The Parliamentary Committee on Law Enforcement considered the draft law amending the Code on Administrative Offences as well as the Law of Ukraine "On the Bar and Practice of Law" to improve liability for violation of an attorney's request consideration. Following the consideration, the Committee recommended that the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopt the draft law in the first reading in its entirety and submit it for consideration in the second reading.

In particular, the draft law proposes to toughen administrative liability for unlawful refusal to provide information at the request of an attorney's office and other violations of its consideration. Thus, it is proposed to extend the sanction of Article 212-3 of the Code of Administrative Offences (Violation of the Right to Information and the Right to Appeal) and impose liability in the form of a fine in the amount of fifty to one hundred non-taxable minimum incomes (NTMI) (currently, this amount is from twenty-five to fifty NTMI).

However, despite the title of the draft law, the alterations will not only increase liability for failure to respond to an attorney's request. The draft law also provides for the expansion of entities to which the attorney may address an inquiry. Strange as it may seem, the current version of the law does not provide for the possibility of addressing an attorney's request to individual entrepreneurs. Therefore, the draft law proposes to expand the range of entities to which an advocate may address an inquiry to include individual entrepreneurs.

At the same time, there will no longer be a need to attach certified copies of the attorney's license to practice law to the request. Such a shift is indeed timely in the era of digital technologies, when all processes in Ukraine are being digitised, as it is possible to freely access information about the barristers and their licence in the Unified State Register of Attorneys of Ukraine.

The draft law also provides for the possibility to photocopy documents and materials when exercising the right to get acquainted with them at enterprises, institutions and organizations. Furthermore, at present, an attorney's request may not relate to the provision of consultations and interpretations of the provisions of the law. The draft law proposes to make an exception to this restriction and provide for the possibility of obtaining clarifications and consultations at the request of an attorney, if the public authority must which the attorney's request is addressed.

Another innovation is the possibility of obtaining confidential information at the request of an attorney. However, such information will be provided only if the attorney's client has the right to receive such information and only upon written permission from such client. In practice, this possibility exists today, so it is necessary to enshrine it in the Law.

And the ultimate development will concern the deadlines for responding to an attorney's request. Currently, it is still possible to extend the term for consideration of a request up to twenty days if it concerns the provision of a significant amount of information or requires searching for information among a significant amount of data. The draft law provides for a reduction of this period to fifteen days.

Therefore, the proposed amendments will undoubtedly contribute to the legal protection of the rights of Ukrainian citizens and, undoubtedly, the adoption of Draft Law No. 9356 will increase the efficiency of using an attorney's request in the provision of professional legal assistance.

Therefore, ALARIUS Attorney at Law fully endorses such legislative initiatives.

However, in our view, besides strengthening the liability for failure to respond to a request, it would also be advisable to improve the process of prosecuting such liability. At present, the right to draw up reports on administrative offences in case of violation of the right to information under the Law of Ukraine "On the Bar and Practice of Law" belongs exclusively to the heads of the bar councils of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Oblasts, cities of Kyiv and Sevastopol (or a member of the bar council authorised by the respective council). Therefore, to be held liable for failure to respond to an attorney's request, an attorney must first apply to his or her bar council so that the authorised persons consider bringing the perpetrators to justice. And often this process can be quite time-consuming and creates an additional burden on the bar self-government bodies.

We are convinced that this can be solved by empowering attorneys to independently draw up reports on administrative offences under Article 212-3 of the Code of Administrative Offences (in the part concerning violation of the right to information under the Law of Ukraine "On the Bar and Practice of Law"). This would be an additional incentive for the recipients of attorneys' inquiries not to delay in responding and would help to relieve the bar authorities.

To defend the rights and interests of clients, ALARIUS Attorney at Law applies all possible legal instruments, including attorneys' inquiries, to obtain all necessary documents and information that helps to form a solid evidence base.

Other news

More news

Our Recognitions

Recognition logoRecognition logo
Recognition logoRecognition logo
Recognition logoRecognition logo
Recognition logoRecognition logo
Recognition logoRecognition logo

Partners

Partner logoPartner logo
Partner logoPartner logo
Partner logoPartner logo
Partner logoPartner logo
Partner logoPartner logo
Partner logoPartner logo
Partner logoPartner logo