Albania
In May 2008, the Albanian Bar Association approached the CCBE for assistance on two issues: disciplinary proceedings and registration fees for newly admitted lawyers. The chairmen of the CCBE PECO, Competition and Disciplinary Committees looked into the matters raised by the Albanian Bar and responded with letter of 24 September 2008.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
April 2010 – Joint CCBE-UIA position in favour of exempting the legal profession in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina from the obligation to record legal services by fiscal devices
In March 2010 the Bar of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) asked the secretariats of the CCBE and Union Internationale des Avocats (UIA) to comment on the Law on Fiscal Systems, which had entered into force earlier that year. The law creates an obligation for FBiH lawyers to record each service rendered via a fiscal device irrespective of the method of payment. Non-fulfilment of this obligation might lead to the imposition of fines and even the closing of a lawyer’s office. In a letter sent on 12 April 2010 to the Prime-Minister, Minister of Justice and Minister of Finance of the FBiH, the CCBE and the UIA stated that the law in question raises concerns regarding the independence of the legal profession, lawyers’ professional secrecy and the rights and interests of clients. It also recommended that lawyers be exempted from the obligation to use fiscal devices to record their services.
Bar Association of the Republic of Srpska (Advokatska Komora Republike Srpske)
Bar Association of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovin (Advokatska/Odvjetnička komora Federacije BiH)
FYROM (Republika Makedonija)
In a letter of 4 August 2008, the President of the Bar association informed the CCBE about amendments to the law “On advocacy” which had been put forward to Parliament and asked for an expertise from the CCBE on the following issues: Bar exam, employed lawyers, election of Bar bodies/President and registration fees. The PECO chairmen considered the matters and responded with letter of 3 September 2008.
Macedonian Bar Association
Georgia
July 2009 - CCBE support for the Georgian Bar Association
On 15 July 2009, the CCBE sent a letter to the chair of the Georgian Parliament with regard to the current discussions on the Law on Advocates. In the letter, the CCBE expressed its support for the proposed changes to the Georgian Law on Advocates which fully comply with EU and CCBE standards. The CCBE also renewed its support for a single and unified Bar Association which is necessary for the rule of law within a democratic society.
May 2009 – TAIEX seminar in Georgia
On 28-29 May 2009, CCBE experts - Iñigo Nagore (Spain), Roberto Sorcinelli (Italy) and Clare Titcomb (England and Wales) - participated in a seminar jointly organised by TAIEX of the European Commission and the Georgian Bar Association, in Sighnaghi, Georgia. The seminar’s aim was to discuss the latest amendments which were made to the Georgian Law on Advocates and changes to be made to the Charter of the Georgian Bar Association.
April 2009 - CCBE letter to Georgian Parliament
On 17 April 2009, the CCBE sent a letter to the Georgian Parliament expressing its concern about recent discussions within the Georgian Parliament about establishing multiple Bar Associations in Georgia. Such a move would lead to a split within the profession, with a patchwork of different sets of rules (ethical and disciplinary) being the consequence. Only a single, unified bar association, can contribute to the administration of justice.
Georgian Bar Association
Moldova
Amendments to the Law on the Bar
On 28 May 2010 the Moldovan Parliament adopted amendments to the Law on the Bar. These amendments provide, inter alia, for the establishment of the position of Secretary General of the Moldovan Bar. The engagement of a Secretary General was one of the key CCBE recommendations of September 2008 aimed at enhancing the capacity of the Moldovan Bar. The CCBE will monitor closely the implementation of these amendments.
General
The CCBE, through its PECO Committee, has been following developments regarding the legal profession in Moldova for some time, particularly since 2004 when Vitalie Nagacevschi, a representative of the Moldovan Bar Association, participated in the PECO Committee meeting on 24 June 2004, where he reported on the difficulties that the Moldovan Bar Association was facing.
CCBE Seminar 2005
Following a fact finding mission to Moldova in October 2004, the CCBE, in co-operation with the Bar Association of Moldova, the German Gesellschaft für technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), the Soros Foundation Moldova and ABA CEELI, held a very successful one-day seminar in Chisinau, Moldova on 21 October 2005.
The seminar, dealt with the issues of “Access to justice/legal aid” and “The lawyer and the State”. The programme and presentations of this seminar are available here. Some eighty Moldovan lawyers attended the seminar.
CCBE Twinning Programme (2006-2008)
In January 2006, the Moldovan Bar submitted a specific request to the CCBE for assistance on a number of issues, namely the Bar’s administrative structures, training, admission to the profession and discipline of the profession. A number of national Bar Associations have expressed their willingness to consider assisting the Moldovan Bar via CCBE Twinning Programme.
In October 2006, the Austrian Bar Association (ÖRAK) and the German Federal Bar (BRAK) successfully completed their project on “The structure of the Bar”. They provided a lawyer from Moldova with two weeks’ training on the organisation/functioning of the legal profession in Austria and in Germany.
In June 2007, the CCBE member Bars from Italy and Greece jointly organised a conference for Moldovan lawyers in Chisinau, Moldova. Click here for the programme of the conference.The Italian Bar Association dealt with “The free movement of lawyers between Italy and Moldova”, and the Greek Bar Association gave a presentation on “The rights of lawyers defending their clients according to the ECHR requirements”. Moldovan lawyers also participated as speakers in order to provide an insight into the current situation and recent developments with regard to the legal profession in Moldova.
