On July 16, 2024, in Kyiv, the Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, Maciej Janczak, held a working meeting with the Ukrainian National Bar Association (UNBA) leadership. The Ukrainian party was represented by the Head of the UNBA, the Bar Council of Ukraine, Lidiya Izovitova, her deputy, Mr Valentyn Gvozdiy, as well as the head of the UNBA secretariat, Vadym Krasnyk. The manager of the Council of Europe project "Support to the functioning of justice in the war and post-war context in Ukraine", Iryna Kushnir, also took part in the meeting.

The parties discussed the war-related challenges  in the context of UNBA activities and possible ways of cooperation to strengthen the implementation of Council of Europe standards. With this, we would like to remind you that on December 14, 2022, the Committee of Ministers adopted  the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine "Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction" 2023-2026.

In particular, among the measures aimed at ensuring the support of the justice system under European standards in the field of human rights, clause 2.1 of the Action Plan provides for the provision of strategic and legal consultations to state authorities, as well as to advocacy and the system of free legal aid. In addition, it is planned to strengthen the professional capacity of lawyers, increase the quality of legal education, and support the development of the Ukrainian National Bar Association, other legal associations and public organisations, as well as the free legal aid system.

As a result of the meeting, an agreement was reached to hold an operational meeting with the Council of Europe's relevant project managers to determine potential further specific actions to support UNBA.