Experts: Reform of the Bar should be conducted with participation of barristers

New amendments to the law of Ukraine on the Bar and legal profession limit the independence of barristers and weaken the role of barristers’ self-administration.

This was announced by Valentyn Hvozdiy, the Deputy Chairman of the Ukrainian Bar Association, the Human Rights Information Centre correspondent reports.

Hvozdiy made an appropriate statement on the eve of adoption by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the constitutional amendments related to judiciary and the new version of the law on judicial system and status of judges.

He noted that the Ukrainian Bar Association drafted its own amendments to the law of Ukraine on the Bar and legal profession and submitted them to the Justice Ministry of Ukraine. According to Hvozdiy, only 80% of the changes were taken into account.

“However, the final and transitional provisions finished contained a bunch of other things, which actually denied all the good in the bill and limited our independence,” the Deputy Chairman of the Ukrainian Bar Association said.

Now the Ukrainian Bar Association requires broad involvement of the Bar in drafting the bill to avoid weakening the role of barristers’ self-administration as the guarantor of the independence of barristers, as well as regulating access to the profession exclusively by the Bar, not the governmental officials.

The barristers of the Ukrainian Bar Association highlight that the reform of the legal profession should be carried out with participation of the Bar itself.