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The methodology of the attorney’s-at-law activities in enforcement proceedings is defined as a set of active and proactive actions of the attorney-at-law representing a party aimed at achieving the overall goal set by his or her client in the enforcement proceedings. The tactics of the attorney’s-at-law activities in enforcement proceedings are defined as a set of tools aimed at achieving intermediate objectives by the attorney-at-law during a separate enforcement action or at a separate stage of enforcement proceedings. The preventive methodology and tactics of an attorney’s-at-law activities are based on the ability of the lawyer to convince the client that voluntary execution of the court decision is more cost-effective and reasonable than the initiation of enforcement proceedings against him or her by the creditor. Such tools can be applied only to the initiation of enforcement proceedings by a public or private enforcement officer and are most effective in terms of saving the client’s time, financial and personal resources. The methodology and tactics of an attorney’s-at-law activities in enforcement proceedings may consist in taking an active or passive position as a representative of a party to the enforcement proceedings, may be aimed at reaching an amicable agreement with the other party or at evading the obligation to execute a court or other authority’s decision. The last of the above positions of the attorney-at-law-representative is destructive and is being a form of abuse of procedural rights demonstrated by the attorney-at-law-representative or his/her client (typically by a debtor). There some peculiarities of the methodology and tactics of attorney’s-at-law activities in enforcement proceedings, in particular the tools and methods used by the attorney-at-law-representative, must be: (a) conditioned by the general tasks of civil proceedings at the stage of enforcement of a court or other body’s decision; (b) bona fide, take into account the legitimate interests of the client and must not harm other parties to enforcement proceedings and/or third parties; (c) complied with applicable law and must not contain signs of offenses, in particular, in the form of abuse of procedural rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the analysis of the provisions of criminal procedure legislation, provisions of international legal treaties, and European Union law, and on the basis of generalisation of theoretical positions of scholars, and also taking into account the proven experience of certain European States, it has been substantiated that the principle of victim representation is one of the fundamental principles of criminal proceedings. It has been proved that representation of victims in criminal proceedings is an indispensable guarantee of the principle of equality before law and court, access to justice and binding nature of court decisions, competitiveness of the parties and freedom to present their evidence to court and to prove their convincing nature before the court, etc. It has been determined that on the way to European integration, Ukraine may need to revise certain provisions of the institute of victim representation in criminal proceedings, in particular, to determine the grounds for mandatory free-of-charge participation of a victim’s representative, at least in some categories of cases. It has been argued that victim representation should be carried out in compliance with the general principles of criminal proceedings, as well as the principles of: voluntariness; legality; competence; initiative; cooperation and effective communication with other participants to criminal proceedings. It is suggested that these provisions should be used in further scientific research as a basis for reforming criminal procedure law in the context of introducing proven foreign practices into the victim representation activities. It has been determined that the prospects for further research should include the mechanisms for implementing international standards of victim representation, problematic aspects of victim representation in criminal proceedings, and the principles of representation of a witness, a civil plaintiff, and a civil defendant.

