Suspending competitive selection was a necessary step for the civil service system at the start of the full-scale invasion. But what comes next amid martial law, active European integration and a growing staffing crisis? The Agency for Legislative Initiatives presented its vision in the study ‘Staffing of the Civil Service during Martial Law: Needs, Challenges and Prospects’ during a roundtable organised by the Verkhovna Rada Committee on the Organisation of State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional Development and Urban Planning. Together with MPs of Ukraine, representatives of state institutions and civil society, participants discussed:

• improving the procedure for entry into and service in the civil service;
• restoring competitions for civil service positions and service in local self-government bodies;
• proposals to the relevant Draft Law No. 13478-1, which is currently being prepared for the second reading.

International institutions emphasise that Ukraine shall return to competitive selection based on merit. Lawmakers are focused on meeting these requirements, while civil servants themselves do not always agree with these proposals. This is why the problem of staffing the civil service also needs to be viewed from within.

Oleksandr Zaslavskyi, Deputy Executive Director for Analytical Work at ALI, said that the study covers such aspects as civil servants’ internal assessment of the current system of selection for civil service positions, their needs and expectations, and possible approaches to addressing the problem of staff selection. In addition, the study contains recommendations on the legal regulation of selection for civil service positions.

The results show that civil servants have adapted to the current staffing model and have limited awareness of the potential benefits of competitive selection:

1. the majority of respondents (57.2%) are satisfied with the absence of competitive procedures, while more than 55% believe that the absence of competitions fully ensures equality of access to positions;
2. some respondents (26.3%) clearly understand the need for competitions and are waiting for them to be restored.

What explains these results? Factors include trust in the results of competitive selection and the uncertain status of civil servants appointed to positions without competitions. Currently, 42.8% of the civil servants surveyed believe that such persons may continue civil service without competition based on the results of performance appraisal.

A separate focus of the study is the prospect of adopting Draft Law No. 13478-1 in the near future. Civil servants’ expectations are rather cautious, but MPs note that restoring competitions is long overdue. Adoption of Draft Law No. 13478-1 on restoring competitive procedures would help fulfil one of the requirements of the Ukraine Facility Plan for 2024–2027. Restoring competitions is not only a matter of political expediency but also of evidence-based policy: what problems emerged during the period of simplified procedures, what risks are visible now and which models can work under martial law.

However, the staffing model is not the only factor shaping the professionalism, prestige and staffing stability of the civil service. Working conditions are no less important.

What model for restoring competitions would be fair, realistic and, at the same time, safe for the stability and functionality of the public administration system? It is now important to talk about the phased restoration of competitions, specific features for local self-government bodies and compliance with both Ukrainian realities and international standards.

Read more about ALI’s recommendations, stakeholders’ positions on the relevant draft law and the analysis of the current state and practice of selection for civil service positions under martial law in the new study.

The Agency for Legislative Initiatives (ALI) is starting work on a White Paper that will focus primarily on the problems of civil service and patronage service in courts of first instance and courts of appeal, as well as ways to address them. This study is a logical continuation of the Green Paper presented by ALI experts in July 2025.

The White Paper is intended to become a public policy tool and to contribute to systemic changes in attitudes towards the role of court staff in ensuring the administration of justice. In the longer term, ALI’s new study will serve as a basis for transformations in legislation and in the organisation of courts’ work.

ALI experts want to hear directly from those who ensure the daily operation of courts. This concerns civil service and patronage service staff, as well as their experience, needs, vision for change and problems.

1. heads of courts and their deputies: https://forms.gle/uHtC8EM9QM8VcqwA8
2. heads of court offices and their deputies: https://forms.gle/vXsVhmQZ695EvKLE9
3. court staff and everyone interested: https://forms.gle/yFmPM4r1arqNfHFW8 

Your responses will help develop evidence-based recommendations and ensure a high-quality analytical basis for further decisions. Verified data will form the foundation for change. Last year, more than one thousand court office staff took part in the study. It was their active participation that made it possible to describe all existing problems at the level of courts of first and second instance accurately.

Research into the work of court offices is one of ALI’s priorities. After all, it is civil service and patronage service staff who ensure the daily operation of the judicial system. Without proper attention to their problems, needs and motivation, judicial reform will remain superficial, inconsistent and incomplete.

