Nikolay Kipnis, advocate, member of Moscow City Chamber of Advocates - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Nikolay Kipnis, advocate, member of Moscow City Chamber of Advocates

Historical background  1864 Legal Reform  1917 - 13,000 lawyers  22nd October 1917, Decree No. 1 of the Council of Peoples Commissar’s “On the courts”  Soviet period  Changes starting from 1986  “On the activities of lawyers and the Bar in the Russian Federation ” – 1 st July 2002

Towards the end of the reform  83 regional bars  58.088 colleagues retained their status  The 1st All-Russian Conference of Advocates on 31 st January 2003  Federal Chamber of Lawyers of the Russian Federation

State-of-art situation  single corporation with rules of work and behaviour common to all  clear regulations on professional skill improvement  self-governing bodies  Special attention: strengthening the status of the lawyer and guarantees of his professional activities

Forms of legal profession  Collegium (коллегия адвокатов)  Law firm (Адвокатское бюро)  Sole-practitioner (адвокатский кабинет)

Moscow City Bar 5 self-administrative bodies  Annual meeting (conference) of advocates  the Council of the Chamber  President of the Chamber  The Qualification commissions (disciplinary board)  Internal Audit Commission of the Chamber

Qualification Commission 13 members 6 State 7 lawyers (incl. representatives President) 2 federal judges 2 Local Legislative 2 terr. Board Board Ministry of Justice

Code of Professional Ethics of Lawyers  mandatory for all members of the corporation  “professional honour” and “Russian advocacy traditions”, and “moral responsibility towards the public”

Structure of the Code  Section I. Principles and standards of professional conduct of lawyers . Articles 4-17: concrete rules of professional conduct  Section II . Fundamental rules of disciplinary proceedings . Disciplinary sanctions may include: 1) a reprimand, 2) a warning, 3) disbarment.

Disciplinary Sanctions: how?  6 months STAGES:  1) initiation - the President of the Chamber of Lawyers of a constituent territory of the Russian Federation;  2) review of the case by the Qualifications Commission of the Chamber of Lawyers of a constituent territory of the Russian Federation; and  3) review of the case by the Bar Council of the Chamber of Lawyers of a constituent territory of the Russian Federation.

Disciplinary Sanctions: why?  1) complaints by another lawyer, by the lawyer’s client or by the client’s legitimate representative, by the person seeking free legal assistance under Article 26 of the Federal Law on Advocacy and the Bar in the Russian Federation;  2) presentments by the Chamber’s Vice -President or by the person acting in that capacity;  3) presentments by a government authority relating to the Bar, namely, the territorial board of the Ministry of Justice;  4) communications of courts (judges) to the Chamber of Lawyers.

Submissions requirements 1  1) the name of the Chamber of Lawyers wherein the complaint, presentment or communication are submitted;  2) the full name of the lawyer filing the complaint against another lawyer, his/her affiliation with a Chamber of Lawyers and a college of lawyers;  3) the full name and place of residence of the lawyer’s client, or the name and location of the agency or organization if the claimant is a legal entity, as well as the name and place of residence (location) of the client’s representative if the complaint is filed thereby;  4) the name and location of the government authority, as well as the full name of the executive officer to file the relevant presentment or communication;

Submissions requirements 2  5) the full name of the lawyer against whom disciplinary proceedings are being sought, as well as his/her affiliation with the relevant college of lawyers, the reference data on the agreement of legal assistance (where applicable) and/or order;  6) the lawyer’s specific actions (or omissions), which constituted violation of his/her professional duties;  7) facts underlying the claim as stated in the relevant complaint, presentment or communication, and evidence in support of such facts; and  8) a list of documents attached to such complaint, presentment or communication.

Grievance:  Related to professional duties  NO link to operation of colleges of lawyers  NO anonymous

Rights of participants in disciplinary proceedings  1) familiarize with case records, take notes and make copies of the documents;  2) attend the hearings by the Qualifications Commission and the Bar Council in person and/or send their representatives;  3) give oral or written explanations on the merits of the case, and submit evidence;  4) familiarize themselves with the hearings’ records and with the written opinion of the Qualifications Commission; and  5) submit to the Bar Council their explanations, if disagreeing with the opinion of the Qualifications Commission.

Qualifications Commission may conclude in final resolution  1) a violation/ failure to perform or inappropriate performance / failure to execute decisions;  2) no violation / proper execution of professional duties to the client or to the Chamber of Lawyers;  3) termination  existence of an earlier opinion in the course of disciplinary proceedings featuring the same participants, subject-matter and grounds;  4) termination  withdrawal of the complaint, presentment or communication/ reconciliation of the claimant and the lawyer;  5) termination  expiry of the statute of limitations for disciplinary liability; or that  6) termination  the Qualifications Commission, while reviewing the case, failed to find legitimate reason for the initiation of disciplinary proceedings.

The Bar Council may decide that:  1) disciplinary sanctions  action/omission = a violation/failure to perform or inappropriate performance of professional duties to the client, or the lawyer failed to execute the decisions adopted by the management of the Chamber of Lawyers  2) disciplinary proceedings must be terminated  NO violation, or due to the lawyers’ proper execution of professional duties to the client or to the Chamber of Lawyers, in line with or contrary to the opinion of the Qualifications Commission , if the Commission, having correctly established the facts of the case, has given an incorrect legal qualification of the lawyer’s conduct or has incorrectly interpreted the provisions of law and this Code;  3) disciplinary proceedings must be terminated  existence of an earlier opinion featuring the same participants, subject- matter and grounds;

The Bar Council may decide that  4) disciplinary proceedings must be terminated  withdrawal of the complaint, presentment or communication, or due to the reconciliation of the claimant and the lawyer;  5) the disciplinary case must be returned to and reviewed anew by the Qualifications Commission ;  6) disciplinary proceedings must be terminated  expiry of the statute of limitations for disciplinary liability as discovered by the Bar Council or by the Qualifications Commission during the case review;  7) disciplinary proceedings must be terminated due to the insignificant nature of the lawyer’s misconduct, and the lawyer must be advised of his/her misconduct  8) disciplinary proceedings must be terminated  failure to find legitimate reason for the initiation of disciplinary proceedings.

Thank you!