The article is devoted to the study of organizational and legal forms of mediator activity in the context of their application by business entities for hiring mediators. The author considered two main approaches to conducting mediator activities: 1) for hire, through an entity, that ensures the conduct of mediation, or through an association of mediators; 2) individually, as an individual, that conducts independent professional activities, or as an individual entrepreneur. Taking into account the mentioned approaches, the legal and practical aspects of choosing one or another approach for hiring mediators by business entities were analyzed. It is noted that according to the first approach, the business entity must obtain the status of the entity, that ensures the conduct of mediation. At the same time, this approach, due to the presence of gaps in the legislation, causes discussions about its practical applicability and is also limited by the possibilities of resolving conflicts (disputes) in which the relevant business entity is not a party to the conflict (dispute). Making an analogy with the experience of business entities interacting with «in-house attorneys-at-law», the possibilities of applying the second approach to hiring mediators were considered. In particular, the author analyzes positions from the tax authorities, the Bar Council of Ukraine and the Supreme Court regarding the possibility of an employee who holds a position that does not involve the activity of an attorneyat- law, but at the same time has a certificate of the right to practice the activity of an attorneyat- law, to represent his employer in court as an attorney-at-law. Special attention is given to the accounting of an attorney-at-law as a selfemployed individual, who is also an employee in a position that does not involve the activity of an attorney-at-law. Additionally, problematic issues related to the calculation and payment of a unified social contribution in these legal relationships are highlighted. Based on the analyzed experience, the author draws conclusions about the possibilities of hiring a mediator by a business entity to settle internal conflicts (disputes) in the context of the second approach and also emphasizes the shortcomings of the legal regulation of mediators' performance of their activities for hire, which causes the need for making legislative amendments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phenomenon of popularisation of alternative methods of conflict resolution is widespread in Poland, both at the state and self-government levels. Combining the interdisciplinary achievements of practice and doctrine, numerous projects and programmes are being developed to encourage parties and professional lawyers to use mediation in the process of dispute resolution. However, on the basis of statistical data showing the use of judicial mediation in cases where it could have been used at a level of 1.6%, it should be concluded that there is still a long way to go before mediation becomes a ‘fully-fledged’ method of conflict resolution, constituting a viable alternative to the traditional adjudicative method of dispute resolution. The purpose of the article is to present the results of empirical research conducted by the authors within the framework of scientific activities related to the implementation of the assumptions of the Academic Mediation Centre operating at the Institute of Legal Sciences of Maria Curie-Skłodowska University (Lublin). The article consists of three parts. The first one presents the subject, scope and objectives of the research, as well as the research hypotheses and methodological details. The second part presents the results of the empirical research conducted and the partial conclusions. The last part is a summary of the conclusions of the research carried out.

Copyright of Studia Iuridica Lublinensia is the property of Maria Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Studia Iuridica Lublinensia is the property of Maria Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The purpose of this article is to present the institution of signalling a gross breach of procedural duties by an attorney-at-law who is a defense counsel or an attorney of a party in criminal proceedings. This institution is regulated by the provisions of Article 20 of the Polish Code of Criminal Procedure, while this provision is also applicable in other procedures: proceedings in cases regarding fiscal crimes and fiscal offenses, misdemeanour proceedings and executive criminal proceedings. The analysis of the applicable regulation leads to the conclusion that signalling constitutes an action of the procedural authorities "outside" the pending criminal proceedings. A notification of a breach of a procedural duty addressed by a public prosecutor or a court to the council of the competent district chamber of attorneys-at-law does not in itself hold the alleged offending attorney-at-law liable for professional liability. The decision as to whether any consequences are to be drawn against him or her as a result of the finding of a violation is taken autonomously by the organs of the attorneys-at-law self-government. They are obliged to take action about the prosecutor's or court's signalling, and the dean of the council is obliged to inform the body of the violation of such action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article concerns the representation of a juvenile victim. It analyzes the differences between the statutory representative, the person under whose constant care the injured party remains and the child's representative. The article aims to draw attention to a situation in which there is a conflict of interests between the representative representing a juvenile victim and the other parent, which entails the need to exclude the representation of the juvenile victim by the statutory representative, giving primacy to the child's representative [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to present selected issues related to the participation of an attorney-at-law in pretrial proceedings in criminal cases as a defense counsel of choice (excluding offense cases, fiscal offenses and fiscal crimes), taking into account the relevant rights and obligations of attorneys-atlaw in connection with the provision of legal assistance set by the regulations of the Act on Attorneys-at-Law, the Polish Code of Criminal Procedure, as well as rules of professional deontology, particularly the Code of Ethics for Attorneys-at-Law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Studia Iuridica Lublinensia is the property of Maria Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Good conduct is a normative construction of a general clause. Good manners are an important issue from the perspective of the Code of Ethics for attorneys-at-law and the issue of practising this profession. It refers to undefined criteria and extra-legal assessments. By its nature, being a vague and contextual term, it performs an important role in forming appropriate ethical attitudes of attorneys-at-law. The duty to decode good conduct rests with the District Disciplinary Courts, the Higher Disciplinary Court and the Disciplinary Ombudsman. Professional activities undertaken by an attorney-at-law often lead to questions as to how they should behave in a specific situation. The main objective of this paper is to analyse the “good conduct” clause from the theoretical and practical point of view in the context of professional activities undertaken by attorneys-at-law. The research methods used are adequate to the assumptions made. These include the method of a terminological and conceptual analysis, an analysis of the law in force and an analysis of reasoning given in court decisions.