Your experience matters and can become a catalyst for change — join the survey. The deadline for completing the survey is 17 May 2026 inclusive.

The research and survey are being carried out by the Agency for Legislative Initiatives with the support of the Supreme Court and the High Council of Justice.

All questionnaires are completed anonymously, and the data are used in an aggregated form. All information received is processed by ALI experts.

The study is being implemented within the project ‘Reinforcing the European Dimension of the Ukrainian Civil Service in Law-Making, Judiciary, Finances’, implemented by ALI with the support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).

Experts in governance, the rule of law, anti-corruption, and electoral processes joined the discussion. Participants discussed medium-term tendencies, potential avenues for Canada to support reforms, and opportunities for Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction.

Close attention was drawn to the work of the Ukrainian Parliament. Oleksandr Zaslavskyi, the ALI’s Deputy Executive Director for Analytics, referred to the parliamentary Monitoring report for the 14th session when analysing trends in the Verkhovna Rada’s activity and the challenges it is currently experiencing. The expert highlighted institutional fatigue as one of the reasons for the recent decline in legislative output, adding that the 9th convocation is the longest in the Verkhovna Rada’s history. Other factors influencing this decline include issues surrounding NABU and SAPO, as well as other corruption scandals and internal conflicts. 

Oleksandr Zaslavskyi remarked that the slowdown in Parliament’s work is affecting the implementation of necessary reforms, notably the adoption of EU-related legislation. If Ukraine is to join the European Union by 2027, the passage of all the necessary regulations requires greater attention and a steady pace. 

For Oleksandr Zaslavskyi, an active civil society carries on playing a vital role in developing state institutions and national identity. However, he also raised particular concerns about troubling tendencies within civil society. Civil society organisations often find themselves having to work in place of institutions, rather than alongside them. In the long term, this will inevitably undermine their capacity, says Oleksandr Zaslavskyi. Therefore, it would be wise for civil society organisations to focus on approaches that engage institutions, public officials and decision-makers as deeply as possible in their work. This will empower us to preserve and reinforce the functioning of state institutions, especially those overseeing European integration. 

The Agency for Legislative Initiatives systematically supports and actively contributes to Ukraine’s European integration. As part of this effort, together with the International Renaissance Foundation, we are launching the IntehRada project. Building on sectoral analysis, the project aims to enhance awareness among international partners and Ukrainian MPs of the legislative changes and reforms that Ukraine needs to implement on its path to EU membership. Without a clear understanding of the specific political and procedural challenges faced by draft laws as they move through Parliament, it is extremely difficult to reinvigorate this process. The same applies to securing support — both externally, from EU Member States, and internally, within Parliament.

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine plays a crucial role in the European integration process by considering and adopting the necessary legislation. However, since obtaining EU candidate status, Ukraine has gradually experienced a slowdown in the development, consideration and adoption of EU-related draft laws: 2025 showed a decline in the pace of legislative European integration compared to previous years.

To accelerate progress in this area and ensure sustainable results, the ALI will produce three types of regular information briefs under the project:

1. briefs on specific EU integration laws;
2. briefs on broader challenges of the European integration track, focusing on procedural and institutional dimensions;
3. briefs for Members of Parliament of Ukraine on priority EU integration draft laws (based on strategic planning documents, such as the Ukraine Facility Plan or the legislative work plan) for the upcoming month.

Ukraine’s accession to the EU also depends on the positions of EU Member States, which are not always unanimous in their support for Ukraine. However, the Verkhovna Rada can influence these positions — in particular, through interparliamentary friendship groups. Accordingly, another strand of the project will focus on analysing the work of these groups. Strengthening the effectiveness of parliamentary diplomacy tools (including friendship groups) will enable Ukraine to better substantiate its positions, explain the current context and shape realistic expectations.

We are confident that this approach will help draw the attention of international partners to challenges within the legislative European integration track and serve as an impetus for addressing them. In the longer term, it will contribute to steady progress in European integration through the consistent functioning of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

The IntehRada project is implemented with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation. The project reflects the position of the ALI and does not necessarily represent the position of the Foundation.

