Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer

Research Articles

Vol. 1 No. 1 (2025): Issue 1/2025

The Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of the Profession of Lawyer: Expectations and Prospects

Published
October 9, 2025

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Background: By joining the Council of Europe, Ukraine undertook to ensure that the status of the legal profession would be protected by law. The Constitution of Ukraine declares that the independence of the legal profession is guaranteed, since the independent professional activity of lawyers requires not only the conscious and volitional nature of the performance of professional duties by lawyers, but must be ensured by guarantees from the state. In conditions of war and mobilization in Ukraine, the situation in the field of violations of the guarantees of legal activity has worsened: systematic interference in professional activity, violence against lawyers, illegal deprivation of liberty, seizure of things and documents containing legal secrets have been noted. However, the permanently difficult situation in the field of security of legal activity is observed not only in Ukraine. Violations of the professional rights of lawyers are also noted in the countries of the European Union, which prompted the EU to introduce more effective mechanisms capable of obliging states to protect the legal profession. March 12, 2025 The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of the Profession of Lawyer, which was signed by 17 countries on 13-14 May 2025.

The article presents the analysis of the Convention, defining the features of its scope and ensuring its implementation. The need for Ukraine's accession to the Convention is substantiated. The author's analysis was based on the statistical indicators of violations of lawyers' rights in Ukraine, decisions of the Council of Lawyers of Ukraine and the Odesa Regional Bar Council.

Methods: The authors used a chronological method, synthesis and a method of information analysis. Actual statistical and empirical data are used for proper argumentation of the conclusions.

Results and Conclusions: A conclusion was made about the new approach, in which the modern dimension of the protection of the lawyer's profession is carried out not only by protecting the rights of lawyers, but also by other subjects. The mandatory nature of the provisions of the Convention and the monitoring mechanism introduced by it make it a unique tool that ensures the implementation of the tasks of the bar. For Ukraine, in difficult times of war and in light of the hope for post-war recovery, the Convention sends a powerful signal of the European community's attention to the fundamental values ​​that lawyers uphold and protect.

References

  1. 1. Bakaianova N, ‘On the Problem of Identifying a Lawyer with a Client in Conditions of Martial Law’ (European Guidelines for the Development of Ukraine in Conditions of War and Global Challenges of the 21st Century: Synergy of Scientific, Educational and Technological Solutions: International Scientific and Practical Conference, Odesa, 19 May 2023) vol 2, 121.
  2. 2. Demyanenko B, ‘Convention’, Political Encyclopedia (2011) 348.
  3. 3. Dzhaburia O, ‘The Bar of Odessa Region under Martial Law in 2024 Indicators’ (The Bar: Past, Present and Future: XIV International Scientific and Practical Conference, Odesa, 8 November 2024) 38.
  4. 4. Khotynska-Nor O and Bakaianova N, ‘Transformation of Bar in Wartime in Ukraine: on the Way to Sustainable Development of Justice (On the Example of the Odesa Region)’ (2022) 5(3) Access to Justice in Eastern Europe 146. doi:10.33327/AJEE-18-5.2-n000322 DOI: https://doi.org/10.33327/AJEE-18-5.2-n000322
  5. 5. Stefanchuk M, ‘Trends in the Development of the Functions of the Bar in Ukraine’ (2022) 69 Uzhhorod National University Herald, Series Law 429. doi:10.24144/2307-3322.2021.69.71 DOI: https://doi.org/10.24144/2307-3322.2021.69.71

Similar Articles

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.