Final meeting of the Qualification Commission

On December 7, 2023, the final meeting of the Qualification Commission of the Chamber of Advocates of the Samara Region was held.

The agenda of the meeting included eight disciplinary proceedings for consideration, three of which were initiated at the request of the court, two at the suggestion of the Vice President of the Chamber of Advocates of the Samara Region, and three at the complaint of clients.

All proceedings were considered on the merits, of which in two cases the Commission came to the conclusion that it was necessary to terminate the disciplinary proceedings due to the absence of violations in the actions of the lawyers, in the remaining cases, violations were found in the actions of the lawyers.

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From the appeal of the judge of the Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Samara, it follows that the court is handling a criminal case against S. The court hearing on this case was scheduled for October 26, 2023 at 11:30 am. Information about the date of the court hearing was communicated to lawyer T. by the coordinators of the SUP PASO center, however, the lawyer did not appear at the court hearing, did not inform the court in advance about the impossibility of her appearance, in connection with which the court was forced to postpone the court hearing, since the opposite would entail a violation of the right to defense of the defendant S., which is unacceptable by law.

Lawyer T. did not submit any explanations or documents to the Commission, the arguments set out in the court's appeal were not refuted.
The Commission came to the conclusion that the lawyer's actions constituted a disciplinary offense, pointing out the inadmissibility of such actions on the part of lawyers, since they undermine respect for the activities of the lawyer and the legal profession as a whole, discredit the lawyer as a participant in legal proceedings, and cause significant harm to the authority of the legal profession as an institution of civil society.

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From the appeal of the judge of the Avtozavodsky District Court of Tolyatti, Samara Region, it was evident that the court was considering a criminal case against K. for committing 18 crimes. The defendant's defense attorney in accordance with Art. 50 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation since April 27, 2023 is attorney F. On August 21, 2023, the court notified the attorney of the date and time of the next court hearing on September 4, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. On that date, attorney F. failed to appear at the court hearing and did not provide the reasons for his failure to appear, in connection with which, on September 4, 2023, a message was sent to the Bar Association of the Samara Region regarding attorney F.'s violation of the requirements of the law - paragraph 2, part 1, Art. 7 of the Federal Law "On Advocacy and the Bar in the Russian Federation", Art. 6.1 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation. Despite this, lawyer F., having been duly notified of the date and time of the next court hearing on 09.10.2023 at 12:00, failed to appear in court again. Thus, knowing the date and time of the court hearing, lawyer F. failed to appear in court again, which indicates an abuse of rights. By his actions, lawyer F. not only shows disrespect for the court, but also undermines the authority of the legal profession and violates the requirements of the law.

The lawyer provided an explanation, from which it follows that he was absent from the court hearing on 09.10.2023 due to the fact that he “fell ill”, which he notified the court about by telephone on the day of the court hearing. He had not been able to notify earlier, since October 7 and 8 were days off, “being in court in an extremely ill state was considered an act of disrespect for all participants in the process, primarily the court”. He did not seek medical help. The lawyer did not present any supporting documents. The Commission, having established that, according to the court's report, a warning had been issued to lawyer F. regarding the failure of lawyer F. to appear at the court hearing on September 4, 2023, in the same criminal case, found in the lawyer's actions the presence of a disciplinary offense, pointing out the abuses on his part.

