Attorney Dmytro Yagunov Calls on Bar Self-Governing Bodies to Officially Qualify the Use of Forged Documents in Court Proceedings

Attorney Dmytro Yagunov has addressed the National Bar Association of Ukraine and the Bar Council of Odesa Oblast with a formal request for official normative and ethical clarifications on the compliance of certain attorney conduct with the Rules of Legal Ethics — specifically, the use by attorneys of documents of dubious legal origin in judicial proceedings.

In his address, Attorney Dmytro Yagunov describes two model situations that have acquired a systemic character in Ukrainian judicial practice and demand unequivocal public assessment.

The first concerns cases where an attorney knowingly relies in court proceedings on documents purportedly signed by a person who was already deceased at the time of their purported execution — documents whose absolute legal defect is indisputable and incurable.

The second concerns the use of title documents whose very text explicitly states that they were issued on the basis of a document officially recognized as forged.

Attorney Dmytro Yagunov emphasizes that silence on the part of bar self-governing bodies in such cases is tantamount to tacit endorsement of practices incompatible with the legal profession, and directly undermines the reputation of the Ukrainian bar — both in Odesa and nationally — in the eyes of the international legal community, including European institutions.

Attorney Dmytro Yagunov requests that the issues raised be placed on the agenda of the nearest sessions of the Bar Council of Ukraine and the Bar Council of Odesa Oblast, that official clarifications be widely disseminated within the legal community, and that immediate action be taken in all cases where such practices are already occurring.