Freelance journalist Yulia Khymeryk, who does reporting work as part of an International Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) project, said in a Facebook post that a lawyer had exhibited unethical behavior during a war crime hearing in the Central District Court of Mykolaiv.
The journalist says that the incident occurred on 27 October before the start of an open hearing in the trial against a person accused of a war crime. While working in the courtroom, she faced verbal insults and disrespect by the lawyer representing the defendant. According to Yulia Khymeryk, even before the hearing started, the lawyer made disparaging remarks about journalists in the presence of the prosecutor and another lawyer, calling the reporters “telechicks” and expressing displeasure with the fact that the session was not being held in camera. “It was happening behind my back as I was entering the courtroom. I heard those words clearly,” the journalist wrote.
After that, Yulia Khymeryk said, the lawyer asked her what she was doing at the hearing and why journalists were interested in the case.
“I reminded her that the case concerned a war crime, which is of public interest not only in Ukraine, but also beyond. People abroad should also know about how the prosecution of those accused of war crimes is going, showcasing the difference between us: a fair, lawful trial,” Yulia Khymeryk wrote.
During the hearing, the court issued a ruling prohibiting taking photos of the lawyer, at the lawyer’s request. The lawyer claimed that the journalists were twisting her words.
“After the hearing, this lawyer demonstratively shouted a ‘goodbye’ to me. I asked her who were the journalists that had twisted her words and whom she called telechicks, but she refused to answer, saying only: ‘I said what I said. There was an acquittal there,’” Yulia Khymeryk wrote.
The journalist believes that the Code of Lawyer Ethics should be updated to inlcude provisions prohibiting biased and disrespectful attitude towards mass media representatives by lawyers.
In a comment to the Institute of Mass Information, Yulia Khymeryk said that such behaviour by the lawyer could constitute obstruction of reporting and could harm the business reputation of journalists and the media.
“I consider these actions by the lawyer to be unethical and biased against journalists and their work. And I believe that this constitutes a violation of the Code of Lawyer Ethics, which needs to be updated to include a section on interaction with journalists so that there are no more such incidents. Because it turns out that we have to respect lawyers and avoid naming them [in our reporting], while they can stoop to verbal insults and unfounded bias allegations,” said Yulia Khymeryk in a comment to IMI.
She added that she had filed an address to that effect with the head of the Qualification and Disciplinary Commission of the Bar in Mykolaiv Oblast.
IMI lawyer Volodymyr Zelenchuk said that offensive language, aggressive or biased behavior, lack of restraint, and unfounded allegations by a lawyer are indeed violations of lawyer ethics and may become grounds for disciplinary action.
According to him, Article 45 of the Lawyer Ethics Regulations in its current version clearly states that a lawyer must be restrained and civil in interactions with other participants in court proceedings.
Moreover, Article 44 of the Regulations emphasizes that a lawyer must exhibit good character, behave honestly and with dignity while performing their work in court, affirming respect for the profession. At the same time, Article 12-1 of the Regulations requires a lawyer to exhibit good character, as well as honesty and dignity in the performance of their professional duties.
“As we can see, the use of offensive language, addressing a journalist in an overfamiliar and disparaging manner, aggressive behavior, biased attitude, lack of professional restraint, and unfounded allegations are indeed a violation of legal ethics, and therefore, grounds for bringing the lawyer to disciplinary liability. These facts should be assessed by the Qualification and Disciplinary Commission of the Bar,” Volodymyr Zelenchuk believes.