DEFENSELESS DEFENDERS REPORT ON THE INFRINGEMENT OF RIGHTS AND GUARANTEES OF ATTORNEYS IN UKRAINE

Dear readers! We bring to your attention the joint report of the International Society for Human Rights and the Initiative Group for Protection of Rights of Attorneys, dedicated to the problem of violations of the rights of lawyers in Ukraine.

Advocacy is an important public institution with a key role in protecting human rights, including the right of defence. An attorney’s task is to help a person exercise his/her rights in a challenging life situation and to protect them should there be a threat of violation. It is quite common for such work to be a threat to a defence counsel, and an attempt to protect a client’s rights may result in violation of the rights of attorneys. Such cases require close attention from state agencies, civil society and international institutions, since they can significantly weaken the ability of advocacy to perform its functions.

This joint report of the representatives of the Ukrainian Bar Association and the Ukrainian public has been complied to draw attention to cases of attorneys’ rights being violated in 2016, 2017, and in the first quarter of 2018. It highlights the main trends in violations of attorneys rights, which are qualified based on sources of international human rights law and the practice of the European Court of Human Rights.

Information provided by lawyers, regional attorneys boards, representatives of the public and mass media, the National Association of Attorneys of Ukraine, the International Human Rights Society, the Association of Attorneys of Ukraine, attorney board of Odesa region, recommendations of the “Support of reforms in the field of justice in Ukraine” project were
taken into account, as well as regulations of international organizations and practice of the European Court of Human Rights.

Short version English short version

Full report English full version