Lawyers will have their status re-checked – Kommersant FM
[ad_1]
The Duma adopted amendments to the law on the legal profession, they allow the deprivation of the status of a lawyer who lives abroad. In addition, the bill provides for the creation of a single information resource about lawyers, and also tightens educational requirements. To obtain the status, bachelor’s and master’s degrees or an advanced degree are required.
Dmitry Grigoriadi, Chairman of the Moscow Bar Association Grigoriadis Group, discusses how these amendments will affect the community and clients: “In this area, for obvious reasons, the state is trying to establish a little more order. Judging by the practice of disciplinary proceedings, inappropriate actions on the part of fellow lawyers often occur in the legal profession. And there are more and more such stories every time. After the creation of a state information resource, which will reflect information on each lawyer and principal, it will become much clearer with whom this or that person will deal. It will include information about whether the lawyer was deprived of his status, whether he passed the exam, and how it all ended.
As for additional educational requirements, this is also more of a plus than a minus; professionals should work in the legal profession. Because the issues that arise with criminal legal relations are the fate of people, and lawyers must be as competent as possible. Another positive aspect is that they are finally registering institutions where you can enter using IDs. Few people currently perceive lawyer’s certificates as such.
But the need to re-obtain a certificate after 15 years seems controversial to me; now there are no final requirements for what will be needed. Some kind of retake, a kind of filter for getting rid of unwanted people, and this is all a big question. The need for people who have been absent from Russia for more than a year to prove that they are absent for good reasons is also an area for abuse, which can be a kind of sieve for weeding out everyone who is not liked. Of course, the Ministry of Justice receives greater control, powers and the ability to influence the work of lawyers. We will have to look at law enforcement.”
The amendments may also affect business lawyers living abroad, says lawyer, partner at Digital & Analogue Partners Ekaterina Smirnova. True, according to her, the status does not give such specialists any special preferences, and the bill is aimed at completely different lawyers: “Advocate status, by and large, is absolutely necessary for criminal lawyers.
Let’s imagine a situation: a criminal lawyer enters into some category of cases, but may be faced with the need to be outside the Russian Federation. For example, in order to ensure one’s own safety, to exclude operational investigative actions, surveillance, wiretapping, all that. We understand that we find ourselves in the sphere of a special category of cases with political overtones; such lawyers can now be deprived of their status.
As for business consultants, they are probably subject to this rule by accident, I think it’s just a side effect of increased regulation. Because nothing at all prevents them from living anywhere and consulting their clients around the world.
As before, Russian clients continue to own assets abroad. And in general, it is normal for lawyers to continue to carry out their activities while in different countries. Therefore, for them, of course, deprivation of status is not justified; I don’t even see the logic behind it. It is clear that if you live permanently abroad, you are unlikely to go to Matrosskaya Tishina. For example, a lawyer is a special subject; in relation to him, all operational investigative actions are possible only by a court decision. For lawyers who are not in Russia, all these preferences for lawyer status are not relevant.”
The Federal Chamber of Lawyers called this bill one of the most elaborate. The initiator of the amendments was the Ministry of Justice, but the chamber actively participated in the discussion of the changes.
Everything is clear with us – Telegram channel “Kommersant FM”.
[ad_2]
Source link