The aim of this article is to analyse the normative regulations on the participation of advocates (adwokaci) and attorneys-at-law (radcy prawni) in stages of qualification to become members of these professions. It formulates de lege lata and de lege ferenda proposals on the matter of the nature and significance of the activities carried out by legal counselling professionals for obtaining access to these professions. This issue has not been examined in detail in legal science, as the studies conducted so far focus primarily on the competences of the authorities of self-governments of individual professions of public trust. The research methods used in this study are relevant to its purpose. An examination of the law in force is carried out and so is an analysis of the established line of judicial decisions and the relevant literature. Moreover, the study has employed an intra-system comparative method to identify possible differences between rights of advocates and attorneys-at-law. Based on the research carried out, it has been concluded that while it is admissible that the content of examination questions for the professional training entrance examinations be identical, it is appropriate to differentiate exam assignments for advocate and attorney-at-law qualification examinations. The comments on the law as it stands (de lege lata) point to the broad array of powers exercised by the Minister of Justice at various stages of access to legal professions. The fundamental de lege ferenda proposal formulated on the basis of this analysis is to make changes to the normative regulations aimed at increasing the participation of practitioners in various stages of the qualification procedure. Advocates and attorneys-at-law who are members of the relevant professional self-governments practice professions of public trust of utmost importance to individuals, the general public and the state. The provision of legal assistance depends on meeting high requirements, including those of substantive nature. It is therefore reasonable to assume that it is members of the professions themselves who are most predisposed to assess the suitability of candidates to practice these professions.

This study intends to discuss whether and under what circumstances representation of a client who abuses the law may become a basis for disciplinary liability. Both the reason and the broader background of this issue were provided by a ruling in which an attorney-at-law was found guilty of having acted as an attorney before voivodeship administrative courts throughout Poland in 241 cases initiated by complaints about the inactivity of the authorities in providing public information. It was alleged that the attorney-at-law was aware of the fact that the client had abused the right to submit freedom-of-information requests and that he also received remuneration on this account. First, an empirical study was conducted, consisting in the analysis of documents included in the files of the disciplinary case, which were made available for the purpose of this research. Secondly, the article presents a legal discussion on the basis of liability, culminating in an assessment of the analysed decision.

Free-of-charge legal assistance remains one of the key areas of state activity. However, the system created is not optimal and its formal, organisational and financial framework needs to be modified. This concerns not only an increase in the amounts of funding, but also the quality of services provided. Not only is the choice of the legal and organisational model of providing legal assistance doubtful, but also the subjective and objective scope of the statutory regulations (including in the context of interpretation of tax regulations) raise some objections. As a postulate for the law as it should stand de lege ferenda), it is proposed to make appropriate legislative changes, aimed not only at clarifying the content of the provisions, or removing the legislative inconsistencies found, but also at thoroughly considering a remodelling of the legal assistance system in Poland. The above conclusions were formulated against the backdrop of the organisational and financial legal solutions adopted in other countries. To this end, the author used the formal-dogmatic and comparative legal methods, and also resorted to the historical method as an auxiliary method, in order to show the evolution of the institution under analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large-scale changes in social life which should ensue from the new political course aimed at overcoming the corruption phenomena and imbalances in law enforcement, at strengthening the domain of human rights protection, and implementing the tasks of justice, are possible if systemic reforms are made. Active law-making activities require an in-depth study of the current state of legislation and the content of legislative initiatives from the standpoint of theory, practice and foreign experience with a view to developing thorough recommendations in this area. The purpose of the article is to comprehensively analyze the constitutional and legal regulation of the bar in the new socio-political conditions, to study scientific sources and relevant draft legislation in the field under study, and also to develop scientifically-based proposals aimed at improving the legislation on the bar and attorney-at-law activities and the practice of its application. It is noted that at the current stage of judicial and legal reform, one of major problems of the bar is to determine the scope of reform which is really necessary for a proper implementation of the functions of the bar. Arguments are offered in favor