UKRAINE’S LEGAL EDUCATION AND THE ABSENCE OF PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS

There are many deficiencies in legal education in Ukraine. 300 different bodies award law degrees, and although a very few offer a high standard of legal education, in some places a law degree can be obtained by the payment of a sum of money. There is very little emphasis on the importance of creative thinking in legal education: a culture of questioning has not been developed in most law schools. There are of course opportunities for some students to go abroad, and most of the talented Ukrainian lawyers have had access to Western education, usually in US law schools.

If there is to be reform of the judiciary, there also needed to be reform of the way in which law is practised in Ukraine. As things now stand, a graduate who has spent five years studying law at university may practise law immediately without having to take any professional exams, and he or she does not join anything recognisable as a profession: There are judges, lawyers, advocates, in-house counsel, amateurs who practise law and in the middle there are some public officials and some notaries. There is no single regulatory body. There is a Ukrainian Bar Association which has 5,000 members (lawyers, in-house counsels, judges, scientists as well as people’s deputies, heads of government bodies and successful businessmen) and there is a code of professional conduct for advocates, but there is scepticism about the extent to which the code is enforced. Moreover, the UBA unites law faculty students as well.

A marked improvement would come about if lawyers became members of a profession, and enjoyed the status of professionals. Things would be improved if lawyers were bound by proper professional standards.

Weaknesses in the educational system for law students

A country cannot develop a cadre of fair, independent, impartial and competent judges unless its educational establishments are fit for the purpose of training the judiciary of the future. Whether or not law is taught “parrot fashion” in the law faculties in Ukraine, a lot of the current difficulties arise from deficiencies in the education the country’s future judges are receiving in Ukraine’s universities (and, perhaps, in its schools as well).

The absence of effective professional standards among Ukrainian lawyers

Unless Ukraine recognises the need to develop a legal profession which is proud of the professional standards by which its members are bound, there will be no hope of developing a judiciary of which the country can be proud.

Priorities of Ukrainian Bar Association for 2015-2017

1. Leadership.

To form a team of leaders in all regions and in all fields of legal practice.

• To involve lawyers with leadership potential constantly in activity of the organization;
• To ensure election of the most decent colleagues by the Chairman and members of the council committees, centers;
• To support initiatives and to create opportunities for personal realization of every active lawyer.

2. Impact on legal solutions of state.

Association has to influence on making key legal decisions in the state.

• To monitor and to respond to key legal issues and legislative initiatives;
• To take part actively in the personnel policy of the state;
• Committees and sections have to be centers of professional legal life;
• To ensure effective representation in public councils and other advisory bodies;

3. Lobbying interests and development of advocacy.

To achieve compliance of professional rights and to ensure the development of advocacy according to modern requirements.

• To achieve strengthened rights and professional guarantees in profile law through amendments;
• To ensure constant monitoring and responding to violations of professional rights and guarantees;
• To develop a strategy of development of Advocacy of Ukraine and to begin to implement it;
• Active participation in advocacy’s conduct. To promote election of members of the professional community to government.

4. Expanding of membership and geography.

To be a national community, which will unite 10,000 lawyers in the in the foreseeable future.

• Regional centers have to be centers of legal life of region;
• To ensure election of the most proactive and authoritative lawyers of region by the Chairman of centers;
• To ensure development of all sections, not just lawyers and legal practitioners sections;
• To ensure progressive activity in law community. To involve a large number of lawyers to activity of Association.

5. International cooperation.

Development of relations with key international legal organizations. Strengthening leadership status of Association in the former Soviet Union countries.

• Strengthening of partnership with the International Bar Association (IBA). Holding joint events;
• Establishing sustainable business relationship with associations of lawyers in England, Germany, United States of America;