Ukraine’s MPs propose punishing journalists for any mentions of lawyers alongside their clients. This week, the Verkhovna Rada will consider Bill No. 12320 for its second reading.
The bill’s authors include MP Hryhoriy Mamka, formerly of OPZZh, as well as other members of the Verkhovna Rada’s law enforcement committee. Among them are the committee chair and “Servant of the People” party member Serhiy Ionushas, and Maksym Buzhanskyi, known for his pro-Russian statements.
Bill No. 12320 introduces amendments to several codes and is ostensibly aimed at ensuring the guarantees of advocacy activities. However, the deputies’ proposals contain provisions that could harm freedom of speech and lead to pressure on journalists and civil activists.
“The bill introduces administrative liability for publicly equating a lawyer with their client. At the same time, the provisions of the bill in the version prepared for the second reading are written in such a way that they effectively allow holding authors of publications accountable simply for mentioning the name of a lawyer alongside the name of their client,” explains Olena Shcherban, Deputy Executive Director of the Anti-Corruption Center.
Such provisions would effectively allow holding journalists and authors of any public texts liable simply for mentioning lawyers and the cases these lawyers are handling in courts.
For example, in the recent report by Mykhailo Tkach on “Ukrainska Pravda,” lawyers who attended the scandalous birthday celebration of a security business owner were mentioned several times. Law enforcement officers and criminal authorities were also present at that celebration. One of the lawyers was also mentioned in the context of involvement in the case of Dmytro Kozyura, the former head of the SBU’s Anti-Terrorist Center, who is suspected of collaborating with the Russians.
If this bill is passed, authors of reports could be issued administrative offense protocols for such mentions of lawyers.
The bill proposes that the protocol for this administrative violation be drawn up by the heads of regional bar councils, and the ruling be issued by the corresponding district court.
It is worth noting that the National Association of Advocates of Ukraine (NAAU), a non-governmental, non-profit professional organization uniting all lawyers in Ukraine, is still headed by Lidiya Izovitova. She is known as an associate of Viktor Medvedchuk and Andriy Portnov. If the bill is adopted, Izovitova and her circle will gain the ability to initiate administrative cases against journalists.
The National Association of Advocates of Ukraine (NAAU) once welcomed the appointment of Oleh Tatarov as Deputy Head of the Office of the President.
The bill also includes amendments, full adoption of which would make it impossible to conduct operational and investigative activities or any investigations even concerning the illegal activities of lawyers. For example, this refers to Amendment No. 39 proposed by Yulia Tymoshenko and her allies. So far, the parliamentary law enforcement committee has not fully accepted this amendment, but it is possible that it may be supported during the bill’s consideration in the plenary session.
As a result, this would make it impossible for law enforcement to uncover illegal activities by lawyers. For instance, in the case of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) regarding former prosecutor and lawyer Dmytro Borzykh. Borzykh’s law firm, composed of former prosecutors including Anatoliy Matios, organized a scheme for the illegal leakage of closed court rulings from the Unified State Register of Court Decisions.
