One of the requirements for becoming a member of the European Union is to build a system of the Bar which would be consistent with new socio-political and economic realities, and to generate legislation comprising the provisions which reproduce the model of the European institute of the Bar.

Despite the fact that many scholars studied certain aspects of attorney-at-law activities, so far there has been no comprehensive research of access to the Bar in Ukraine. However, proper organizational and legal support of attorney-at-law activities and the Bar can be considered a decisive step towards the establishment of the rule-of-law State capable of protecting human rights and freedoms reliably, and this once again emphasizes the importance of the issue under study.

The purpose of the article is to analyze the European standards of access to the Bar on the principles of humanocentrism, and also to analyze international and national practice in this area, and to outline the vectors for improvement of this human rights institution in Ukraine. It is established that the European standards of the Bar are of great importance in regulating the status of attorney-at-law and attorney-at-law activities. The author analyzes two main models of attorney’s-at-law professional training: 1) the system which comprises specialized professional school, for example, in France (Bar School); 2) the system based on courses which exists in England and Wales.

The author concludes that the analysis of the European standards of access to the Bar suggests that requirements to a person who intends to get the attorney’s-at-law status are more severe than those established by the Law of Ukraine “On the Bar and Attorney-atLaw Activities”. Besides, there is a need for a coordinated and systematic approach to the legislative definition of qualification requirements under the Law of Ukraine “On Higher Education”, since a candidate for attorney’s-at-law status should have at least the secondlevel (master’s) education degree. With a view to harmonizing Ukraine’s legislation on the Bar and attorney-at-law activities with the European standards, the procedure for acquiring the attorney’s-at-law status in Ukraine should be improved.

Bibliography

Authored books

1. Biriukova A, Advokatura Ukrainy v umovakh hlobalizatsii [The Bar in Ukraine in the Globalization Context] (Alerta 2018) (in Ukrainian).

2. Ivanitskyi S, Teoretychni osnovy orhanizatsii advokatury v Ukraini: pryntsypy ta systema [Theoretical Foundations upon Which the Bar in Ukraine is Organized: Principles and the System] (Interservis 2017) (in Ukrainian).

3.Vilchyk T, Konstytutsiine pravo na pravovu dopomohu advokata u krainakh Yevropeiskoho Soiuzu ta v Ukraini [Constitutional Right to Legal Aid by Attorney-at-Law in the European Union Countries and in Ukraine] (Pravo 2015) (in Ukrainian).

4. Zaborovskyi V, Pravovyi status advokata v umovakh stanovlennia nezalezhnoi advokatury Ukrainy [Attorney’s-at-Law Legal Status under Conditions of Establishment of the Independent Bar in Ukraine] (Helvetyka 2017) (in Ukrainian).

Edited books

5. Izbrannye reshenija Federal’nogo Konstitucionnogo Suda Germanii [Selected Judgments of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany] (Jurgen Shvabe i Torsten Gajssler sost, Infortopik Media 2018) (in Russian).

Dissertations

6. Bakaianova N, ‘Funktsionalni ta orhanizatsiini osnovy advokatury Ukrainy’ [‘Functional and Organizational Foundations of the Ukrainian Bar’] (dys d-ra yuryd nauk, 2017) (in Ukrainian).

7. Dehanov S, ‘Advokatura v Zapadnoj Evrope: opyt i sovremennoe sostojanie’ [‘The Bar in Western Europe: Experience and Current Situation’] (dis d-ra jurid nauk, 2010) (in Russian).

8. Zaborovskyi V, ‘Pravovyi status advokata v umovakh stanovlennia hromadianskoho suspilstva ta pravovoi derzhavy v Ukraini’ [‘Attorney’s-at-Law Legal Status under Conditions of Establishment of Civil Society and the Rule-of-Law State in Ukraine’] (dys d-ra yuryd nauk, 2017) (in Ukrainian).

Websites

9. ‘Becoming a barrister: an overview’ (Bar Standards Board) <https://www. barstandardsboard.org.uk/training-qualification/becoming-a-barrister.html> (accessed: 19.11.2019) (in English).