The dissertation's scientific novelty is determined by the fact that it is the first comprehensive monographic study of the implementation of the principle of organization and activities' independence of the Bar as a fundamental condition for ensuring the constitutional function of providing professional legal assistance in Ukraine. A new conceptual approach to defining the essence and structure of Bar's independence principle is proposed. It is argued to be considered a complicated category, which includes both the Bar's independence and a lawyer's independence in professional activities. The independence of the organization and activity of the Bar is considered as a multifaceted category, which is both a principle, a right, and a duty of an advocate, and as each right (principle) has several guarantees of its observance established by law. It is proved that advocacy should be distinguished from Bar's activity due to the difference in the subject composition and direction of these activities, thus, the provisions of the Law of Ukraine " On the Bar and Advocacy" need to be clarified in terms of the need for a differentiated approach to consolidate the principles of independence of the Bar and the independence of an Advocate in professional activities.
The problems of the relationship between the Bar and the State as the main subject of ensuring the independence of the Bar are analyzed; the new approaches and principles of interaction between the Bar and the State are proposed, due to the need to consolidate the efforts to address a common goal - to protect the rights and legitimate interests of the individual. It is proved that the Bar's independence, like any other state or public institution, cannot be unlimited. At the same time, the limits of State intervention in the activities of the Bar should be as narrow as possible. The necessity of amendments to Article 131-2 of Ukraine's Constitution in terms of ensuring the responsibility of the State for violating the constitutional principle of independence of the Bar is substantiated. At the legislative level, it is proposed to establish the legislator's obligation to send the draft laws concerning organization and activities to the Bar for review (examination), which will meet the international standards of the functioning of this human rights institution.
Considerable attention is paid to studying the elements of the system of guarantees of independence of an advocate in his professional activity, according to the classification, which is represented by the privileges, immunities, and prohibitions enshrined in law. Each guarantee - immunity is considered both from the standpoint of the existing scientific approach and in the light of the new ideas concerning their further development and maintenance. Based on the scientific literature analysis on relevant issues, materials of legal practice, and data obtained by the author during the survey of 300 lawyers, the most common cases of interference and obstruction of advocacy are identified, and the definitions of these categories are provided.
Several amendments and additions to the Law of Ukraine "On the Bar and Advocacy", the CPC of Ukraine on strengthening guarantees of independence of an advocate in professional activities are proposed. In particular, it is proposed to enshrine the following provisions: 1) a copy of the advocate's notice on suspicion of committing a criminal offense must be simultaneously handed to a representative of the Bar Council of the region; 2) detention of an advocate and related personal search and inspection of his belongings, as well as consideration of a request for the application of a restraint measure against an advocate shall be carried out in the presence and with the participation of an authorized representative of the Bar Council of the region; 3) evidences obtained in the course of operative-search and investigative actions against an advocate are inadmissible in criminal proceedings on suspicion or accusation of his client; 4) it is prohibited to store and disseminate information on the fact and content of the advocate's communication with the client; 5) a representative of the Bar Council of the region shall be notified of the investigative action conduction in criminal proceedings against the advocate.
