Levelling the Scales: Effective Defence and Ukraine's EU accession

The report is written by the team working on the project ‘Restoring Dignity and Justice in Ukraine: Phase II', under which the Asser Institute will arrange dialogue opportunities among the Defence Consortium and organise study visits for defence counsel. 

Strengthening criminal defence in Ukraine's conflict-related cases will require a combination of legislative reform and institutional change, and the priority now is to establish which reforms demand new law and which can proceed under existing procedures. That is the central assessment of the Asser Institute's April 2026 update to its Strategic Report on supporting defence counsel in such cases. 

The update draws on a March 2026 expert dialogue in Lviv and on an exposure visit to The Hague from 20 to 24 April 2026. During the visit, Ukrainian defence counsel and lawyers representing victims examined comparative practice at the International Criminal Court, the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, the Netherlands Bar Association, and the Association of Defence Counsel practising before International Criminal Tribunals. The visit also hosted the first Defence Consortium meeting of 2026 and a public Benjamin Ferencz Lecture on defence practice in war crimes trials.

Resourcing as the principal constraint
The report identifies resourcing as the principal structural constraint on the defence function. A lawyer appointed to represent an accused person generally works alone, whereas the prosecution is supported by investigators, forensic capacity and institutional infrastructure. The update analyses three possible responses: an independent investigative-support body, a salaried remuneration model for this category of cases, and an amendment to criminal procedure permitting interim payment during proceedings rather than only at their conclusion, the latter being consistent with European Union requirements on legal aid.

Reform in the accession context
The report situates these questions within Ukraine's European Union accession process. Legislation on the legal profession is anticipated in late 2026 under the country's Rule of Law Roadmap, and the alignment of legal aid standards forms part of Ukraine's harmonisation obligations.

The update also addresses three further priorities: linking specialist training to how cases are allocated, building peer-support networks among defence counsel, and strengthening lawyer safety and the independence of the legal profession, as reinforced by Ukraine's signing of the Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of the Profession of Lawyer in March 2026.

A central recommendation is to distinguish reforms requiring primary legislation from those achievable through internal procedure, so that each can be assigned to the responsible institution. A dedicated working session within the Defence Consortium will take place in Summer 2026 to produce that mapping. In parallel, the report notes interim steps that need not await legislation: regional bar councils may convene defence counsel, prosecutors and judges using existing premises, and the legal aid coordination body may document its resourcing needs within the 2027 budget cycle.

Read the full report [English & Ukrainian].

Under its project, ‘Restoring Dignity and Justice in Ukraine: Phase II', the Asser Institute will arrange dialogue opportunities among the Defence Consortium and organise study visits for defence counsel.The Institute is also working to promote fair trials in Ukraine more broadly under its project ‘MATRA-Ukraine: Advancing the rule of law in Ukraine: strengthening the judicial system and freedom of expression’, developing an Advanced Judicial Training on the Right to a Fair Trial with the National School of Judges in Ukraine and supporting trial monitors and the media to maximise the impact of their reporting. 

Read more

• Strategic Report: Supporting Defence Counsel in Conflict-Related Criminal Cases in Ukraine (June - July 2025) [English & Ukrainian];
• Strategic Report: Supporting Defence Counsel in Conflict-Related Criminal Cases in Ukraine (Update - December 2025) [English & Ukrainian] 
• Benjamin Ferencz Lecture: Effective defence in international crimes trials (22 April 2026) [English]