“The National Association of Lawyers of Ukraine has prepared an advisor that helps distinguish the legal status of a lawyer and a lobbyist, explains the limits of permissible activity of each of them and prevents possible violations of ethical and legal standards during participation in the formation of public policy. The document was developed by members of the Council of the NAAU Committee on Lobbying — Iryna Shapovalova, Valentina Tyutyunnyk, and Yulia Kopiyko. IN”, — write on: ua.news
The National Association of Lawyers of Ukraine has prepared an advisor that helps distinguish the legal status of a lawyer and a lobbyist, explains the limits of permissible activity of each of them and prevents possible violations of ethical and legal standards during participation in the formation of public policy.
The document was developed by members of the Council of the NAAU Committee on Lobbying — Iryna Shapovalova, Valentina Tyutyunnyk, and Yulia Kopiyko.
The guide contains systematic recommendations on distinguishing advocacy from lobbying. In particular, we are talking about the criteria by which the purpose, subject, form and legal consequences of each type of professional participation in decision-making processes are determined.
A lawyer provides legal assistance to a client on the basis of a contract, guided by the law and the Rules of Lawyer Ethics, and a lobbyist represents the client’s interests in order to influence the formation or change of public policy.
At the same time, the combination of these roles may create a conflict of interest or raise questions regarding the observance of the lawyer’s professional independence.
“A modern lawyer works more and more often in the field of public communications — he interacts with the parliament, the government, and business. However, such actions have clear limits defined by law. Therefore, our specialists have created a practical guideline that will help lawyers to work also as lobbyists, without going beyond the boundaries of lawyer’s ethics,” explained the head of the committee, Oleksiy Shevchuk.
You can get acquainted with the full text of the guide by following the link.
As a reminder, September 1, 2025 in Ukraine entered into force Law “On Lobbying” and about at the same time, the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NACP) launched the Transparency Register . It open and publicly and platforms and which collects and publishes lobbying data.
Every six months, lobbyists must submit reports on their activities to the Transparency Register, indicating clients, the subject of lobbying, expenses and meetings with government officials. Violations are subject to fines. Control is carried out by the NAZK, which has the right to verify the authenticity of the data and to prosecute.
The business community, united by the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine and the European Business Association, called on the parliament to adopt changes to the law on lobbying and postpone sanctions for violations on year .
