Izovitova is concealing the decision that has allowed her to lead the attorney profession for 14 years

On the left in the image is Serhii Osyka, an attorney and member of the Bar Council of Ukraine (BCU). In 2022, he took part in adopting the BCU decision that allows Medvedchuk’s associate Lidiia Izovitova to avoid elections within the attorney profession and to lead it for the 14th year now.

Izovitova was supposed to lose her post as Chair of the BCU and the Ukrainian National Bar Association (UNBA) in November 2022. By law, she had no right to be re-elected for a new term. To circumvent this prohibition, the Izovitova-controlled BCU cancelled the Congress of Attorneys at which the elections were to be held.

The official explanation is that martial law allegedly prevents the congress from being held. But this reason appears contrived: under the very same conditions, similar congresses of prosecutors, judges, academics, auditors, and private enforcement officers are taking place. Now Izovitova is concealing the BCU decision to cancel the elections even from Osyka. She describes the decision, which he himself voted for, as confidential and for official use only.

Osyka filed a lawsuit seeking to have this decision declared unlawful and to oblige the Bar Council to set the date and venue of the Congress of Attorneys. Incidentally, it seems that opposition to Izovitova also comes with its own “bonuses.” As a “reward” for this, Osyka has already received a disciplinary sanction: his attorney’s certificate was suspended for one month.

We are watching to see what the court decides. If the BCU is obliged to hold the congress, Izovitova and her associates will likely try to avoid it. Just as the authorities are still avoiding reform of the attorney profession, even though the EU has long demanded it and named it one of its priorities.