Eastern partnership countries discuss gender-related issues in the profession of lawyers

On 6 February an online event was organised to present the findings of the cross-country review of the impact of gender-related issues on the profession of lawyer and access to justice in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, and Ukraine. The event gathered 62 members of the Bar Associations, judges, and other national authorities’ representatives from the five countries.

The cross-country review provides an analysis of gender-related legal frameworks of five countries benchmarking on relevant European standards and providing recommendations for improvement.

Promoting gender equality issues is among the priorities of the Council of Europe in full compliance with the global order, which is reflected in the adopted gender equality strategy for 2018-2023. All regulations, policies, and programmes relevant to gender affect the living conditions and access to resources for women and men. This effect, known as “gender impact” and its assessment involves a process of analysis to determine the tangible results that the intervention could have on the effective equality of women and men. 

During the event the methodology, structure and applicable standards, country-specific reviews of legislation and statistics of representation of women in a legal profession, as well as comparative perspective of the review were outlined.

The format of the presentation gave an opportunity for the participating countries to get acquainted with the cross-country review and comment on the findings and recommendations. The final review is expected to be approved and made public by the end of February. 

The event has been organised under the project “Strengthening the profession of lawyer in line with European standards” funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe in their Partnership for Good Governance II 2019-2022.