On November 25, 2022, the International Bar Association (IBA), the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, and the Coordination Center for Legal Aid Provision signed a tripartite Memorandum on Cooperation to support the system of free legal aid (FLA) in ensuring the right to defense in war crimes.

The signing ceremony took place online. The event was attended by the UBA President Anna Ogrenchuk, the IBA Executive Director Mark Ellis, Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine for European Integration Valeria Kolomiets, acting Director of the Coordination Center for Legal Aid Provision Oleksandr Baranov.

During the event, Anna Ogrenchuk noted: "With the beginning of the full-scale war in Ukraine, the national justice system faced the need to quickly and efficiently consider a large number of cases related to the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine. However, the knowledge and skills of conducting cases regarding serious international crimes (atrocities) are mainly possessed by the courts, law enforcement agencies, and lawyers from those regions that were directly affected by the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and the occupation of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in 2014. When all regions of Ukraine are the subject of aggression by the Russian Federation, it is necessary to strengthen the capacity of participants in court proceedings throughout the country to consider cases related to war crimes and crimes against humanity. The defense side is no exception. Therefore, the signing of the memorandum today is an important event, which is welcomed by the Ukrainian Bar Association. For our part, we are ready to join the related work and provide open and accessible training for all legal professions on the UBA platform."

Valeria Kolomiets and Oleksandr Baranov thanked the UBA and the IBA for their support and emphasized that currently lawyers and attorneys at law who cooperate with the Coordination Center for legal aid provision especially need to improve their skills and deepen their knowledge in the field of international, including humanitarian, law. And this is a challenge for all lawyers. "The most important thing we have today is the people whose rights and interests we have to protect, and for this, the state and the professional legal community must be united," Valeria Kolomiets added.

Mark Ellis noted: "Since the beginning of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, the International Bar Association has publicly spoken about the violation of the norms of international law. Ukraine has the right to bring all guilty persons to justice, but it also has the duty to ensure a fair trial for all defendants. Therefore, cooperation with national authorities is very important for us. At the end of the war, the international community will assess whether Ukrainian courts ensured the right to a fair trial, including the right to defense."

Mark assured that the IBA will continue to be a reliable partner of Ukraine.