Within the Ukrainian Bar Association, the Action Group on the Protection of the Rights of Lawyers was formed, which emerged as a reaction of the legal community to mass violations of the professional rights of lawyers and invasion of their personal freedom and integrity.
Among the founders of the action group:
- Ukrainian Bar Association;
- Association of Advocates of Ukraine;
- Coordination Center for the Provision of Free Legal Aid;
- Bar Council of Kyiv
The mission of the action group is to create effective mechanisms for the protection of professional rights and guarantees of the legal profession, prevent their violation and create mechanisms for preventing the identification of the lawyer with the client.
The initiative group focuses on three main tasks:
1. Maintaining a public register of violations of the rights of a lawyer with maximum disclosure of revealed facts;
2. Development of amendments to the current legislation that would equalize the procedural status of a lawyer and a representative of the law-enforcement system;
3. Conducting direct actions, press conferences on the facts of detecting violations of the rights of a lawyer, etc.
Note! If your professional rights and guarantees were violated, please let us know by submitting an Appeal to the Action Group on the violation of the professional rights, guarantees or invasion to your safety.
The Action Group already consists of:
- Olga Prosyanyuk, Group Coordinator, Managing Partner at AVER LEX;
- Denys Bugay, President of the Ukrainian Bar Association (2015-2017), partner at VB PARTNERS;
- Oleg Rachuk, President of the Association of Advocates of Ukraine, Managing Partner of Natsyna Rachuk;
- Zoya Yarosh, Vice-President of the Association of Advocates of Ukraine, Managing Partner at Marshaller & Partners;
- Oksana Tsimbrivska, national expert of the EU Project "Support to the Reforms in the Field of Justice in Ukraine";
- Andriy Vyshnevsky, Board Member of the Ukrainian Bar Association, Manager of the "Tomorrow’s Lawyer" Program;
- Vitaliy Serdyuk, coordinator of the section of lawyers of the UBA, partner at AVER LEX;
- Illya Kostin, a member of the Bar Council of Kyiv region, partner at Legal Alliance;
- Olena Kostyuchenko, AAU Board Member, Partner, Head of Criminal Law Practice at Dmitriyeva & Partners;
- Tatiana Koren, lawyer;
- Volodymyr Klochkov, member of the Bar Council of Kyiv, managing partner at Klochkov & Partners;
- Igor Cherezov, Managing Partner at Cherezov & Partners;
- Andriy Tsygankov, Chairman of the UNBA Committee on Advocacy Ethics.
The group is open for anyone willing to contribute to the implementation of its goals and objectives.
The decision to launch the Action Group was the result of a discussion at the round table entitled "Violation of the rights and guarantees of legal profession and invasion to the security of lawyers as a threat to justice".
For more detailed information about the Action Group, please contact the UBA Secretariat by phone: 0 (44) 492-88-48, e-mail: gr@uba.ua. Contact person: Olga Lopushanska, UBA GR-coordinator.
COMMENT
"The legal community is more than ever concerned about the increase in cases of violations of the rights of lawyers, and most of all - the widespread threats towards security, property and integrity of lawyers. Therefore, with the aim of creating effective means of self-defense in the event of violation of the rights of lawyers and guarantees of the legal profession, the Action Group on the Protection of the Rights of Lawyerswas established, aimed at ensuring the safe conduct of lawyers' professional activities".
Olga Prosenuyk