Who wants to hold military lawyers accountable?
In pursuance of a separate order from the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, commanders of military units issue orders requiring the formation of lists of military lawyers. One of such orders was received by the public initiative “Igla” from sources in the Ministry of Defense. The orders are based on the law “On the Bar and Legal Activities,” which indeed prohibits combining military service and legal practice. However, why did they get down to business only now, in the third year of the great war?
“Explain to military personnel who have the status of a lawyer the provisions of Art. 7 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Bar and Advocacy”. The status of a lawyer is incompatible with military service... warn military personnel who have the status of a lawyer that the military unit will initiate disciplinary action before the relevant councils of regional lawyers in case of failure to comply with the requirements of Art. 7 of the law..., other disciplinary measures,” says the order, the deadlines for the implementation of which must be reported by May 24.
Chairman of the Board of the Zmina Human Rights Center Tatiana Pechonchik suggests that the case was intensified at the suggestion of the National Bar Association of Ukraine: “This association has been headed by Medvedchuk’s ally Lydia Izovitova for more than 10 years. This is not the first time that the Association puts pressure on lawyers who went to defend Ukraine. And here we cannot help but remember that in cases where some lawyers who remained in the temporarily occupied territories participate in torture, they are not deprived of their certificates, but they are looking for lawyers in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. And now they are also trying to make sure that military units are the initiators of holding them accountable.”
Let us note that at the beginning of the year, people's deputies Anatoly Tkachenko (Servant of the People) and Antonina Slavitskaya (Restoration of Ukraine group) introduced a bill that provides for the possibility of combining military service and lawyering. He was criticized by committee member Vladimir Vatras (“Servant of the People”). So far, this initiative has not been considered by the committee.
Chairman of the Board of the Dejure Foundation Mikhail Zhernakov proposes that the Committee on Legal Policy, which is headed by the “servant” Denis Maslov, work out changes to the law “On the Bar,” which now makes it possible to operate a monopoly in this area: “These changes would help us get rid of allies of the enemy in the legal profession and restore order in it. This would strengthen judicial reform. Let me remind you that the need to reform the legal profession is mentioned in the European Commission report. But Vladimir Vatras, a member of the Servant committee, registers a bill (11279), which allows journalists who identify a lawyer and his client to be held accountable. Our partners did not put forward such a demand. Yes, a lawyer should not always be associated with a client. But some cases are very revealing and society should know about them. In particular, lawyer Alexey Shevchuk, who is the speaker of the Association, also defended anti-Ukrainian figures. For example, the traitor, the late Ilya Kivu"
A legislative initiative, if adopted, could fine journalists who associate a lawyer with his client (11279), appeared in May. In fact, two months after the National Bar Association released its public appeal about “violation of media guarantees of legal practice.” Thus, the requirements of the Association in the Legal Policy Committee are fulfilled quite quickly.
On May 22, information appeared on the Association’s website that “the Verkhovna Rada supported” the Association’s initiative. Although in fact we are not talking about parliamentary support for this initiative, but only about the presentation of a bill by a number of people’s deputies.
By the way, one of the co-authors of the initiative that the Association is lobbying for is people’s deputy Alexander Puzanov, elected from the OPZZH. Member of the so-called “Monaco battalion”. He, as the leader of the capital’s cell of the now banned Opposition Bloc party, previously stated: “From the position of the Opposition Bloc, negotiations must be conducted with absolutely any entity if these negotiations will bring the long-awaited peace. It shouldn’t make any difference whether they are militants, separatists or some other person.”
As for the current leadership of the Bar Association, which is lobbying for these legislative changes, it was already actively in contact with Russian colleagues during the occupation of Crimea and Donbass. In this photo, the head of the Association, Izovitova, is next to Yuri Pilipenko, a representative of the Moscow Region Bar Association.
Pilipenko appears on one of the lists of “Accomplices of the Occupation Power”, which was created by the International Anti-Corruption Foundation (an organization of Navalny’s supporters). He “actively supported Russian aggression against Ukraine. He provided assistance to the occupation administration on the territory of the Zaporozhye region for the integration of this territory into Russia” - this is the reason indicated next to the name of this lawyer, with whom Izovitova was photographed.
Lawyer Artem Donets, who went to the front and has repeatedly reported harassment by the Association, notes: Izovitova has headed the Association for more than 10 years and her powers ended in 2022. And even according to this law from the time of Yanukovych, there must be elections of leadership.
“Why is the legal profession now being purged of the most patriotic – those who went to defend the country? Yes, because lawyers will choose this leadership. Defense lawyers are simply eliminated in this way. Front-line soldiers will not be able to be elected to this Association for the same reasons. The fewer patriotic lawyers there are, the more chances the vatniks have that they will choose “cotton wool” again. And the legal profession should provide personnel potential for the prosecutor’s office and courts. This is how judicial reform is blocked. It’s a shame that Medvedchuk’s associates found a way to resolve the issue of disciplinary action against lawyers who went to the front through the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces. And here there is a question for the relevant committee of the Verkhovna Rada, which since January has not amended the law so that it would be possible to combine service and advocacy. For some reason, some people’s deputies are ready to implement the whims of unauthorized former leaders of the Association very quickly,” says Donets.
Let us remind you that the Constitutional Court is currently considering the complaint of lawyer Vyacheslav Pleskach. This complaint concerns “serfdom” in the legal profession, which was enshrined in law during the time of Yanukovych. Any lawyer must, without alternative, be a member of the National Bar Association of Ukraine and pay fees. Anyone who is not in the association does not have the right to a profession.