Democratic governance and the rule of law are essential components of European integration and of our long-term security and defence capabilities. The Agency for Legislative Initiatives consistently upholds these values and works to implement them within Ukrainian state institutions. Therefore, as part of a delegation of Ukrainian non-governmental organisations, the ALI participated in the First Supplementary Meeting on the Human Dimension organised by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Ukraine was represented by Oleksandr Zaslavskyi, Deputy Executive Director for Analytics at the ALI, Ihor Kohut, Director at the Ukrainian Parliamentary Institute, Anastasiia Datsiv, European Integration Advocacy Manager at the Human Rights Centre ZMINA, and Halyna Petrenko, Director of Detector Media.

EU accession requires the implementation of institutional reforms and transparent legislative changes, with the participation of civil society. Responsibility for this lies with the Ukrainian Parliament, whose work is undoubtedly influenced by a number of wartime circumstances. During the panel discussion ‘Parliament’s Lawmaking: Ukraine between the War and European Integration’, ALI and other participants discussed how parliamentary procedures are being adapted during wartime while preserving transparency and accountability. They also exchanged views on the role of civil society in supporting legislative quality, EU acquis alignment, and independent monitoring.

Oleksandr Zaslavskyi emphasised that the Verkhovna Rada of the 9th convocation has been working under the conditions of a full-scale war for longer than in peacetime and has gone through several stages of transformation. The first months were characterised by extraordinary speed of decision-making and an exceptionally high level of legislative activity and political unity.

A special focus should be on strengthening Parliament’s ability to operate amid new and existing security challenges and to progress toward the EU, noted Ihor Kohut. Important areas include developing the parliamentary administration and implementing the Roadmap for democratic institutions along with the European Commission’s recommendations on enlargement.

In other words, despite procedural obstacles, the Verkhovna Rada has largely adapted to the conditions of a protracted war and continues to function despite obvious difficulties. What, then, can help the Parliament achieve stability in the current Ukrainian context:

1. Full implementation of a methodology for assessing the legislative impact of draft laws, in conjunction with post-legislative oversight tools, as well as a methodology for gender-sensitive legal expertise of legislative initiatives.
2. Adoption of a law strengthening ethical standards for Members of Parliament.
3. Updating priorities regarding next steps, in particular, the adoption of a new Resolution on parliamentary reform.
4. Inclusion in the Rules of Procedure of the Verkhovna Rada of special procedures and mechanisms in case of the need to operate under extreme (including wartime) conditions.

These recommendations from the ALI will contribute to the consistent improvement of legislative work and to effective legislative support for European integration. In this process, it is important for Parliament to be open to cooperation and dialogue with civil society.

Despite the security risks associated with martial law, the Verkhovna Rada is gradually becoming more open, though it has not yet returned to pre-war levels.

Supplementary Human Dimension Meetings provide a platform for exchange of views between OSCE participating States, OSCE institutions, international organisations, civil society, and other stakeholders to discuss implementation of specific OSCE commitments in the human dimension. In 2026, the OSCE will hold three supplementary human dimension meetings. The first focused on threats to democratic lawmaking and the role of preventive safeguards, the contribution of civil society and independent oversight, and the importance of judicial review and accountability throughout the legislative process.

The series of meetings was organised by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)/Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). The discussion titled ‘Parliament’s Lawmaking: Ukraine between the War and European Integration’ was held with the support of the Netherlands Helsinki Committee.

On 9 March 2026, the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the Council of Europe, Mykola Tochytskyi, signed the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of the Profession of Lawyer. Ukraine became the 28th country to sign this international treaty.

The Convention on the Protection of the Profession of Lawyer is the first international treaty of its kind aimed at protecting this profession. The document establishes common standards for guaranteeing the independence of lawyers and provides for a monitoring mechanism to oversee the implementation of its provisions. It was developed in response to the growing number of reports of attacks against members of the profession — whether in the form of harassment, threats or physical attacks, or through interference with the exercise of professional duties (such as restricting access to clients).

The signing of the Convention is only the first step. Ukraine shall now ratify it in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 9 of the Law of Ukraine ‘On International Treaties of Ukraine’. Yevhen Krapyvin, Head of the ‘Law and Order’ Area at the Agency for Legislative Initiatives, noted that the Convention will enter into force upon the eighth ratification (of which at least six must be by Council of Europe member states). As of today, none of the signatory states has yet ratified the Convention.

