NACP proposes to clarify the approach: the Bar Council of Ukraine on declaring lawyers' membership in the Ukrainian National Bar Association and conclusions about dishonesty

The Council of Advocates of Ukraine clarified that a lawyer's membership in the National Association of Advocates of Ukraine is an element of professional status that arises by law, and is not a voluntary membership in a public organization. Accordingly, its omission in the declaration should not automatically lead to conclusions about dishonesty or concealment of a private interest.

This clarification is contained in the Bar Council of Ukraine (BCU) decision dated June 30, 2026, No. 50, adopted following the consideration of an appeal by a lawyer who participated in a competition for a judge position. The appeal stated that one of the factors for the negative assessment of the candidate's integrity was the omission of information about membership in the Ukrainian National Bar Association (UNBA) in the declaration.

The head of the UNBA, BCU Lidiya Izovitova explained that a lawyer acquires the status of a member of the UNBA automatically as a result of obtaining a certificate of the right to practice law and taking the oath. The UNBA is a non-governmental professional organization created to ensure lawyer self-governance and is not in a subordinate or corporate dependency relationship with the lawyer.

The RAU emphasized that such membership does not create a private interest or property benefit. The association has no discretion to refuse a lawyer such membership, and a lawyer cannot at their own discretion be a lawyer and at the same time not belong to the UNBA.

It is separately noted that information about a lawyer is contained in the Unified Register of Advocates of Ukraine and can be publicly verified. Therefore, the mere fact of membership in the UNBA is not a hidden organizational connection and cannot automatically be used as an independent basis for a negative assessment of a person's integrity as a candidate for a judge position.

Moreover, paragraph 12 of part one of article 46 of the Law "On Prevention of Corruption" (which obliges subjects to indicate in the declaration information about membership in public, self-regulatory, or self-governing professional associations) should be applied taking into account the purpose of financial control. It concerns transparency of connections that may indicate a private interest, conflict of interest, property benefit, or other influence on the performance of public functions. But not every legal connection of a person with a certain institution has independent anti-corruption significance.

Thus, in the absence of a direct and unambiguous norm regarding the procedure for reflecting in the declaration a lawyer's membership in the UNBA as an element of professional status, the application of this norm should be carried out taking into account the principle of legal certainty and the most favorable interpretation for the person.

Omission in the declaration of a lawyer's membership in the UNBA without establishing other legally significant circumstances does not constitute an independent basis for conclusions about concealment of information, dishonesty, or intentional submission of false information.

Accordingly, the RAU decided to appeal to the NACP with a proposal to clarify the relevant explanations in the Knowledge Base regarding the declaration of lawyers' membership in the UNBA, taking into account its special legal nature.

Similar approaches, it is noted, were applied in decision No. 51, which concerns lawyers with suspended rights to practice law. In it, the Council proceeded from the same position: membership in the UNBA has a special professional-legal nature, arises by law, and is not voluntary private membership. At the same time, in such cases, the suspended status of membership according to the UNBA Charter should additionally be taken into account.

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