Mykola Stetsenko, President of the Ukrainian Bar Association, participated in the presentation of the Ukrainian edition of British judge Tom Bingham's book "The Rule of Law" on June 14 in Kyiv. The event was supported by the USAID Justice for All Program.

Tom Bingham's "The Rule of Law" is one of the key publications in the field of law. The event was dedicated to the presentation and dissemination of this book in Ukrainian, aiming to raise awareness about the concept of the rule of law, its development, and establishment among Ukrainian legal professionals — judges, lawyers, prosecutors, legislators, public officials, academics, and students.

In his speech, Mykola Stetsenko expressed the view that the rule of law is inherent in Ukrainian society.

"If you look at the development of Ukraine's history, in the brief periods of a free Ukraine, you can see that the drive for the rule of law has always been part of our ethnicity, our culture. This includes electability, collective decision-making through assemblies, and the fight for freedom of thought, belief, movement, etc.," noted the UBA President, adding that this drive of Ukrainians for the rule of law has persisted despite the efforts of various empires.

"This drive for the rule of law fundamentally distinguishes us from Russians — in values, ideals, and thinking. Today, people in Ukraine have this drive but often do not fully understand the complexity of this concept... In my opinion, Ukrainians as a society have not yet completed the path to fully understanding the rule of law as depicted in Tom Bingham's book," emphasized Mr. Stetsenko.

The event also featured participants (in person or online) such as:

• moderator: Serhiy Holovaty, Judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine (2018-2024), Acting Chair of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine (December 29, 2020 — May 29, 2024);
• Sir Jeffrey Jowell, lawyer, inaugural Director of the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law (2010-2015);
• Murray Hunt, former Director of the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law, British Institute of International and Comparative Law;
• Jan van Zyl Smit, Director of the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law, British Institute of International and Comparative Law;
• Daniel Bilak, Partner at Kinstellar;
• Oleh Pervomaiskyi, Judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine;
• Volodymyr Kravchuk, Judge of the Supreme Court of Ukraine;
• Olena Boryslavska, Professor of Constitutional Law at Ivan Franko National University of Lviv;
• Tetyana Fuley, Head of Research Department on Judicial Problems and Methodological Support for Judicial Education at the National School of Judges of Ukraine, PhD in Law.