From December 2007 to December 2008, the CCBE provided some further assistance to the Moldovan Bar Association via the coordinator project. Nadejda Macari, a Moldovan lawyer, was hired to analyse the existing structure of the Moldovan Bar Association and to make proposals with a view to establishing a well functioning secretariat at the Moldovan Bar Association. The project resulted in the adoption of some CCBE experts’ recommendations. The recommendations address issues such as the functions of a Bar Association, the structure of the secretariat of a Bar Association and finances. The recommendations should help the Moldovan Bar to improve its everyday functioning. Click here to obtain a full copy of the CCBE letter and recommendations. On 6 November 2008, CCBE experts Jeroen Brouwer (The Netherlands) and Rytis Jokubauskas (Lithuania) met with members of the Council of the Moldovan Bar Association to discuss the implementation of the recommendations. In March 2009, Constantin Parascho, General Manager of the National Association of Romanian Bars, on the occasion of the Moldovan Bar Congress drew once again attention of representatives of the Bar Association and participants in general to the issues raised in the CCBE experts’ recommendations of September 2008. The Moldovan Bar is currently thinking about hiring a Secretary General for the Bar which should support the every-day work of the Bar.
Bar Association of the Republic of Moldova - Baroul Avocaţilor din Republica Moldova
click here for more information >>
Ukraine
March/April 2010 – CCBE PECO Committee Comments on the Ukrainian Draft Law on the Bar
On 8 April 2010 the CCBE PECO Committee sent its Comments on the Ukrainian Draft Law on the Bar to the Ukrainian Parliament. The comments contain a comparative analysis of selected issues which were addressed by the drafts of MP Miroshnichenko and MP Portnov. This analysis was prepared in response to two requests by the Ukrainian Parliament (MP Mishchenko, in his capacity as Head of the Committee on Legal Policy, and MP Portnov) addressed to the CCBE.
June/July 2009 – Ukraine: law on the Bar
On 22-24 June 2009, the Council of Europe carried out an assessment visit to Ukraine. The aim of the visit was to meet with representatives of government, Parliament, professional associations and other stakeholders to discuss the law on the Bar. Rytis Jokubauskas, CCBE PECO Committee vice-chairman, was one of the two experts participating in the assessment visit. The assessment visit is part of the Council of Europe’s work concerning the lawyer’s profession in Ukraine (falling under a joint project with the European Commission on the efficiency of justice). The experts are due to report on their visit at the end of July.
On 1 July 2009, the CCBE received a request for assistance from MP Sergey Mishchenko, head of the Committee on Legal Policy of the Ukrainian Parliament. The CCBE is asked to provide an expertise on the draft law on the Bar which was prepared by a group of MPs chaired by Yuriy Miroshnichenko back in December 2008.
General
The CCBE, through its PECO Committee, has keenly followed the efforts in recent years to create a unified professional Bar Association in Ukraine, in compliance with the commitment made when Ukraine joined the Council of Europe in 1996. Different draft Laws “On the Bar,” aimed at establishing a unified Bar Association, have been presented to the Verhovnaya Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) these last years but none have received approval.
The CCBE supported and continues to support the efforts being made to establish a legal framework for a proper independent and self-regulated Bar Association in Ukraine.
Below is some information on the CCBE activities from 2007 to 2009.
2007
The CCBE welcomed the former Ukrainian Parliament’s (Justice Committee’s) decision in January 2007 to set up a working group to deal with the Law on the Bar. Three experts from the CCBE were appointed to this working group (Rupert D’Cruz, UK; Petar Petrov, Bulgaria; Marc Jobert, France). However, when the CCBE experts started examining the draft laws on the Bar pending before Parliament at the time, the Ukrainian President, Viktor Yushchenko, ordered on 2 April 2007, Parliament to be dissolved and called elections.
After elections in September 2007, the new Parliament of the Ukraine decided in December 2007 that the drafts of the Law on the Bar will be dealt with by the Committee on Legal Policy.
2008/2009
Draft Laws on the Bar
During 2008 and at the beginning of 2009 several draft laws were registered before the Ukrainian Verhovnaya Rada for consideration of the Committee on Legal Policy. To date four drafts are pending before Parliament: in December 2008, MP Yurij Miroshnichenko submitted draft law no. 1430, which replaces his previous draft submitted in February 2008; on 24 December 2008, MP Sergei Vlasenko registered before Parliament bill no. 3549 aimed at amending the existing law of Ukraine “On the Bar”; on 14 April 2009, MP Vlasenko registered another draft law “On amendments on the law on advocacy”; on 6 May 2009, MP Portnov registered his draft law “On advocacy”.
CCBE Roundtable
On 26 September 2008, the CCBE, in partnership with the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice and the Ukrainian Parliamentary Committee on Legal Policy, and with the sponsorship of the Erste Bank, organised a roundtable on the law on the Bar in Ukraine. The event brought together the various stakeholders involved in the discussions on the law on the Bar, including the Ministry of Justice (and its Minister of Justice: Mykola V. Onischuk), Parliament (MP Yuriy Miroshnichenko, Deputy Head of the Parliament Committee on Legal Policy, Party of the Regions and drafter of the law on the Bar), professional associations and other Ukrainian and European organisations. The aim was to help the Ukrainian profession in finding solutions on issues which have been controversial in the past such as the structure of a Bar Association, the nature of the lawyer’s activity and the employment of lawyers.
As a follow-up to the CCBE Ukraine roundtable, CCBE experts issued on 29 October 2008 some recommendations: the recommendations deal with issues such as the structure of a Bar Association, the employment of lawyers and the merger of professions.
The CCBE will continue to monitor very closely the developments in Ukraine.
Union of Advocates of Ukraine - Спiлка адвокатiв України
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