of the position that current legislation on the bar and attorney-at-law activities is generally consistent with international standards in this area. At the same time, taking into account practical issues of attorney-at-law activities and organization of the bar, it is possible to formulate the vectors for further development of legislation, based on the real needs which society has with regard to professional legal aid and guarantees of attorney-at-law activities. It is from these positions that the article assesses legislative proposals and the ways of further improvement of attorney-at-law activities. The article supports the legislative initiative to expand the opportunities for self-representation of public authorities, authorities of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, local self-government bodies, and other legal entities, irrespective of the procedure subject to which they are established in court. Critical assessment is given to the proposal of abolishing the exclusive right of attorneys-at-law to represent individuals in courts in the text of the Ukrainian Constitution; of removing incompatibility requirements from the Law of Ukraine “On the Bar and Attorney-at-Law Activities”; of introducing an employment contract as the basis upon which an attorney-at-law works; of making attorneys-at-law liable under disciplinary procedure solely for actions committed in the attorney’s-at-law capacity; of including the Unified Register of Attorneys-at-Law of Ukraine in the system of Public Registers and changing its name; of simplifying the procedure for initiating criminal proceedings against attorneys-at-law. Suggestions are made as to further ways of improving the organization and activities of the bar, primarily strengthening the independence of the bar and guarantees of attorneyat- law activities. It is noted that the update of legislation on the bar needs certain correlation, given the experience of the bar in Ukraine and European countries and the trends according to which attorney-at-law activities develop in today’s world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of the Rules of Attorney’s-at-Law Ethics (the Rules) in attorney’sat- law activities is a key issue in the context of consolidation and exercise of the generally accepted ethical approaches to professional attorney’s-at-law activities. The Rules as modern ethical standards, by their essence, should be formed with due regard for the realistic objectives of the Bar in Ukraine and from the perspective of protection of the legal professional community from illegal encroachments on the freedom and independence of attorney’s-at-law activities. Accordingly, the Rules are seen not only as a regulator of attorney’s-at-law conduct, but also as an element of attorney’s protection which establishes whether certain forms and limits of conduct used by an attorney in the course of his/her activities as attorney-at-law are legitimate, and in the case they are, the Rules actually acknowledge that such conduct as legitimate. The purpose of the article is to substantiate the approaches to determining the functions of the Rules in the proceedings which involve protection of the rights and interests of attorneys-at-law. From the perspective of using the opportunities provided by the Rules, it should be noted that this document is a certain agreement between society and attorneys regarding the restrictions which the Ukrainian Bar voluntarily assumes in connection with the special social status of attorney-at-law and guarantees of his/her professional activities. The Rules should not only define the relations between attorneys-at-law and regulate their conduct, but also be an efficient tool ensuring protection against illegal actions on the part of individual officials of governmental bodies and against non-fulfillment of the State’s obligations to the Bar in general. Besides, the Rules are a system of guidelines which attorneys-at-law may use, and they consolidate a uniform system of criteria for evaluating the ethical aspects of attorney’s-at-law conduct. If an attorney, while facing conflict situations, or in his/her daily practice relies on declaring that his/her actions comply with the Rules, this will make impossible a groundless restriction of his rights by procedural opponents, since in such a case the attorney performs his/her duty to society. Therefore, it is quite logical to refer to certain aspects and provisions of the Rules while preparing procedural documents, and to mention the Rules in support of own position as a source of law on par with codes, laws, judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, and other statutory regulations. In terms of protection, of relevance is the right to interpret the Rules which belongs exclusively to the Congress of the Bar and the Council of the Bar of Ukraine, which means that if any non-standard challenging situation arises whereby an attorney becomes aware of the risk that while intending to make an illegal influence on him/her and for the purpose of destabilizing his/her activities, the opponent party can file a complaint requesting to bring this attorney to disciplinary liability, in such a case there is every reason for this attorney to be the first to contact the Council of the Bar of Ukraine and the Committee for legal ethics at the National Bar Association of Ukraine, within its competence, as regards preparing proposals on legal ethics in connection with the decisions of the Congress of the Bar of Ukraine, decisions of the Council of the Bar of Ukraine, for the purpose of obtaining appropriate explanations of the Rules. Based on the study made, the author has established