The 13th CRIMINAL LAW FORUM of the Ukrainian Advocates' Association took place

On December 8, 2023, the 13th CRIMINAL LAW FORUM of the Ukrainian Advocates' Association took place, in which EQUITY participated as the General Partner of the forum. The discussion was devoted to the main problems during martial law and ways to solve them: the most pressing practical issues in the field of criminal law and procedure, innovations and changes.

Maksym Saliy, attorney at law at EQUITY, moderated the first session of the forum: "Major innovations and changes in criminal law and procedure in 2023-2024". Together with his colleagues, he discussed new implementations in the field of criminal law and novelties in the case law of the Supreme Court, and added what to expect in this area in the future in the context of a full-scale invasion.

The participants discussed extradition and international wanted list, how these processes work, and what strategy should be followed by the defense and prosecution. The session closed with a discussion of court practice regarding the closure of criminal proceedings due to the completion of the pre-trial investigation.

The discussion joined:

• Judge of the Criminal Court of Cassation of the Supreme Court;
• Partner of Skliarenko, Sydorenko and Partners, Ph;
• Senior Associate at LCF Law Group;
• Attorney at Law, PhD, Partner of BMF Legal Group;

Natalia Dmytruk, Judge of the Holosiivskyi District Court of Kyiv, shared her expert opinion during the session.

Dmytro Bondarchuk, attorney at law at EQUITY, spoke at the II session of the forum "Criminal practice under martial law" on the topic: "Observance of human rights in places of detention during martial law".

The EQUITY attorney spoke about the problems of observing and ensuring basic human rights in places of detention during martial law, emphasizing that the conditions of detention leave much to be desired and there are significant human rights violations, and the circumstances are qualified by the ECHR as torture. Dmytro emphasized that there are many cases when seriously ill defendants are placed in pre-trial detention centers without receiving appropriate medical care. His words were confirmed by Yevgeniy Riyako, Managing Partner of RIYAKO & PARTNERS, who gave an example from his own practice of defending clients.

The discussion was joined by:

• Judge of the Criminal Court of Cassation within the Supreme Court;
• Partner of Attorneys at Law "Leshchenko, Doroshenko & partners", Ph;
• Senior lawyer at EQUITY, attorney at law;
• Partner of VB PARTNERS, attorney at law;
• Attorney, Managing Partner of RIYAKO & PARTNERS Law Firm.

We thank the participants for their interesting discussions!

The recording of the forum is available here.