UNBA: Bar Council of Kyiv region should check the legality of the lawyer’s status of SAPO Head Klymenko (DOCUMENT)
17 December 19:15
Verification of the legality of issuance of the certificate for the right to practice law to the head of the SAPO Oleksandr Klymenko is within the powers of the Bar Council of the region, i.e. Kyiv region. About this
The editorial board asked the UNBA for clarification on this issue after a statement by former SAPO prosecutor Stanislav Bronevytskyi. In it, he called on the De Jure Foundation to find out how the head of the SAPO, Oleksandr Klymenko, who had previously worked at the NABU, obtained the status of a lawyer and a certificate of the right to practice law.
What Bronevytskyi said
The ex-prosecutor said that Klymenko received the certificate from the Bar Council of Kyiv Region without ever having lived there. And after him, some of his subordinates received certificates from the same Council. At the same time, the Chairman of this Council at one time defended Mr. Martynenko, who was being investigated by the NABU.
In addition, after receiving a certificate of the right to practice law, Klymenko filed an application to suspend this right on the same day.
Therefore, Bronevytskyi is convinced that the head of the SAPO could not have completed 550 hours of internship because he worked for the NABU and could not physically combine full-time work in the bureau with the legal process of obtaining a certificate.
“Not wanting to practice law, not pursuing any legitimate goal, Klymenko, being a member of the bureau’s management, and therefore a person subject to the requirements for incompatibility of advocacy with other activities, received such a certificate and immediately stopped it,” Bronevytskyi said.
UNBA’s response
The UNBA, firstly, noted that the internship, on the basis of which a certificate for the right to practice law is subsequently obtained, is to check the readiness of a person who has received a certificate of passing the qualification exam to practice law independently. The internship is carried out for six months under the supervision of an attorney at law upon referral of the regional bar council.
And secondly, the UNBA emphasized that the Bar Council of Kyiv region should check whether the head of the SAPO, Oleksandr Klymenko, has legally obtained the status of an advocate.
“Providing information on the internship, the procedure for making decisions on obtaining a certificate of the right to practice law, including by Oleksandr Klymenko, providing information on whether the decision of the regional bar council takes into account the position of the Supreme Court in case No. 822/1309/17, as well as providing copies of documents confirming the legality of the decision to issue a certificate of the right to practice law, is within the powers of the regional bar council,” the UNBA said in its response to the publication’s request.
Comment to the UNBA’s response
The former SAPO prosecutor Stanislav Bronevytskyi, having familiarized himself with the UNBA’s position, commented in his commentary
“Let’s start with whether Klymenko could have received a certificate of the right to practice law. In its response, the UNBA says that the issue of incompatibility or prohibition of obtaining a certificate applies to judges and prosecutors. As if singling out the management of the NABU into a separate category, it refers to several decisions of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court. These decisions did indeed concern judges and prosecutors, because it was judges and prosecutors who initiated such appeals. If we look at the Law of Ukraine on the Bar and Practice of Law, it clearly states that the work in the positions specified in Article 3 of the Law on Prevention of Corruption is incompatible with the practice of law. And that includes the NABU management. That is, the same regulation should be applied to judges, prosecutors, and the NABU management,” explains Bronevytskyi.
In addition, the former SAPO prosecutor believes that at the time Klymenko received his certificate of the right to practice law, the rules that were in force provided for a mandatory internship. And the head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office did such an internship under the documents of lawyer Andrii Viktorovych Shabelnykov.
“It is clear what an internship is, it is participation in the processes together with a lawyer. Drawing up procedural documents, preparing some responses, inquiries, petitions, etc. In other words, it requires constant involvement of a person in the internship,” notes Bronevytskyi.
According to Klymenko ‘s official biography (published on the website of the Prosecutor General’s Office), the time of the internship coincides with his work at the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine.
“It is clear that neither Klymenko nor other NABU officials who received not only this year’s 2021, but also in other years, could have done this internship, because they are constantly working at the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, receiving a salary. Thus, this internship is essentially formal,” said former SAPO prosecutor Bronevytskyi.
As a reminder, Oleksandr Klymenko was appointed to the position of the head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office in 2022. Previously, he worked as a detective at the NABU.