For ratification, among other things, an official Ukrainian translation of the Convention is required, to be prepared by the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Daria Pysarenko, Director of the NGO ‘Tomorrow’s Lawyer’, emphasises that this is not merely a technical matter — it concerns the scope of guarantees for the independence of legal professionals.

The Agency for Legislative Initiatives and the NGO ‘Tomorrow’s Lawyer’ welcome Ukraine’s signing of the Convention while also noting that threats to the independence of the legal profession arise not only externally but also from within the profession itself. In 2022, the mandates of all bodies of the Bar self-government expired. However, the Bar Council of Ukraine has not called elections for four consecutive years. The principle of accountability of the legal profession to its members has been undermined. Advocates have not seen reports on the use of their contributions since 2021. Disciplinary procedures are used as a tool to sanction criticism of the decisions and actions of Bar self-governance bodies. Access to the profession remains non-transparent and carries risks of abuse. These and other issues are outlined in the section ‘Bar Reform’ in the Shadow Report under Chapter 23 of the EU acquis and in the European Commission’s Enlargement Report.

Given that the legal profession occupies a central place in the justice system alongside the judiciary and the prosecution service, it is not possible to speak of justice sector reform without reform of the legal profession. The European Commission has repeatedly highlighted the need for such reform and, in its latest Enlargement Report, clearly stated: ‘Ukraine needs to urgently launch a comprehensive reform of the Bar’, while also setting out its proposals for such changes.

In response to the deep institutional crisis in the Bar, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine initiated the establishment of a working group on improving legislation in the field of the Bar and the practice of law. Accordingly, in January 2026, the Government established such a working group, which includes representatives of the Agency for Legislative Initiatives and the NGO ‘Tomorrow’s Lawyer’.

Together with a coalition of civil society organisations, the Agency for Legislative Initiatives is launching a new cycle of monitoring and evaluation of Ukraineʼs European integration progress. The results will be reflected in the 2026 Shadow Report. Traditionally, the report will cover chapters 23, ‘Justice and Fundamental Rightsʼ, and 24, ‘Justice, Freedom and Securityʼ. This year, experts will also analyse a new section of the ‘Fundamentalsʼ cluster: ‘Functioning of Democratic Institutionsʼ. 

The Shadow Report is a purely civil society product, regardless of its sources of support. In order to strengthen the institutional integrity of the process, we are introducing a new approach this year: the Shadow Report will be funded by independent civil society organisations. The Agency for Legislative Initiatives and Transparency International Ukraine will cover a significant share of the resources needed for the report’s production. As it does every year, the ALI is taking on the mission of ensuring maximum impartiality and independence in the preparation process. We have been able to maintain the stability and expand the coalition, which contributes to a comprehensive and in-depth analysis. This year, the Civil Network Opora and the Centre for Democracy and Rule of Law have also joined the team working on the report. The coalition now consists of nine civil society organisations. 

This year, the Shadow Report is being prepared by experts from the following organisations: the Agency for Legislative Initiatives, Transparency International Ukraine, the Human Rights Centre ZMINA, Tomorrow’s Lawyer, Europe Without Barriers, the Ukrainian Bar Association, the Civil Network Opora, and the Centre for Democracy and Rule of Law. The report is being produced with media support from European Pravda. 

This report will encompass the following:

1. A descriptive overview of the current state of democratic institutions and the progress of reforms in this area, along with recommendations from the standpoint of civil society.
2. An assessment of Ukraine’s progress under chapters 23 and 24 since the release of the European Commission’s 2025 Report on Ukraine’s progress within the European Union Enlargement Package, considering the recommendations from previous Shadow Reports.
3. A detailed analysis of the issues arising from the reform process in each of the chapters covered.

The 2026 Shadow Report will feature a separate section containing the coalition’s specific recommendations on how to address the issues highlighted in each area. These recommendations will serve as guidelines for future government policies in these areas. 

As is customary, this year’s Shadow Report will be released on the eve of the European Commission’s Report on Ukraine’s progress within the EU’s Enlargement Package in 2026.

The production of shadow reports is standard practice for countries seeking to join the European Union. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, North Macedonia and Moldova, independent coalitions of civil society organisations have conducted alternative monitoring of reform progress in areas such as the rule of law and the functioning of democratic institutions for years. Ukraine has systematically carried out such work since 2024, when a coalition of civil society organisations first prepared an alternative analysis to the European Commission’s report on Ukraine’s progress within the European Union’s Enlargement Package. 

