Lawyers complain about the new procedure for organizing meetings with clients

The Moscow Chamber of Lawyers fears that with the reform of the procedure for making appointments, clients in pre-trial detention centers may be left without their professional help. Lawyers insist that the new mechanism for obtaining permission to visit a client at State Services requires the submission of documents that are not provided for by law. The Ministry of Justice assured Kommersant that there are no problems with recording on State Services: uploading the documents in question is “optional.” At the same time, the department recognized the complaint as justified and assured that in the near future the service will be finalized together with the Federal Penitentiary Service.

On Thursday, December 28, the President of the Moscow Bar Association (AP) Sergei Zubkov addressed the head of the Federal Penitentiary Service for Moscow, Sergei Moroz, with a request to check the procedure for making appointments with clients on the State Services portal. According to the Federal Law “On the detention of suspects and accused of committing crimes,” a citizen placed in a pre-trial detention center has the right to meetings with a lawyer without limiting the number and duration of meetings. The defender may demand such meetings with the principal as necessary. To arrange a visit to a penitentiary institution, in this case, a lawyer’s license and a warrant are required, which confirms the right of the defense attorney to carry out the instructions of the principal.

The registration procedure was previously carried out through the departmental system of the Federal Penitentiary Service – the websites “F-Visit” and “F-Window”. However, from January 10, 2024, the appointment for a meeting with a client in a pre-trial detention center will be completely transferred to the State Services portal (this channel has been operating in test mode for several months). The Ministry of Justice explained to Kommersant that the transition to a new platform is being carried out as part of the implementation of the Concept for the development of the penal system of the Russian Federation until 2030.

Mr. Zubkov in his message expressed bewilderment that in order to register through Gosuslugi, a lawyer needs to upload “a certain document on recognition as a defense attorney in a criminal case.”

“The requirement to submit an additional document significantly and unreasonably complicates the work of a lawyer, makes it difficult for him to exercise his rights, that is, it is an obstacle to his professional activities,” Andrei Grivtsov, a member of the Moscow AP Council, explains to Kommersant. “As a result, the principal, held in custody, in violation Article 48 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation will be forced to remain without the help of a lawyer. I think that during the formation of the electronic recording system, an error was made or some kind of inconsistency that needs to be promptly eliminated.”

Yesterday, the first vice-president of the FPA RF, Mikhail Tolcheev, spoke about a similar problem at a meeting with the director of the department for development and regulation of legal assistance and legal services of the Ministry of Justice, Roman Ryabov. He said that when trying to make an appointment with a client, Gosuslugi offers the lawyer to upload a visitation permit from the investigator or the court into the system. “Moreover, it is separately noted that without the attachment of this document, the application will not be considered. This requirement is absolutely illegal and is not provided for by any legislation. Moreover, there are positions of the Constitutional Court: it is illegal to demand from a lawyer any other documents other than a lawyer’s identification and a warrant,” said Andrei Orlov, lawyer of MCA Aronov and Partners.

The press service of the Ministry of Justice told Kommersant that for now, registration for a date in a pre-trial detention center is working at Gosuslugi in “trial operation mode.”

The agency noted that the uploading of the documents mentioned by the chambers of lawyers is “an optional condition and its absence does not prevent the lawyer from making an appointment to meet with his client.” “However, in light of the mandatory provisions of the law in this matter, such an even optional requirement seems unfounded,” the department admitted. “According to the federal law “On the detention of suspects and accused of crimes,” visits are granted to the defense attorney upon presentation of a lawyer’s certificate and warrants. Requesting other documents from a lawyer is prohibited.” In the near future, the Ministry of Justice will send its proposals on improving the service to the Federal Penitentiary Service.

Kommersant sent a request to the FSIN press service, but has not yet received a response.

Emilia Gabdullina