Ukraine's accession to the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of the Profession of Lawyer: Prospects and Challenges

Abstract

This article examines the issue of Ukraine’s accession to the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of the Profession of Lawyer as a new intentional legal instrument aimed at strengthening guarantees for the legal profession and ensuring the rule of law. The relevance of the topic stems from the need to improve national mechanisms for the protection of lawyers, particularly in the context of martial law and the ongoing reform of Ukraine’s legal system.

The purpose of the study is to analyze the provisions of the Convention, compare them with the provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On the Bar and Legal Practice,” and identify the prospects and challenges of its ratification and implementation into national legislation. The study employs comparative legal, systemic, and formal legal methods of scientific inquiry.

It has been established that the Convention establishes modern standards for ensuring the independence of the legal profession, in particular regarding the confidentiality of communications between a lawyer and a client, protection against the identification of a lawyer with a client or their case, the expansion of lawyers’ professional rights, and the introduction of an international mechanism for monitoring compliance with its provisions. At the same time, certain shortcomings of the instrument have been identified, in particular the absence of an effective judicial mechanism for the protection of rights, insufficiently detailed guarantees, and the limited enforceability of decisions of the monitoring body.

It is argued that Ukraine’s ratification of the Convention will be of significant importance for European integration and human rights protection, and will contribute to strengthening guarantees for the legal profession, enhancing its security, and improving national legislation. The need for a comprehensive approach to implementing its provisions as part of the overall reform of the legal profession in Ukraine is emphasized.