassation

Tetiana Ognevyuk, Chairman of the Board of the Legal Association “DOBROSUD”, Partner at AMBASSADORS, attorney at law

Andrii Pasichnyk, Сhairman of the Commission – Head of the First Chamber of the HQCJ

Hryhoriy Usyk, Сhairman of the High Council of Justice 

14:00 - 14:45 Coffee Break

14:45 - 16:05 SESSION 3. Judicial Process: adapting to modern challenges

Moderator:
Iryna Kobets, Partner, Head of litigation practice at LCF Law Group

Experts and topics:

Leonid Sapelnikov, Deputy Head of the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine for Digital Development, Digital Transformation and Digitalization

• Electronic court: development directions

Bohdan Kryklyvenko, Chief of Staff of the High Anti-Corruption Court

• e-Case Management System in criminal proceedings

Paavo Randma, Judge of the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Estonia

• Digitalization of the judicial process: international experience and opportunities for Ukraine

Svitlana Hlushchenko, Counsel at VB Partners

Oleksandr Syvokozov, Private Enforcement Officer of the executive district of Dnipropetrovs'k region

• Digitalization of enforcement proceedings

Olga Stupak, Judge of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court

• The practice of the Court of Justice and the application of EU Directives in the decisions of the Supreme Court 

Olena Fonova, judge-speaker of the Economic Court of Luhansk region, co-founder of the NGO MEC “Pro Justice”

• Figures and facts about remote hearings: analysis of the practice in Ukrainian litigation

16:05 - 16:30 Special report: Presentation of proposals by the UBA working group on amendments to Procedural Codes

Moderator:

Iryna Kobets, Partner, Head of litigation practice at LCF Law Group

Expert:

Sergiy Gryshko, Head of the Queritius Kyiv office, Chairman of the UBA Committee on Procedural Law

16:30 - 17:00 Coffee break

17:00 - 18:20 SESSION 4. The Bar and the Courts: problems of ethics and responsibility

Moderator:

Andriy Savchuk, Partner at MORIS

Focus areas:

• Reforming the legal profession: issues and prospects
• Judicial ethics: revised amendments to the Code of judicial ethics
• Accountability of judges and lawyers
• Corruption vs Ethics: a game without rules

Experts:

Olena Kibenko, Judge of the Supreme Court in the Commercial Court of Cassation

Roman Maselko, Member of the High Council of Justice

Andriy Misiats, Acting Head of the HQCIA

Daria Pysarenko, Director of the Tomorrow’s Lawyer Program

Denys Bugay, Co-Founding Partner, Head of White-Collar Crime Practice at VB Partners

Kseniia Prokhur, Counsel at Baker McKenzie  

Hanna Lazarchuk, member of the Bar Council of Ukraine from Rivne region 

18:20 - 20:00 Evening Reception. Networking

Grateful for invaluable support to our sponsors:

General Partner:

LCF Law Group

Official Partners:

AVELLUM

VB PARTNERS

Partners:

Ario Law Firm

MORIS

Queritius

Socially Responsible Partners:

Association of private executors of Ukraine

AMBASSADORS

Baker McKenzie 

Don’t miss this opportunity to collaboratively address critical aspects of justice and contribute to building a just society.

Registration is required .

Offline registration is closed due to the maximum number of participants.

UBA members, please log in before registering.

Judges participate for free. Other delegates are required to pay the registration fee to secure their participation.

For event details, speaker roles, and partnership opportunities, contact Tetiana Osaulenko at +38 (063) 792-30-99 (WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber) or email tosaulenko@uba.ua.

For media accreditation, contact Dmytro Cheretun at pr@uba.ua.