Systems of Advocates’ Self-Governance Bodies in European Union Countries

The purpose of the article was to study the experience of self-governance of lawyers in the countries of the European Union EU. On the basis of this material recommendations aimed at improving the advocacy system are provided. Achieving the set goal involved the resolution of the following tasks: a) to reveal the mechanism of functioning of the system of self-government of lawyers in the EU countries and identify its universal features, and; b) to determine the main models of the system of self-government of lawyers in the EU countries. The scope of the study was constituted by public rules, regulated by law, arising in the provision of legal services in the application of the legal profession and the implementation by representatives of its bodies of the right to self-government. The methodological basis of the study consists of general and specific research methods. It is concluded that, the manifestation of the principle of independence of the legal profession and the guarantee of full functioning of the self-governing bodies of bar associations in the EU countries consists in ensuring the freedom of their activities within the legality and its implementation in practice.