During an extraordinary meeting on April 16, 2025, the Ukrainian Bar Association adopted a decision to establish a working group that will monitor and summarize the violations of lawyers’ rights and guarantees of legal practice over the past three years, including the situation with the detention of lawyer Olga Panchenko.
After the completion of the group’s work, the UBA will consider the possibility of addressing the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine with a proposal to create a Temporary Investigative Commission (TIC) in accordance with Article 89 of the Constitution of Ukraine.
The decision to establish the working group was prompted by a high-profile situation in Odesa, where lawyer Olga Panchenko, a member of the Committee for the Defense of Lawyers’ Professional Rights of the UBA and a member of the Committee for the Defense of Lawyers’ Professional Rights of the Odesa Region, was detained. The detention took place within a criminal case in which she was providing defense. She was informed of suspicion under Article 260 Part 1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and a motion for a preventive measure was prepared.
During the meeting, the acting chair of the Odesa Regional Bar Association Olena Dzhaburiya and the chair of the Committee for the Defense of Lawyers’ Professional Rights Vadim Semenov informed about the circumstances of the detention and actions that may indicate interference with the lawyer’s professional activities. The Committee was not informed of the investigative actions before they were carried out, which raises concerns regarding the requirements for interaction with lawyer self-governance.
Furthermore, the lawyer reported pressure from law enforcement officers who threatened arrest if she continued to actively defend her client. According to the head of the Committee, Yevhen Solodko, other lawyers who had previously been involved in the defense of the same individual were mobilized to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Lawyers who publicly supported their colleague reported attempts to influence them through private messages demanding the deletion of posts on social media.
The head of the UBA, UBA Lydia Izovitova, noted that this case is another evidence of the urgent need to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of the Lawyer’s Profession, adopted on March 12, 2025. The Convention obliges states to guarantee unimpeded and safe activities of lawyers, protection from interference, persecution, pressure, and discredit.
After the ratification of the Convention “On the Protection of the Lawyer’s Profession,” the UBA will appeal to the members of the Ukrainian Parliament, as subjects of legislative initiative, with proposals for amending national legislation to bring it into line with international standards for the protection of the lawyer’s profession.