Publication of the comparative review of the procedural and institutional setup of functioning of lawyers in Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine

The PGG II Regional Project “Strengthening the legal profession in line with European standards”, funded by the European Union and implemented by the Council of Europe, publishes a comparative review of the procedural and institutional setup of functioning of lawyers in Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

The comparative review is focused on the analysis of the legal frameworks in Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, with a particular focus on the institutional organisation of the bar, including the issues of access to the bar, freedom of exercise of the legal profession, analysis of the national models of free legal aid. The issues related to gender equality and the young lawyers are observed. The comparative review is benchmarked against the Council of Europe standards related to the profession of lawyers.

 The comparative review is developed by a group of international and national consultants, through a combination of a desk-work analysis and fact-finding missions conducted in the participating countries. For the comparative review the consultants held interviews with a broad range of national stakeholders, including representatives of bar associations, the judiciary, the state agencies, and lawyers' professional NGOs. The text of the comparative review was also a subject of substantial discussions among the key stakeholders.