On April 25th, 2026, the European Criminal Bar Association (ECBA) held its annual spring conference in Barcelona. Liliia Kuznets and Yuliia Kuznets, counsel at VB Partners, participated in the event.
This year, at the organization’s invitation, Liliia Kuznets joined as an expert on Ukrainian criminal practice in the panel discussion «Procedural Safeguards – Prisoners’ Rights and Detention Conditions Around Europe». Together with colleagues from France, Germany, and Switzerland, she analyzed current human rights standards and the challenges facing legal systems in crisis situations.
«In wartime, the issue of security in detention facilities becomes critical. Constant rocket attacks and air raid alerts create additional risks for prisoners, while the lack of adequate shelters and the delayed relocation of facilities in frontline regions directly impact the protection of basic human rights», Liliia Kuznets noted during her speech.
Over 200 practitioners from European countries participated in the conference. The main topics of the event were trends in the development of criminal law, cross-border cooperation, and human rights protection standards.
The firm has been collaborating with the ECBA for nearly 10 years. For VB Partners, participation in events of this kind is part of a long-term strategy to develop its MLA and Cross-Border Defense practice areas. Since every other case the firm handles has an international element, the ongoing exchange of best practices with foreign colleagues allows the firm to integrate the best European approaches into its client defense strategy.
The European Criminal Bar Association (ECBA) is a leading independent organization of lawyers specializing in criminal cases in Council of Europe member states. The Association brings together professionals from over 40 European countries and contributes to shaping EU approaches in the area of procedural safeguards and defense rights.