that the Rules perform not only an endogenous function, acting as a regulator of attorney’s-at-law activities. The Rules contain the mechanisms using which attorneys-at-law can protect their rights and interests in response to external influences of exogenous nature, and provide a substantiation of the forms and limits of their conduct through interpretation and explanation of the Rules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Having the task of fulfilling his/her duty in criminal proceedings, which is mostly to protect the rights and legitimate interests and to improve the client’s situation, an attorney-at-law should go beyond the exercise of available rights, he/she should look for and use the chance to implement such rights and to identify the situation in which they are best used. The efficiency of defense counsel’s efforts depends directly on the procedural opportunities as a set of the rights and conditions (situation) for exercising them. For an attorney, the most important aspect is not the very fact of being aware of the procedural form of interim measures and the suspect’s rights when the former are imposed, but how and when these rights can be used to ensure efficient protection. So far, the issue of procedural opportunities available to defense counsel in the context of ensuring client’s (suspect’s and accused) rights and interests in case of bail are lacking attention on the part of Ukrainian scholars. The purpose of the article is to analyze the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine (Ukraine’s CPC) and the law application practice which currently exists in our State regarding the use of bail in criminal proceedings, in particular, as regards resolution of problems arising in connection with the defense exercised when the said procedural measure is applied. Procedural opportunities available to defense counsel in criminal proceedings are a set of his/her statutory rights and availability of an admissible situation allowing for skillful exercise of these rights. Therefore, in case an interim measure is imposed, it is not only about whether a defense counsel has procedural rights to be used when choosing, changing or canceling this measure, but also about the skills, conditions and techniques of their appropriate exercise, if this is necessary in a certain situation, as well as about the prospects and the possibility of using the same. Bail is an unlimited-term interim measure involving certain duties assigned to the suspect and the accused. As soon as the period for which these duties are imposed expires, the ruling by which bail is set also terminates. Procedural opportunities open to defense counsel in such a situation are, using the procedural rights available to him/her, to arrange that bail is returned to the bailor. Upon expiration of the term for which a duty or duties are set by the ruling of an investigating judge or court on imposing bail as an interim measure, if these duties are not continued according to the statutory procedure, this clearly indicates that bail as a pre-trial restriction is terminated, since otherwise the essence and the significance of this measure as such is lost. In this case, defense counsel can actually use his/her right to submit to the investigating judge a motion to return bail, and this creates a procedural opportunity for him/her to protect the client’s interest. Although bail as an interim measure is inseparable from the duties for which it is imposed, when the question arises about expiration of the term of a respective duty, it is this duty secured by bail that should be continued rather than the interim measure proper – bail. However, Ukraine’s CPC does not provide for such a ruling by investigating judge. Therefore, defense counsel has a procedural opportunity, using his/her right to appeal against an investigating judge’s decision and being guided by the opinion of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court, to file an appeal against the said decision. Procedural opportunities of defense counsel in criminal proceedings as a set of his/ her rights and the presence of a situation in which the same can be exercised, is a real mechanism to ensure the suspect’s rights, including in case bail is imposed in criminal proceedings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern trends towards enhancement of a particular type of legal protection and legal defense activities are characterized by inconsistency and quite often are marked by “proposals” of diametrically opposed meaning which are expressed by representatives of public authorities. Unfortunately, such trends, along with reaching into separate legislative acts, are also consolidated in the Fundamental Law of Ukraine without a prior broad constructive discussion. Furthermore, authors of such proposals are guided only by their own corporate interests and do not think about the consequences which they will create for citizens of Ukraine and other professionals, they do not compare positive and negative results of implementation of their initiatives in the short and in the long run. The purpose of the article is to draw the attention of scholars to the fundamental principles of professional activity of attorneys-at-law and to work out a concept of its development, and also to highlight certain problematic issues. The article touches upon two important and debatable issues which should arouse the interest of experts as regards the content of the science of advocacy (studies of the Bar) and one of its area of research, namely, philosophical perception of the functions of an attorney-at-law in a rule-of-law society, objective and subjective factors which should