Page 10 - Report on the infringement of rights and guarantees of attorneys in Ukraine

ANALYSIS OF VIOLATIONS OF THE RIGHTS

OF ATTORNEYS FOR THE PERIOD
FROM 2016 TO THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2018
INCLUSIVE

CASES OF VIOLATIONS OF THE RIGHTS OF ATTORNEYS: MAIN TRENDS
In order to understand the situation with violation of attorneys rights, the information is presented
about the number of criminal cases registered during the period 2016, 2017, January-February 2018
under Articles providing for liability for violation of attorneys' professional rights and guarantees
(Article 397 to 400 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (hereinafter – the "CC”) .
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under Article 397 of the CC (interference with the activities of a defence counsel or
representative)- 451 cases (75,5 % of all officially registered violations);

under Article 398 of the CC (threat or violence against a defence counsel or
representative) - 127 cases (21,3 %);

under Article 399 of the CC (intentional destruction or damage to the property of a defence
counsel or representative) - 16 cases (2,7 %);

under article 400 of the CC (endangering life of a person’s defence counsel or representative
in connection with activities related to the provision of legal aid) - 3 cases (0,5 %).

315
267 (44,7%)
Criminal
234 proceedings
closed
49 11 326 (54,5%)
Dismissed
5 (0,8 %)
Submitted
OFFENCES to court
– 2016
– 2017 NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS
– January-February 2018 ENTERED INTO ERDR

For instance, in Odesa Region 14 applications were filed by attorneys with the Regional Bar Council for
violations of their professional rights in 2017, and 5 — for the first quarter of 2018 .
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For the first time in February 2018, data on an offence qualified under Article 400-1
of the CC of Ukraine ("Representation in a court without a power of attorney") was
entered into the ERDR.

Every year the number of cases increases:
1. commitment of criminal offences against attorneys in connection with their
professional activities (with low level of solving);
2. violation of the attorneys' professional rights and guarantees;
3. failure by law-enforcement agencies to respond to the attorneys’
applications for violating their rights and completely ignoring cases of violations of
such rights and failure to bring criminal actions against the offenders .
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