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From the appeal of the justice of the peace of judicial district No. 33 of the Oktyabrsky judicial district of the city of Samara, Samara region, it follows that the judge is handling a criminal case against N. The court hearing is scheduled for 13.10.2023 at 11:00, of which the parties have been notified, a request was sent to the PASO, accepted for execution on 02.10.2023. On 06.10.2023, defense attorney O. was familiarized with the case materials based on the application. On 13.10.2023, defense attorney O. did not appear at the court hearing by 11:00, did not submit any motions, and did not report his delay. After the court hearing, at 11:10, defense attorney O. appeared, to whom the secretary of the court hearing informed about the adjournment of the court hearing due to the failure of the defendant and his defense attorney to appear, defense attorney O. was notified of the date of the next court hearing. The lawyer entered the judge's office without permission, where he expressed doubts about the validity of the court hearing, in connection with which he was asked to familiarize himself with the minutes and audio record of the court hearing, after which the lawyer asked a question about the possibility of including payment for participation in the court hearing on 13.10.2023 in his application for remuneration for the lawyer's work. The judge explained that the court hearing had already taken place, the defense attorney did not participate in it. In response, lawyer O., without leaving the judge's office and addressing the judge specifically, said: "And I see you like to create problems out of thin air." Lawyer O. presented an explanation in which he indicated that "the facts set out in the complaint are generally true." The defendant did not appear at the hearing, who, in the lawyer's opinion, was not properly notified, the court "did not actually establish the reasons for the absence of the defendant and the lawyer, as is usually the case (the secretary or assistant to the judge usually calls the participants in the court hearing and finds out the reasons for the failure to appear). According to the lawyer, his actions do not constitute a disciplinary offense.

As a result of the discussion, the Commission, taking into account the very emotional explanations of the lawyer and the comments addressed to the court ("judges are not people"), unanimously came to the conclusion that the lawyer's actions constitute a disciplinary offense.
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Disciplinary proceedings were considered against two lawyers for failure to comply with the requirements of the law on raising their professional level.

It should be especially noted that the lawyers did not submit any explanations for the arguments set out in the submissions or any documents to the Commission.

Following the review, the Commission came to the conclusion that the lawyers' actions constituted violations. The Commission also draws the attention of lawyers to the provisions of paragraph 3 of paragraph 1 of Article 7 of the Federal Law "On Advocacy and the Bar in the Russian Federation", according to which a lawyer is obliged to constantly improve his knowledge independently and improve his professional level in the manner established by the Federal Chamber of Advocates of the Russian Federation and the bar chambers of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

In accordance with the Standard of professional training and professional development of lawyers and interns, approved by the IX All-Russian Congress of Lawyers on 18.04.2019, "the main objective of training and professional development of lawyers in accordance with the Standard is to ensure continuous and ongoing improvement of knowledge as a requirement of the mandatory standard of the legal profession. Lawyers with less than 3 years of experience must annually improve their professional level in the amount of at least 40 academic hours. Lawyers with more than 3 years of experience must annually improve their professional level in the amount of at least 30 academic hours. Bar associations of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation may decide to increase the minimum required number of hours for lawyers to improve their professional level per year, but not more than to 60 academic hours (clause 13)."

The Commission reminds that a lawyer who fails to fulfill his/her obligation to constantly improve his/her professional level in the manner prescribed by the Standard and in accordance with the decision of the council of the Bar Association of the relevant constituent entity of the Russian Federation on issues of improving professional level may be subject to disciplinary liability in accordance with the Code of Professional Ethics of a Lawyer (paragraph 31).

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It follows from the complaint of citizen S. that the appellate court assigned him/her a lawyer (defender) "a certain Ch. His/her further details are unknown and have not been provided and were not provided upon arrival at Pre-trial Detention Center No. 4 in Tolyatti. The purpose of his/her arrival to me is unknown, since this person has not familiarized himself/herself with the case." In addition, in the appellate court, the lawyer did not support the challenge to the judge due to his/her repeated participation, declared by S. The lawyer ignored and continues to ignore the request of the defendant to file motions, in the opinion of the applicant, regarding the formality of his/her participation in the process. The lawyer did not coordinate the position with the defendant and did not open a file.

On the merits of the complaint filed by lawyer Ch., explanations were provided that do not refute the applicant's arguments; the lawyer's dossier was not presented.

The Commission found in the lawyer's actions violations of the norms of the legislation on advocacy and the bar, the Standard for the implementation of defense by a lawyer in criminal proceedings, adopted by the VIII All-Russian Congress of Advocates, both in form and content.
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With this, the Qualification Commission completed its work in 2023.

The Commission's conclusions are included in the agenda of the meeting of the Council of the Chamber of Advocates of the Samara Region, which will be held on 21.12.2023.

PASO Press Center