Faculty event marks support for Ukraine lawyers

A reception to celebrate the work of Scottish lawyers supporting their Ukrainian counterparts fleeing the war has been hosted by the Faculty of Advocates.

Dean of Faculty Roddy Dunlop KC welcomed Ukrainian lawyers and many members of the Scottish legal community who have worked with them, to the event held at the Advocates' Library. 

Since the Russian invasion last year, the Scottish legal community has stepped up in various ways to support Ukrainian lawyers who have come to Scotland to escape the war. These have included individuals spending time with Ukrainian lawyers to help them adjust to life in Scotland, special introductory lectures on Scots law, the Law Society of Scotland waiving requalification fees and brokering free online English classes, the Faculty organising a work shadowing scheme, and legal libraries offering facilities, 

In his address Mr Dunlop extended the Faculty’s sympathies to the Ukrainian legal profession for the situation they had found themselves in. “Collegiality has and always will be a watchword for the bar,” he said, and this was now being extended to the Ukrainian legal community in Scotland. He added that a continued strong legal profession as a "bulwark in Ukrainian" was of fundamental importance to the future of that country.

The Faculty, along with bar associations all over the world, unequivocally condemned the Russian invasion. 

In his response Alexandr Chernykh, the representative to the UK for the Ukrainian National Bar Association, said he was “deeply thankful for all British, Scottish people, the Government and the legal community for the chance to renew our spirit of democracy, legal thinking, our understanding of the rule of law and the position of law in real life”. He presented the Award of the Ukrainian National Bar Association to Mr Dunlop, advocate Kenneth Young, coordinator of the Faculty's work shadowing programme for Ukrainian lawyers, and Rob Marrs, head of Education at the Law Society of Scotland.

Mr Young said: “This [Faculty] scheme is really about playing our part by offering the most appropriate kind of support that we can provide to our Ukrainian colleagues. The whole legal community in Scotland has rallied around, and solicitors and academics have been contributing in similar ways.”