What prompted the newly elected President and Vice-President of the Ukrainian Bar Association (UBA) to run for these positions during a full-scale war? What are the primary challenges and tasks facing the new UBA’s team? What changes await the Association in the next two years? Can the Code of Ethics for Legal Business unite the legal market? These and other questions were answered by Mykola Stetsenko and Tetiana Lysovets, the UBA President and Vice-President, in an interview with "Yurydychna Gazeta", one of the first interviews in their new positions.

As Mykola Stetsenko said, one of the main motivations for his decision to run for the post of President was the desire to help not only the UBA members, but also the entire Ukrainian society.

"The task of the legal profession in our country is particularly important today — the protection of human rights and active participation in the reconstruction of the country. The UBA, as a leading legal association, has a significant responsibility for promoting the creation of equal conditions for the development of society and the protection of human rights," the President noted.

Mr. Stetsenko admitted that the position of the UBA President requires serious efforts, energy and time. "However, we have prepared well for this challenge with our team and have confidence in our abilities and capacity to implement the necessary changes in the UBA and in the Ukrainian legal environment," he added.

For her part, Tetiana Lysovets emphasized that the UBA Legal Assembly supported the desire of the new leadership of the Association to work for the benefit of the legal community.

"This support is very important to us — the community inspires and gives wings. For more than ten years, my life has been connected with the UBA, six of which I have headed the Association’s Committee on Tax and Customs Law. To some extent, the UBA has become a real family for me. And, as you know, one does not betray one's family," the Vice-President emphasized.

According to Mykola Stetsenko, the primary tasks for the new UBA’s leadership are to intensify the work of the Association's committees and regional branches, to ensure the popularization of the Code of Ethics for Legal Business, the full launch of the new Committee on Military Law, Military Justice and the Protection of Veterans' Rights, and active work on grants in the field of protection of human rights.

Tetiana Lysovets also emphasized the need to hold elections of chairmen and members of councils of the UBA’s regional branches and committees.

"It is necessary to activate the work of a part of the structural units that are in the "sleeping mode" as quickly as possible. It is clear that in these difficult times, activity in the regions has decreased, so we will restore and renew old ties and look for "new legal blood and ideas," she said.

Mykola Stetsenko additionally emphasized the continuation of the UBA's cooperation with international institutions and foreign experts regarding the support of Ukraine, calling it one of the key priorities of the tenure of the newly elected leadership of the Association.

"We strive to strengthen our ties with international partners and organizations, in particular to mutually exchange experience, best practices, as well as develop joint projects to improve the level of legal culture in Ukraine. Among the potential directions of cooperation are the implementation of joint projects in the field of legal protection and legal education, participation in international conferences and seminars, exchange of experience with international experts, which will help ensure the professional level of the UBA's activities," the President said.

The Code of Ethics for Legal Business, approved at the meeting of the UBA’s Legal Assembly on August 2, 2023, can play an important role in unifying the legal market, Mykola Stetsenko believes.

"The Code of Ethics was created to establish common standards of conduct for lawyers, regardless of their field of activity or location. It regulates the basic principles of professional ethics, obligations and responsibilities of lawyers to clients, the court and the public," he emphasized.

According to the UBA President, thanks to the Code, lawyers will receive a general set of rules that will contribute to increasing their professional responsibility and maintaining high standards of professional behavior.

As for the monitoring of compliance by lawyers with the Code of Ethics, according to Tetiana Lysovets, the best control option is the creation of a self-regulating system.

"The legal market, in the process of interaction at the levels of “colleague-to-colleague”, “lawyer-to-client”, must gradually develop the conditions for conducting legal business by all players in accordance with ethical rules. The UBA only provides subjects with guidelines for virtuous behavior," the Vice-President noted.

The full version of the interview with Mykola Stetsenko and Tetiana Lysovets (in Ukrainian) is available at this link.