Holovaty critiques legal profession (10/13/96)

Holovaty critiques legal profession

by Andrij Wynnyckyj
Toronto Press Bureau

TORONTO - Serhiy Holovaty, Ukraine's minister of justice, offered a scathing assessment of the state of the legal profession in his country at a lively press conference for the Ukrainian media following his address to the Empire Club of Canada at Toronto's Royal York Hotel on September 27.

In answer to a question about the establishment of an independent bar in Ukraine, Mr. Holovaty said "I've been working on it for four years now, and still don't know when it will finally happen. For a year now, I've tried to bring pressure to bear as minister of justice for the creation of an independent bar on a professional level."

"We have target dates, timetables, you name it, but there isn't enough awareness among jurists in Ukraine that an independent bar is a necessary feature of a normal political order," he said.

The minister joked that "in Ukraine, if there's to be a Rukh, then you get two, if you want an Orthodox Church, you get three patriarchates; and so each political party and organization thinks it needs its own civic association for its professionals."

A naively but provocatively asked question about "what jurists actually do" in Ukraine, brought out more optimistic commentary from Mr. Holovaty, who said: "Well, they don't lie around, that's for sure; some of them even make a considerable amount of money."

He said the emergence of a number of successful private practices is the best indicator that a professional independent bar association will appear in the long run.

The minister also said it is an exciting time to be a lawyer in his country because of the simultaneous presence of various kinds of legal thinking. "At the university level, there are people teaching from Soviet texts, there are those relying on Western texts, and there are strong, original minds who are gradually working out their own approach as it would apply in our own unique context," Mr. Holovaty said.

The veteran Ukrainian jurist was asked whether the adoption of the new Constitution will help to improve the climate for a free press in his country, given the frequency of confrontational lawsuits between government officials and the media, and the persistence of official interference with Ukrainian State Television's programming and officials.

In reply, the justice minister said: "We must remember that Ukraine is in a transitional phase, and that it is impossible to eradicate all vestiges of the Soviet system and thinking overnight, and even after five years there is much to be done. Give it 15 years - we need a change in generations."

Mr. Holovaty said that several articles of the Constitution have already served as the basis for judicial rulings in favor of the press and individual freedom of expression. He also expressed confidence that the Constitutional Court provided for by the Constitution will be active in guaranteeing individual and collective freedoms.

Mr. Holovaty opined that the need for state-run media will pass in time, and that institutions such as the array of newspapers controlled by various government bodies and agencies will fade away.

Mr. Holovaty added that at a recent international constitutional conference in Vienna, Ukraine's Constitution was judged to be exhaustively, if not even excessively, solicitous about human rights.

To a question by the editor of Homin Ukrainy (a Toronto-based Ukrainian-language weekly), Oleh Romanyshyn, Mr. Holovaty said his ministry is giving priority to the creation of democratic institutions, such as the Constitutional Court and the Higher Judicial Council, which, he said, will control the nominations process for judgeships in the country, and will deal with disciplinary matters.

Other legislation being drafted that should be ready by the New Year includes laws on government, local administration, local self-government and on the formation of an Institute for Human Rights that would hear complaints in this area.

Mr. Holovaty also spoke of ongoing work on a Civil Code of Ukraine, which he referred to as "a second constitution," which would regulate the private legal matters and economic affairs in the country.

Ukraine's minister of justice frequently showed flashes of Western-style jousting with questioners, turning queries seeking to provoke a political statement on "Communist traitors to the Ukrainian people" into opportunities for biting and concise lectures on the division between the procuracy and his jurisdiction.

In the afternoon's most telling outburst, Mr. Holovaty said, "There is much about the court system in my country that I'm not satisfied with; if there wasn't, then I would have never agreed to be minister of justice. I agreed to take this job because I don't want the people in my country to live as they did, under conditions of such corruption and arbitrariness."

"I want there to be a system of justice in Ukraine. I want there to be a change in attitude - in the populace, in the government, in the bureaucracy, in the Parliament," he continued.

"Unfortunately, the words 'fairness' and 'justice' are not yet fashionable in Ukraine. Unfortunately they are not considered to be the fundamental principles of social and civic interaction, but that's my job - to convince people they must be," Mr. Holovaty said.