Enhancing the professional development of private enforcement agents: representatives of the NGO METC “PRO JUSTICE” served as speakers at the 8th Annual International Conference “Made in Odesa. PRO ENFORCEMENT 2.0”
The event, which took place in early September in Odesa with the support of the Association of Private Enforcement Agents of Ukraine as part of a grant from the EU “Pravo-Justice” Project implemented by Expertise France, was dedicated to current trends in the field of enforcement of court decisions.
The event brought together leading experts from Ukraine, Georgia, Italy, Lithuania, Moldova, and France. A total of 247 people participated in the conference, including representatives of the NGO METS “PRO JUSTICE.” Olena Fonova, Ph.D. in Law, judge of the Commercial Court of Luhansk Oblast, and co-founder of the NGO, presented a report on the results of a quantitative study titled “Assessment of the Institution of Judicial Review in Administrative Proceedings.” After her presentation, the judge asked the participants about their impressions of the experience of using the report on the enforcement of court decisions and expressed hope that the wider adoption of this mechanism could simplify the work of enforcement officers.
Valerii Prytulyak, Ph.D. in Law, Head of the Center for Training and Professional Development of Private Enforcement Officers at the Association of Private Enforcement Officers of Ukraine (APEU), a private enforcement officer in the Odesa Region, and co-founder of the NGO “PRO JUSTICE,” served as a panel speaker on promising areas of activity for private enforcement officers.
“We have a clear goal before us today: we must define the directions for the development of our profession. In addition to digitalization and other areas of professional skill improvement, we must also ensure that such a promising area of work as the establishment of facts is available in our country and that it is handled specifically by private enforcement agents,” Valery noted.
Roman Chumak, attorney and managing partner of the Ares Law Firm, as well as chairman of the non-governmental organization PRO JUSTIS, shared his insights in a presentation titled: “Supreme Court Tools (‘Database of Supreme Court Legal Positions’ and ‘Supreme Observer’): How Digital Solutions Save a Lawyer’s Time. A Lawyer’s Experience.” In particular, he demonstrated the ability to search for relevant Supreme Court case law using keywords from the text of a provided file or from the text of a court decision.
During the conference, the organizers held a charity auction that raised 200,000 UAH to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Holding such international events contributes to improving the professional development system for private practitioners in Ukraine, creates an effective platform for exchanging experience, knowledge, and best practices, and strengthens the institutional capacity of the professional community.
