Can a mobilized lawyer provide legal assistance?

To date, Article 7 of the Law "On Advocacy and Advocacy" establishes requirements for incompatibility with respect to the activity of a lawyer, in particular, one of which is military or alternative (non-military) service. Decision No. 124 of the Bar Council of Ukraine dated August 30, 2014 approved the Clarification on issues arising during the mobilization and conscription for military service of persons engaged in advocacy. In accordance with this explanation, a lawyer does not have the right to practice law during military service, including on mobilization. Violation of this restriction is grounds for disciplinary action against the lawyer.

Thus, in the case of mobilization of a lawyer, he is obliged to suspend his right to practice law.

In connection with this, the Verkhovna Rada registered draft law 11014 on amending Article 7 of the Law "On Advocacy and Advocacy" to specify the grounds for incompatibility with the activities of a lawyer. It is proposed to specify in Article 7 of the Law on Advocacy the grounds for the incompatibility of practicing as an advocate, namely to establish that military service under a contract or alternative (non-military) service is incompatible with the activity of a lawyer.

This situation, as the deputies note, violates the requirements for the guarantees of advocacy, since the suspension of the right to engage in advocacy will be determined not by the lawyer's direct desire and actions, but by the actions of the state bodies that summoned him in the conditions of mobilization.

The specified problem was temporarily resolved by the Bar Council of Ukraine, which, in accordance with its decision No. 24 dated March 3, 2022, established that during the period of martial law, it will not be considered a violation of the requirements regarding the incompatibility of military or alternative (non-military) service by lawyers and not to apply such grounds for prosecution lawyer to disciplinary liability.