be taken as the basis for determining the specifics of attorney’s activities, for uniting into the Bar associations, for advanced training etc. Without a scientific and impartial analysis of current trends in the development of the legal system of Ukraine and, in particular, the Bar as an essential part thereof, it is impossible to develop optimal vectors of its improvement. Therefore, the steps to introduce the “attorney-at-law monopoly” and its abolition are a manifestation of the categorical way of thinking typical of juvenile maximalism. We believe that the attorney-at-law monopoly is possible and useful but, in our opinion, just to a limited extent, in particular, when in the context of investigative actions appointment of a defense counsel and the latter’s participation in criminal proceedings is needed. So, these issues require an advanced scientific research, rather than a rapid decision-making and consolidation thereof in the law, and even more so in the Constitution of Ukraine. With a view to preventing such categorical steps in the future, an objective picture of the functional focus of attorney’s activities should be created, and it is proposed to give this focus of study the title ‘philosophy of the science of advocacy as one of its branches. Therefore, the article should not be perceived as an outlined theory of the philosophy of the science of advocacy, since its purpose is only the initial stage of establishing the issues which are of the essence for advocacy today and of defining the approaches which can form such a theory that will allow formulating scientifically justified ways to resolve these issues and predicting the development of advocacy in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The non-linear development of Ukrainian society time and again brings into focus the basic values of a democratic State underlain by an individual, his/her rights and freedoms, as well as institutions of law capable of ensuring and protecting the same. Traditionally, the idea of legal protection in the State is represented by the Bar, the institution which is being developed driven by factors of different order and nature. Thus, the demand for the legal profession, the complex nature of public legal relations and the contradictory, spontaneous approach to their legal regulation have actualized the issue of specialization within the Bar, which is a fairly new subject of research for the Ukrainian scientific discourse and is perceived by Ukrainian scholars as a purely positive phenomenon capable of ensuring high quality of attorney-at-law services. At the same time, the negative consequences which specialization entails have not been given due consideration. The purpose of the article is to make a systematic analysis of the prospects for the development of specialization within the Bar in Ukraine, with due regard for the national specifics of its manifestations, as well as for the strong and weak points which it engenders within the legal profession. Given that currently there are multiple approaches to the interpretation of the term “specialization”, the article focuses on the following key aspects of specialization within the Bar: 1) specialization implies segmentation, albeit conditional, of the areas of attorneyat- law activities; 2) specialization means that an attorney-at-law has and concentrates certain deep (expert) knowledge and skills in a relevant area of attorney-at-law activities which is different from the other ones; 3) the area of attorney-at-law activities selected as specialization is a permanent priority for an attorney-at-law; 4) specialization positions, personifies and differentiates an attorney-at-law from his/her colleagues. The peculiarity of specialization within the Bar is that it is inherent in attorney-atlaw self-administration (corporate level) preconditioning the specifics of its organization and implementation of functions, as well as in attorney-at-law activities predetermining the specific features present in the functioning of its various organizational forms (professional level). In both of these areas, specialization has an impact with two vectors: a) organizational and b) functional. It is noted that scholars mainly consider branch-related differentiation of law as the basis for specialization. At the same time, the area of legal practice is also determined by the type of client (legal entity or individual) upon which an attorney-at-law or a law firm focuses. The article emphasizes that the demand for specialization, for “profile” attorneysat- law is largely determined and adjusted by the specifics of the market and economic development of a particular State. In this context, the article gives characterization to the concept of “lawyer boutique”, the emergence of which is an example of how specialization determines trends in the development of organization and functioning of separate forms of attorney-at-law activities. It is emphasized that in Ukraine specialization of attorney-at-law activities is informal, being developed beyond the scope of legal regulation, and therefore is uncontrolled. Furthermore, the article highlights negative consequences entailed by the impact of attorney-at-law activities specialization which should be seen in the professional mystification and routinization of practice. As a summary, a conclusion is made about the need for statutory regulation of specialization of attorney-at-law activities, since this will facilitate high-quality legal services by attorneys-at-law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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-at- Law 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]