OSCE Project Co-ordinator supports reform of legal education system in Ukraine

ALUSHTA, Ukraine, 3 June 2010 - A conference on improving Ukraine's legal education system organized by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine (PCU) began in Alushta, Crimea today.

The three-day event brings together prominent legal scholars from 27 Ukrainian universities to discuss the current state of higher legal education and future challenges in the context of Ukraine's accession to the European educational space in line with the Bologna Process. Topics under discussion include the formulation of law schools' curriculum, accreditation criteria and the introduction of European standards for the legal professions.

"We expect that as a result of this conference, sound recommendations outlining comprehensive proposals to improve the higher legal education system and develop the law curriculum will be drafted and submitted to the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine," said Ambassador Lubomir Kopaj, the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine.

Andriy Meleshevych, the Dean of the Law Faculty of the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy, said that access to the legal professions is one of the crucial criteria for the content of legal education at Western law schools.

"In Ukraine, the gap between profession and education has become increasingly visible, and there is an urgent need to update the law curriculum to reflect current needs and standards," said Meleshevych. "Therefore, it is of utmost importance that the process of developing training programmes and plans take into account the interrelation between legal education and access to legal professions."

The event is organized jointly by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine, the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy and the Centre for Political and Legal Reforms of Ukraine. The OSCE PCU has supported measures aimed at improving the legal education system in Ukraine since 2004.