119 notices of suspicion in 18 months: Kravchenko says bar being "cleansed" of corruption and influence peddling. PHOTOS
During the Kharkiv Unbreakable 2026 forum, Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko criticised sections of the legal profession for corruption, manipulation in the courts, and abuse of procedural rights.
He reported this on Telegram, Censor.NET informs.
"Today I took part in the International Forum of Advocates, Kharkiv Unbreakable 2026. I spoke frankly. Without diplomatic wording. I have deep respect for the legal profession. The right to defense is unconditional. Without a strong bar, there can be no fair justice. Most lawyers do their work professionally, honestly, and with dignity. They are the ones who build trust in the profession," Kravchenko said.
What are lawyers being criticised for?
But there are also those for whom a lawyer’s certificate has become a cover for corruption, fraud, and influence peddling. We are systematically seeing:
- disruptions of court proceedings,
- fictitious motions,
- manipulation of automated case distribution, and
- demonstrative disrespect for the court.
I stressed that adversarial proceedings are the foundation of justice, not a way to technically bury a case and exhaust the system. Because behind every proceeding are victims, their families, and the state, which, during wartime, cannot afford to let justice be turned into a game without rules.
Prosecutor’s Office will respond harshly to this
The Prosecutor’s Office will respond harshly to this. Every instance of abuse of procedural rights is being recorded. We are already appealing, and will continue to appeal, to bar self-government bodies. And this is already producing concrete results.
Kravchenko cited a striking example: the case of the murder of a teenager at the Kyiv funicular station. A lawyer was held disciplinarily liable for obstructing the normal course of proceedings. Their right to practice law was suspended. Procedural conduct has limits.
Notices of suspicion against lawyers
Over the past 18 months, 119 lawyers have been served with notices of suspicion, and indictments against 79 of them have already been sent to court. The cases concern fraud, abuse of influence, participation in criminal organizations, assistance in evading mobilization, money laundering and falsification of evidence.
"It is symbolic that while I was speaking at the Forum, a lawyer was detained in Kharkiv region for ‘selling’ influence over a judge. A man approached him in a civil case concerning the determination of the place of residence of his minor son. The lawyer assured him that he had influence over a judge of one of the district courts and could secure the required ruling so that the boy would remain with his father. He named the price for resolving the issue: US$5,500. He was detained while receiving the money," Kravchenko said.
The Prosecutor General also cited a case in Ivano-Frankivsk, where a lawyer was exposed after deciding to make money from his clients. Two suspects in a case involving the illegal transportation of people across the border had turned to him. The lawyer knew that the prosecutor had made a lawful decision regarding one of them on the possibility of concluding a plea agreement with a punishment not involving imprisonment. But he presented the situation differently to the clients, convincing them that the agreement was possible only after handing EUR 18,000, equivalent to more than UAH 900,000, to the prosecutor. The lawyer was detained while receiving the money. He has been served with a notice of suspicion.
"There are many such cases. And this is not a fight against the legal profession. This is cleansing the profession of those who use it as cover. Because respect for the bar begins not with the inviolability of status, but with responsibility to the client, to society and to the law. And the law is the same for everyone: prosecutors, judges and lawyers. I am convinced that the results of the Forum will be a step toward restoring the bar’s status as an elite profession. We continue working," Kravchenko concluded.
