The legal community in Europe - supporting lawyers in Ukraine

SUMMARY: OVER 300 UKRAINIAN LAWYERS SIGNED A PETITION ONLINE, COURAGEOUSLY  CALLING FOR A CHANGE.   THEY STATE THAT THEIR LEGAL COMMUNITY IS WILLING TO INITIATE REAL CHANGES TO THE SYSTEM, THAT ARE ESENTIAL IF UKRAINE IS TO BECOME A CONTEMPORARY FUNCIONING STATE.   AWARE THAT ANY SUPOORT IS WELCOME AND NEEDED, WE CREATED THE FOLLOWING PETITION IN ORDER TO SUPPORT THEM - AND INVITE ALL LAWYERS AND LEGAL PROFESSIONALS ALL OVER EUROPE TO SIGN THIS.

*update 21 and 25 February: we started this petition 14 February, the situation got better, but your support is still very much needed..

From the European Legal community in general

In support of the Ukraine Legal community

 

We, lawyers, judges, prosecutors, legal counsellors, masters in law, (ELSA-) law-students,... all over Europe, take notice of your courageous and honourable point of view and statement as submitted in a petition of Ukrainian Lawyers ("lawyers on crisis") as mentioned below.

We wish it to be known to you and the entire legal community, that we support you.

 

The Ukraine lawyers petition contains three messages:

  • The first is to "call a spade a spade", meaning that as the voice of the legal community in Ukraine, the signatories of the petition are willing to admit the sad truth of the criminal situation that has enveloped the country in recent years.
  • The second is to acknowledge that the legal and government systems "are on the brink of collapse", a state of affairs the country has not faced since independence.
  • Finally, they stated that the legal community is willing to initiate real changes to the system that are essential if Ukraine is to continue as a properly functioning state.

Ultimately, the (Ukrainian) petition serves as a clarion call to the legal community to take proactive measures to combat what they see as "the lawlessness that has been taking place Ukraine before our eyes over the past two-plus months."  The petition makes it clear that the signatories to the document are on the side of Euro-Maidan, since the initiator of the petition says, "Thanks to the heroic and sacrificial work of hundreds of journalists and civil society activists, the entire country received unequivocal evidence of crimes committed en masse in all branches of power in Ukraine".  As was stated in KyivPost on the 12th of this month - emphasizing though that the petition is purely non-partisan, and is worried about the legal implications of the crisis.

 

To date, February 14, 2014, roughly 370 lawyers and legal professionals have added their names to the petition. It shows a not to underestimate amount of courage to do so.

More than ever, we want to give our support to our fellow-lawyers, to the front-line of democracy: free and fair elections, freedom of speech and protection of minorities - and a legal framework to empower this! From Ural to Iceland, form Faro to Tbilisi, we show our fellows that we care. Layers to lawyers (and we suggest doctors, journalists, ... might follow this example to express their will).

Though sometimes slow and inert, Europe is and will always be the founding continent of democracy, continent of Enlightenment, bringing forth the Magna Charta and the Declaration of Human Rights...  We stand proudly for those achievements. We do not lean back (anymore).

If you are part of the legal community anywhere in Europe and you care, please sign this petition today. We aim for signatures from as many European countries as possible.

Make your voice heard to those who need it now. It takes you just 1 minute. For them it concerns their life and that of their children.

 

Thank you - and share this via your organisations and facebook!

 

Willem Hoefnagels - Master in Law, Brussels, Belgium

Sandra Roelofs - Tbilisi, Georgia

Tiago Gonçalves - Lawyer, Porto, Portugal

Garry Parker - Lawyer, Helsinki, Finland

Claudius Krucker - Lawyer, St. Gallen, Switzerland

Robert Tremel - Lawyer, Austria

Artur Faria - Lawyer, Portugal

Victor Ferreira - Law Student, Luxemburg

Aine Groogan - Law Student, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Jekaterina Maksimora - Vilnius, Lithuania

Romana Wied - Linz, Austria

Rugile Armonaite - Vilnius, Lithuania

Driss Maalem-Debard - Aix-en-Provence, France

...

(to add the names of those OK the first week).


The legal community in Europe    Contact the author of the petition