A new platform for networking, exchanging information and best practices, accessing key documents, including pieces of legislation and research is now accessible to lawyers, bar associations and legal professional in the Eastern Partnership Countries.

The platform was presented at the second meeting of the Technical Project Committee meeting gathering representatives of Bar and lawyers’ associations, Ministries of Justice, European Union delegations and Council of Europe offices in the participating countries.

National partners from all countries welcomed the platform as a useful and practical tool to facilitate contacts and knowledge sharing within the legal communities. It will also provide wide dissemination to the comparative reviews on key areas of interest, to the legal profession to assess the current challenges faced by the profession, facilitate exchange of experiences and identify solutions to enhance compliance with European standards on lawyers’ independence and professionalism. Topics covered include: internal structure of bar associations, procedural safeguards for lawyers and protection against undue interferences, systems of legal representation, access to the profession and training, ethical codes, relations with judges and gender mainstreaming.

The website “Regional Cooperation Network of Lawyers in Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine” was developed within the framework of the PGG II Regional Project “Strengthening the profession of lawyer in line with European standards” to support regional dialogue and co-operation between the bars and lawyers’ professional associations.