“Tomorrow’s Lawyer” programme officially opened – Quality and Accessible Legal Aid in Ukraine Project

On 17 February 2017, “Tomorrow’s Lawyer” programme was officially opened in the Government Reception House. It is the first all-Ukrainian programme for the professional development of lawyers. During the opening, the approach to implementation of the training programme and its basic components were presented. First one hundred of “Tomorrow’s Lawyer” participants had a chance to get acquainted with the curriculum developers, experts, and trainers, as well as hear about the experience of cooperation between legal communities of Ukraine and Canada in the field of professional development.

Participants were welcomed by the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Canada to Ukraine Roman Vashchuk, Minister of Justice of Ukraine Pavlo Petrenko, President of the Bar Association Denys Buhai, Director, Head of the International Development Sector of the Embassy of Canada to Ukraine Karim Marcos, Vice-President of the Canadian Bureau for International Education, Director of the Quality and Accessible Legal Aid in Ukraine Larissa Bezo, expert on the issues of professional development, Canadian Bar Association, Sheila Redel, Head of the NGO “All-Ukrainian Association of Lawyers Providing Free Legal Aid” Viktoriia Mitko. The event was moderated by Andrii Vyshnevskyi, Director of the Coordination Center for Legal Aid Provision and Manager of “Tomorrow’s Lawyer” programme.

Opening the ceremony, Andrii Vyshnevskyi emphasized that the availability and involvement of professional, competent, and right-minded representatives of the legal profession, were key to the viability of the legal aid system in Ukraine. Through “Tomorrow’s Lawyer” programme, Ukrainian lawyers have a chance to learn from the best Canadian experiences and improve their professional skills. “We are convinced that this programme will promote the strengthening of the rule of law in Ukraine and the justice reforms”, he noted.

The Minister of Justice Pavlo Petrenko assured: “The Ministry of Justice supports this initiative as Ukrainian lawyers are our reliable partners in the legal aid system”. He emphasized, “The launch of this new initiative is very positive for average citizens too. If we have independent professional lawyers in Ukraine, citizens will always have a chance to get a defense lawyer for their communication with the state or law-enforcement”.

“Canada is sharing its experience in order to help you protect rights of the most vulnerable population groups in Ukraine. The viable system of legal aid requires professional and honest lawyers. I hope that this training programme will let you self-improve and make a contribution into the development of the legal community, and thus become real lawyers of tomorrow”, said Roman Vashchuk.

“This is the first project for the legal community in Ukraine of such a large scale.” It is not just a unique platform for professional growth but also a social and intellectual investment. Over a year of preparations, trips to Canada, a week-long session and strategic meeting with Canadian colleagues, competitive selection, the processing of over 700 lawyers applications, interviews with dozens of potential experts and trainers are already behind us”, said Denys Buhai.

According to him, the main peculiarity is that “Tomorrow’s Lawyer” programme is designed to create a horizontal communication between professionals from all regions of the country, unite progressive powers of the bar into a single network, promote the implementation of reforms both at the regional and the national level. The main criterion of “Tomorrow’s Lawyer” is the willingness of a person to become an agent of change and act as a leader of the new time, adhere to the high standards of professional ethics and strive to break corruptive and illegal practices.

Karim Morcos noted that trust was overly important in the Ukrainian justice system. Lawyers should contribute to the development of this trust. “Tomorrow’s Lawyer” training programme will help lawyers provide legal aid in accordance with the highest professional and ethical standards. This programme will facilitate the development of the lawyers’ capacity to play a major role in the establishment of the rule of law, to build a fair and accessible justice system in Ukraine.

“Human rights protection must be at the core of any programme for the professional development of lawyers. This means that lawyers need to understand clients’ needs, especially, the needs of vulnerable population groups, as people’s access to justice and the quality of legal aid will depend on them. Quality and Accessible Legal Aid in Ukraine Project supports the development and implementation of “Tomorrow’s Lawyer” programme. We are convinced that we should invest in the development of a professional bar community, playing an important role in the support of sustainable development of the system of legal aid in Ukraine”, informed Larissa Bezo.

According to Sheila Redel, the development of skills of the legal aid provision is extremely important for lawyers, in particular, efficient communication with various stakeholders, primarily with the clients. Particular attention in the course of lawyer training in Canada is focused on the issues of ethics, as adhering to ethical principles directly influences the quality of legal aid and lawyer reputation. This topic is cross-cutting in “Tomorrow’s Lawyer” programme. “I am very glad to have an opportunity to share my long-term experience of training Canadian lawyers with colleagues in Ukraine. I am happy to cooperate with an amazing team of “Tomorrow’s Lawyer” programme”, said the expert.

“Given the public nature of the profession, assuming communication with various groups of society, a lawyer is obliged to become a standard of honesty, dignity, and respectful attitude to people. Today, we are involuntarily being engaged in various fights, political games, and corporate battles. Although being a representative of a peaceful profession, lawyer must know how to build bridges, instead of walls and barricades. This is request of the society flying in the air. In order to move forward, we must look in one direction, unite, be active and friendly, know how to negotiate, be honest in the profession. We need to keep learning this, understanding that major changes begin with each of us”, expressed Viktoriia Mitko her opinion.

“Tomorrow’s Lawyer” programme is designed to form a professional bar community, with its members being active agents of changes with high ethical standards, who will implement reforms both at the regional and national levels, as well as be willing to improve the single standards for legal aid provision and efficient exercise of the powers of lawyers self-governance.

The programme is financed by the Canadian Government and implemented by the Ukrainian Bar Association (UBA) and the All-Ukrainian Association of Lawyers Providing Free Legal Aid with the support from the Quality and Accessible Legal Aid in Ukraine Project, implemented by the Canadian Bureau for International Education in partnership with the Coordination Center for Legal Aid Provision.

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