The current Law No. 5076-VI «On the Bar and Practice of Law» defines, using the modern terminology of the decisions of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, the “distinct” (unique, separate from others) public legal status of the Bar. It is a non-state public institution independent of state authorities, local self-government bodies, their officials and employees. The Bar's self-governing institution consists of all Ukraine advocates who have acquired the right to practice law.
Viktor Medvedchuk, Ukrainian businessman and pro-Russian politician with family ties to Vladimir Putin, who had been banned from legal practice in Ukraine, has filed a lawsuit to reclaim this right. Medvedchuk was one of the leaders of the banned OPZZh (Opposition Platform - For Life) Ukrainian political party; he is accused of treason in Ukraine and returned to Russia during one of the prisoners of war swaps.