More than 100 legal professionals were brought together by the III All-Ukrainian Conference On Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure on 10-11 November in Kyiv. The Conference was organised by All-Ukrainian Public Organisation “Ukrainian Bar Association” (UBA) with the assistance of the Council of Europe Project “Continued Support to the Criminal Justice Reform in Ukraine” funded by the Danish government, jointly with other partners.

During the Conference legal professionals - representatives of the bar, judiciary, law-enforcement and civil society – discussed ongoing criminal justice reforms, specific issues related to the application of the criminal procedure legislation, challenges of the protection of the attorneys’ rights, practical recommendations for legal professionals and other aspects pertinent to the overall functioning of the justice system in Ukraine.

The UBA’s President Mr Denys Bugai opened the Conference together with Mårten Ehnberg, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, who presented the Organisation’s initiatives implemented in Ukraine in the field of justice-sector reforms. The Council of Europe consultants Mr James Hamilton (Ex-Director of the Office of Public Prosecutor of Ireland, former President of the International Association of Prosecutors, and former member of the Venice Commission) and Mr Eric Svanidze (former Prosecutor in Georgia, former Deputy Minister of Justice of Georgia, former member/expert of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture) delivered presentations on the European standards pertinent to the reform of the Prosecution Service and the recent case-law of the European Court of Human Rights in the realm of criminal procedure.

The report on the assessment of the Ukrainian free legal aid system in the light of Council of Europe standards and best practices was presented by Mr Andriy Vyshnevsky, Director of the Coordination Centre for Legal Aid Provision.