Why EU is forcing reform of the bar system by Portnov what needs to change

The European Commission expanded the list of priority tasks facing Ukraine in the field of justice in its latest Enlargement Report.

For the first time since Ukraine obtained EU candidate status, this short list now includes a requirement that Ukraine "advance reform of the bar" as early as 2026.

The bar system is an essential component of the justice system and, at the same time, the only one still operating under the old 2012 rules that has yet to undergo reform.

Read more about the opportunity to change the least reformed part of Ukraine’s judicial system in the article by Daria Pysarenko of the NGO Future Lawyer: Why reform of the bar has become part of Ukraine’s European integration and what EU demands to be changed. 

Ukraine needs to develop new policies and rules governing the functioning of the bar, without interfering in lawyers’ professional independence, but ensuring quality standards, institutional accountability and restoring public trust.

For the first time, the bar has been identified as a separate component of the Anti-Corruption Strategy for 2026-2030, alongside the courts and the prosecution service. This reflects the European Union’s view that reducing corruption risks must encompass all elements of the justice system, including the bar.

In addition, a section on the bar has been included in the Roadmap for Rule of Law Reforms, one of the key benchmarks in Ukraine’s path toward EU membership. This roadmap was agreed with the EU and approved by the government in May 2025.

The issue has ceased to be an internal professional debate and has become part of the state’s official European integration commitments, enshrined in strategic documents.

On 12 January 2026, a government working group was established to improve legislation on the bar.

The crisis within the bar has both external and internal dimensions.

Externally, it is manifested in the failure to fully perform its constitutional functions.

Internally, the crisis relates to questions of legitimacy of decisions, the organization of self-governance, and the accountability of governing bodies to lawyers themselves.

Lawyers in Ukraine have a system of professional self-governance that has remained unchanged for more than 14 years, including the head of the National Bar Association of Ukraine (NAAU) and the Bar Council of Ukraine (RAU), Lidiia Izovitova.

Back in 2012, the Law On the Bar and Legal Practice was adopted. Key justice-related laws were drafted by Andriy Portnov back then.

Ultimately, it is hard to recall another influential institution in Ukraine that has been led by the same individuals since 2012.

However, elections alone will not solve the problem. The entrenched system itself must be changed.

This is precisely what the European Commission emphasised in its 2025 report: first, the legislative rules for forming bar self-governance bodies must be amended, and only then should elections be held.

The current model, with its quota system and multi-level delegation, effectively limits competition and allows the current leadership to consolidate control by ensuring that only loyal delegates participate in the Congress of Lawyers, which elects new leaders. That is why expert recommendations call for the introduction of modern voting tools, including online formats, in line with a profession numbering more than 70,000 lawyers.

Reforming the electoral procedures for self-governance will be a key task for the working group. The rules of elections determine the legitimacy of these bodies and, most importantly, must allow new leaders of the bar to come to power and implement change.

In any case, the opportunity has now emerged to reform the least reformed part of Ukraine’s judicial system.

And European integration offers hope that these changes will be substantive.