In its 2022 annual report, the Ukrainian Bar Association (UBA) has said that, despite unprecedented difficulties, it continued work on strengthening the rule of law, protection of human rights, and development of the legal profession, as well as initiatives aimed at countering the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.

On 2 July 2021, in Lviv, during the 10th Western-Ukrainian Legal Forum, the elections of the UBA President and board saw an 85% renewal of members.

For the first time in the history of the UBA, a woman became the President – Anna Ogrenchuk, managing partner of LCF Law Group, while 10 of the 19 members are women.

Legal voice abroad

The UBA synchronized the efforts of Ukrainian lawyers and international and foreign legal associations, thus forming a united legal front, and became the legal voice of Ukraine abroad.

It communicated the issue of the urgent introduction of economic and financial sanctions against the Russian Federation and Belarus, calling for the refusal of cooperation with Russian business, advocating for a Special International Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression Against Ukraine, among other measures.

On 19 July 2022, the New York State Bar Association approved a resolution prepared jointly with the UBA, in which it called on the UN General Assembly to act by authorizing the UN Secretary-General to establish a tribunal to consider the issue of violations of international law by the Russian Federation.

On 9 August 2022, the American Bar Association (ABA) approved a similar resolution.

The legal ratings of Chambers and Partners and The Legal 500 EMEA excluded Russian and Belarusian law firms from the rating for 2022, the UBA points out.

The Solicitors Regulatory Authority of England and Wales has also updated its regulation and clearly allows solicitors to refuse to represent interests or terminate contracts, among other things, on ethical grounds.