On 9 March 2026, the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the Council of Europe, Mykola Tochytskyi, signed the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of the Profession of Lawyer. Ukraine became the 28th country to sign this international treaty.
The Convention on the Protection of the Profession of Lawyer is the first international treaty of its kind aimed at protecting this profession. The document establishes common standards for guaranteeing the independence of lawyers and provides for a monitoring mechanism to oversee the implementation of its provisions. It was developed in response to the growing number of reports of attacks against members of the profession — whether in the form of harassment, threats or physical attacks, or through interference with the exercise of professional duties (such as restricting access to clients).
The signing of the Convention is only the first step. Ukraine shall now ratify it in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 9 of the Law of Ukraine ‘On International Treaties of Ukraine’. Yevhen Krapyvin, Head of the ‘Law and Order’ Area at the Agency for Legislative Initiatives, noted that the Convention will enter into force upon the eighth ratification (of which at least six must be by Council of Europe member states). As of today, none of the signatory states has yet ratified the Convention.
For ratification, among other things, an official Ukrainian translation of the Convention is required, to be prepared by the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Daria Pysarenko, Director of the NGO ‘Tomorrow’s Lawyer’, emphasises that this is not merely a technical matter — it concerns the scope of guarantees for the independence of legal professionals.
The Agency for Legislative Initiatives and the NGO ‘Tomorrow’s Lawyer’ welcome Ukraine’s signing of the Convention while also noting that threats to the independence of the legal profession arise not only externally but also from within the profession itself. In 2022, the mandates of all bodies of the Bar self-government expired. However, the Bar Council of Ukraine has not called elections for four consecutive years. The principle of accountability of the legal profession to its members has been undermined. Advocates have not seen reports on the use of their contributions since 2021. Disciplinary procedures are used as a tool to sanction criticism of the decisions and actions of Bar self-governance bodies. Access to the profession remains non-transparent and carries risks of abuse. These and other issues are outlined in the section ‘Bar Reform’ in the Shadow Report under Chapter 23 of the EU acquis and in the European Commission’s Enlargement Report.
Given that the legal profession occupies a central place in the justice system alongside the judiciary and the prosecution service, it is not possible to speak of justice sector reform without reform of the legal profession. The European Commission has repeatedly highlighted the need for such reform and, in its latest Enlargement Report, clearly stated: ‘Ukraine needs to urgently launch a comprehensive reform of the Bar’, while also setting out its proposals for such changes.
In response to the deep institutional crisis in the Bar, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine initiated the establishment of a working group on improving legislation in the field of the Bar and the practice of law. Accordingly, in January 2026, the Government established such a working group, which includes representatives of the Agency for Legislative Initiatives and the NGO ‘Tomorrow’s Lawyer’.