The Shadow Report delivers an independent, alternative analysis of public policy and how effectively the candidate country is complying with its obligations to the EU. Conducted by relevant experts from civil society organisations, it is a systematic audit that does not duplicate official state documents or the European Commission’s assessment. Rather, it is a tool for civic oversight and expert engagement in the reform process. At the same time, it evaluates the extent to which Ukrainian legislation and the entire system meet EU standards. One of the Shadow Report’s tasks is to flag gaps and encourage the effective implementation of changes.

Reform of the security and defence sector aims not only to ensure compliance with normative legal acts but also to bring about real changes in the institutional capacity, transparency and accountability of the entire law enforcement system. Accordingly, all stakeholders should be interested in this process — representatives of state institutions, civil society and international partners alike.

On 25 February, the Agency for Legislative Initiatives joined the first constituent meeting of the Coordination Council on monitoring the implementation of the Action Plan aimed at executing the Overarching Strategic Plan for Law Enforcement Reform as Part of the Security and Defence Sector of Ukraine for 2023–2027 (OSP). During the meeting, an Expert Working Group was established within the Coordination Council, and its composition and regulations were approved. Yevhen Krapyvin, Head of the Law-and-Order Area at the ALI, joined this group, which will provide expert support for monitoring and assessing the implementation of the OSP.

Participants discussed the state of implementation of the OSP, further steps and the strengthening of effective interagency cooperation to ensure the efficient and timely implementation of the OSP, as well as international support for the implementation of the reforms.

The Head of the Coordination Council, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Taras Kachka, emphasised the importance of consolidating the efforts of all state institutions on the path towards European integration — further progress must be pursued even more actively.

The Deputy Head of the Coordination Council, Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Ihor Klymenko, stressed that the reform is key to the transformation of the state and provided examples of changes already implemented — the operation of the 112 Service, the modernisation of the alert system, a new HRM strategy and the work of the relevant coordination centre. For his part, the Secretary of the Coordination Council, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Oleksii Serhieiev, spoke about the scale and interagency nature of the plan: ‘The Overarching Strategic Plan covers 198 measures and nearly 50 entities are involved in its implementation — state and local authorities, civil society organisations and research institutions.’

Yevhen Krapyvin, Head of the Law and Order Area at the ALI, noted that the Coordination Council and the expert group established under it constitute an important step on the path towards European integration.

The expert has been involved in the development of both the Overarching Strategic Plan for Law Enforcement Reform and the Action Plan for its implementation since 2020, when the idea emerged to continue the 2008 Concept for the Development of Criminal Justice. Ultimately, these documents were developed by a working group coordinated by the Office of the Prosecutor General and adopted in 2023 and 2024, respectively. Therefore, implementing these ideas in practice is a shared task for law enforcement bodies, central executive authorities, Members of Parliament and international partners.

For its part, the ALI, together with other representatives of the expert community, will continue to support the reform of law enforcement bodies and the prosecution service in Ukraine through analytical work — with the aim of shaping an objective and substantive approach to implementing reforms.

The Coordination Council was established pursuant to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 65 of 21 January 2026 as a temporary advisory body of the Government. The Council is chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine. The Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine serves as Deputy Head of the Council, while the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs acts as its Secretary. The official composition of the Council includes the heads of key law enforcement bodies (NPU, SBGS, SBI, ESBU, SSU, the State Customs Service), representatives of the Office of the President, the National Security and Defence Council, Members of Parliament, as well as international partners.

The Agency for Legislative Initiatives (ALI) has launched a new project supported by the MATRA programme of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ukraine. The project aims to consistently advance the reform of the judiciary and the prosecution, which are crucial for Ukraine’s further progress on its path toward European integration.

The project focuses on two strategic priorities.

The first area is the optimisation of the national network of general local first instance courts.

The current court system does not align with Ukraine’s new administrative and territorial structure or with the realities of wartime, thereby complicating access to justice for citizens and posing additional risks to the effective functioning of the judicial system.

