Ignas Vėgėlė President of the Lithuanian Bar

 Representation in courts solely by advocates: ◦ in the Supreme Court - from the 1 of January 2017; ◦ in courts of appeal - from the 1 of January 2018; ◦ in courts of first instance - from the 1 of January  Constitutional Court of Ukraine: the bill complies with the Constitution of Ukraine.  The Ukrainian National Bar Association: the exclusive representation in court by advocates will ensure high quality of legal assistance and will be one of the guarantees of the right to a fair trial.

 Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights.  The right to “access to the courts” - in civil as well as in criminal matters (Golder v. United Kingdom, Judgment of February 21, 1975).  The state has a free choice of the means to be used for ensuring an effective right of access to the courts.  An individual should enjoy his effective right of access to the courts in conditions not at variance with Article 6 (Airey v. Ireland, Judgment of October 9, 1979).

 Directive 98/5/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 1998: ◦ in order to ensure the smooth operation of the justice system, member States may lay down specific rules for access to supreme courts, such as the use of specialist lawyers.  The Services Directive (Directive 2006/123/EC) does not deny the advocatory monopolyDirective 2006/123/EC

 The suspect or the accused: ◦ mandatory representation by an advocate;  The victim: ◦ representation by an advocate (or his assistant); ◦ other representative having a higher legal education if he is authorized by the pre-trial investigator, prosecutor or judge. ◦ legal entity - by the manager or an authorized employee.

 Monopoly of representation - before the Supreme Court.  In the first and second instance - representation by: ◦ Advocates; ◦ Persons having a degree in law if they represent their relatives or spouses; ◦ Trade unions if they represent their members in the labour cases; ◦ Etc.  Litigation costs reimbursement - only if litigants were represented by an advocate or his assistant.

 In the procedure of administrative offences representation by: ◦ an advocate or other person, having a university degree in law or an equivalent qualification.  In the administrative procedure representation by: o advocates; o no restrictions for other persons to represent in courts, regardless of their professional qualification  Current reform: o only particular persons may represent in courts in administrative proceedings; o litigation costs can be reimbursed only if litigants were represented by an advocate or his assistant.

 Civil, criminal and administrative matters, at least for most of the procedures: ◦ 9 states (Belgium, Cyprus, Luxembourg, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Monaco, Turkey).  Representation of the suspect or the accused: ◦ 34 states (Andorra, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Republic of Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, the FYROMacedonia, Turkey, Ukraine, UK-Scotland).  Representation of the victim: o 18 states (Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Georgia, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Norway, Portugal, Russian Federation, Switzerland, the FYROMacedonia, Turkey, UK-Scotland).  Administrative cases: o 12 states (Belgium, Cyprus, France, Georgia, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Slovakia, Turkey, UK-Scotland).

 Requirements for advocates - protection against the risk of an unfair trial: ◦ Legal education and special training:  45 of 47 states require to complete an initial training before starting legal practice (i.e. internship).  36 of 47 states require a continuous training/specific training. ◦ Rules of ethics (basic principles):  freedom and independence of the advocate’s activities;  democracy, collegiality of relations and fair competition between advocates;  lawfulness of the activities of advocates;  non-disclosure of the client’s secret;  loyalty to the client and avoidance of any conflict of interests;  irreproachable behavior. ◦ Violation - disciplinary sanctions.

 Civil liability insurance  Guarantees to advocates’ activities: ◦ confidentiality of information disclosed to an advocate; ◦ prohibition to interrogate an advocate; ◦ prohibition to record or monitor any information transmitted between the defense attorney and the accused person via telecommunications networks (Lithuania). ◦ prohibition to examine, monitor or take any documents or media relating to the attorney’s professional activity (Lithuania).  Representation by an advocate in court provides a higher degree of legal protection.

 Does the advocatory monopoly self-evidently provides sufficient protection against the risk of an unfair trial?  number of advocates in proportion to the general size of state’s population : ◦ Highest number of lawyers: Luxembourg (384), Greece (380), Italy (379), Malta (332), Iceland (322), UK- England and Wales (308). ◦ Lowest number of lawyers: Moldova (49), Russian Federation (47), Armenia (45), UK-Northern Ireland (44), Finland (35), Bosnia and Herzegovina (35), Azerbaijan (8). ◦ Lithuania - 59 lawyers; ◦ Ukraine lawyers.

 Financial obstacle to a fair trial if the fees for representation are too high.  In most countries the fees of advocates are freely negotiated.  However: ◦ fees bound by the national law providing that they are adequate and proportionate to the value and complexity of the case; ◦ conditional fee arrangement (“no win, no fee”) or agreements “paid on result”; ◦ regulation of the Ministry of justice (i.e. Slovakia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, etc.)’ ◦ guiding tables for lawyers’ fees (i.e. Denmark, etc.); ◦ State legal aid schemes.

 Representation by an advocate - a higher degree of legal protection.  Insufficient number of advocates might be a breach of the right to a fair trial.  The effective activity of the national bar association - substantial contribution to the effective implementation of the right to a fair trial.  Encouragement of the professional representation by advocates is an advantage to the society and the justice system (not excluding the work of the judges).

Thank you for listening!