To address these challenges, the Agency for Legislative Initiatives will:

1. Develop a new court mapping methodology that takes into account Ukraine’s updated administrative-territorial division, internal and external migration processes caused by the ongoing war, judges’ workload, and the geographical features of regions, including those located close to the combat zone. At all stages, the recommendations of the Council of Europe European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) will be taken into account.
2. Prepare model court maps for each government-controlled region of Ukraine. Based on the results, universal regional maps will be developed, defining the number of courts and judges, as well as hub territorial communities for the location of new courts of first instance.
3. Develop a detailed step-by-step plan for a pilot project on optimising the network of general local courts in one of Ukraine’s regions, which can later be replicated in all other regions.
4. Assist in developing the legislative framework necessary for this transformation.

This project will help rethink court mapping projects developed before the full-scale invasion and, taking into account significant population migration, propose the most optimal models for the future functioning of the system of general local courts. The goal is to ensure the best possible access to justice for Ukrainian citizens residing in government-controlled territories or using judicial services from abroad.

The second area focuses on strengthening guarantees of prosecutorial independence by enhancing the institutional capacity and autonomy of the Council of Prosecutors of Ukraine (CPU), as a body of prosecutorial self-governance, and the Qualification and Disciplinary Commission of Prosecutors (QDCP), as a body ensuring the functioning of the prosecution.

The current legal design of these bodies prevents them from effectively fulfilling their mandate to protect prosecutorial independence. At the same time, their financial dependence on the Prosecutor’s General Office undermines their institutional autonomy in this process.

The project envisages the preparation of analytical concepts based on EU standards to substantiate proposed solutions, ALI’s expert participation in drafting legislative amendments together with key stakeholders (the Office of the Prosecutor General, the Council of Prosecutors of Ukraine, and the Qualification and Disciplinary Commission of Prosecutors), as well as further advocacy for the proposed reforms.

The implementation of the project is expected to create practical preconditions for:

• improving citizens’ access to justice through an updated and rationally structured network of local general courts of first instance;
• ensuring that prosecutors adopt lawful and fair decisions in criminal proceedings by reducing the risks of pressure and interference, including from political actors or senior management, made possible through strengthening the institutional capacity of prosecutorial self-governance to safeguard prosecutorial independence;
• implementing the recommendations of the European Commission and the objectives of the Rule of Law Roadmap, which are necessary for advancing Ukraine’s path toward EU membership.

The project will last for two years.

The MATRA programme of the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands supports reforms in the field of democracy and the rule of law in the countries joining the EU. Support for this project is further evidence of the Netherlands’ consistent support, which, even in conditions of full-scale war, remains a loyal partner of Ukraine: strict but fair, and involved at every stage of Ukraine’s integration into the EU.

Responsibility for the content of the project lies with the authors and does not necessarily reflect the official position of the Netherlands.

The Agency for Legislative Initiatives (ALI), together with its partners — the NGO Tomorrow’s Lawyer — is deepening its work on reform of the Bar. Experts from the organisations — Yevhen Krapyvin, Head of the ‘Law and Order’ Area at ALI, and Daria Pysarenko, Executive Director of the NGO ‘Tomorrow’s Lawyer’ — have joined the working group on improving legislation in the field of the Bar and the practice of law.

The issue of the effective functioning of the Bar in Ukraine is particularly acute — of the entire justice triangle, it is the Bar that remains unreformed to date. Its transformation is one of the European integration requirements. Since 2023, the European Commission has referred to this in its Enlargement Reports, each time noting the absence of any progress.

Participation in the working group continues ALI’s work on the Bar, dating back to 2018, when the Agency published the Shadow Report ‘The Bar of Ukraine: lessons from the first years of self-governance’. Subsequently, the issue of the Bar was addressed in the Shadow Reports to the European Commission’s Reports on Ukraine in 2023 and 2024. Thus, ALI and ‘Tomorrow’s Lawyer’ will now focus on the practical implementation of these recommendations.

What does the Agency for Legislative Initiatives plan to focus on within the working group? Yevhen Krapyvin notes:

The expert also notes that recently, during discussions of the Anti-Corruption Strategy provisions concerning the Bar, particular interest was rightly sparked by the proposal to introduce a comprehensive register of disciplinary decisions issued against advocates. In the courts and the prosecution service, such decisions have long been public. This makes it possible to analyse practice, identify problems and improve its quality. After all, the issue is not about funding or administration, but about the system’s readiness to operate transparently.

We congratulate the experts and wish them success in reforming the Bar in line with European standards. We will continue to share all findings and updates on the Agency’s platforms.