The conference voted FOR stability, trust and recognition

On May 25, 2023, the Twenty-third (regular) annual conference of lawyers of the Samara Region was held in the conference hall of the Ice Sports Palace.

240 registered delegates (out of 305 elected with a representation rate of 1:5, quorum - 203 people) approved reports on the work of the PASO Council, the implementation of the estimate of income and expenses for the maintenance of the Bar Association for 2022, the report on the audit of the financial and economic activities of the Bar Association, approved the estimate of income and expenses of the Chamber of Advocates of the Samara Region for 2023 while maintaining the previous deductions for the maintenance of PASO, presented well-deserved awards to 75 lawyers and elected the President.

Samara lawyers resolved all issues on the agenda in a record 2.5 hours.

The conference was attended by the Head of the Department of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation for the Samara Region Pavel Viktorovich Sokol and the Head of the Department for Advocacy, Notary, and State Registration of Civil Status Acts Elena Sergeevna Eshchiganova.

The Vice President of the PASO Aleksey Viktorovich Borodin, elected by the PASO Council on 22.05.2023 as the chairman of the conference, gave the floor to P. V. Sokol. The Head of the Department of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation for the Samara Region highly appreciated the work of the lawyers' community of the Samara region and personally the President of the PASO T. D. Butovchenko.

- Traditionally, the conference discusses the results of the chamber's activities and the results achieved. But today is a special day for the lawyers' community, when the President of the Chamber of Advocates of the Samara Region is being elected. Dynamic and constructive development of any community is impossible without a clear organization, as well as a capable and worthy leader. Over the 23 years of its development, the Chamber has gone through the formation stage and today is a powerful organization enjoying well-deserved authority not only in the Samara Region, but also far beyond our region, including in the Federal Chamber of Advocates. All the work of the Chamber of Advocates, its President, Qualification Commission, Council is aimed at improving and developing the institution of advocacy as a whole. It is worth noting the systematic and organized work to protect the professional rights and interests of lawyers. The Chamber does not ignore the problems associated with the arrears in payment for the work of lawyers for participation in cases appointed by the bodies of inquiry and investigation. On the initiative of Tatyana Dmitrievna, the Council of the FPA RF created a working group to monitor the arrears in payment for the work of lawyers in the country; interaction with the Office of the Judicial Department of the Samara Region, the regional Office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs has been organized. The regional Office of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation participates in this work and takes the necessary measures to resolve emerging problems.

The organization of the PASO work on reviewing disciplinary proceedings against lawyers deserves special attention. In each case, the received materials receive a careful and objective assessment. The members of the Qualification Commission and the PASO Council have set clear criteria for the assessment and mechanism for reviewing disciplinary proceedings. The Chamber, by virtue of the powers vested in it, ensures everything possible to protect the interests of lawyers. In case of obvious violations, appropriate disciplinary measures are applied to lawyers.

It is impossible not to note the active educational work among the population, which PASO carries out through television broadcasts, publications in the media, through participation in the probono system and as part of our work to provide free legal assistance. Webinars of the President of PASO, where each lawyer can ask a question directly, undoubtedly affects the level of trust in the leadership of the chamber, ensuring transparency and openness. The paso.ru mobile application - I think everyone appreciated its capabilities - is another first experience in Russia, which comes from the Samara region and which, I am sure, will be replicated throughout the country.

The Samara Region Bar Association has done a significant amount of work in many areas, and it must be recognized as successful. I hope that this course will be continued in the future.

Colleagues! Just recently, on May 10, an international legal forum was held in St. Petersburg, where participants openly discussed problems and issues in the legal sphere. One of the topics of discussion was once again the topic of legal representation in court. The Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation K. A. Chuichenko expressed his position on this issue, noting that the Bar is the formation, including the rules of the game. The Minister said that legal representation should be carried out only by professionals, and obtaining a higher legal education, especially limited to a bachelor's degree, should not stop the development of a lawyer. It turns out that the efforts to constantly improve the professional level of lawyers, undertaken by PASO, exactly meet the tasks outlined at the forum.

The authority of the entire community, which is very high in the Samara Bar Association, is formed by the actions of each lawyer. In 2022, the department issued 11 representations on termination of the status of a lawyer - this concerned primarily lawyers, the so-called "lost ones", who were removed from the register of one regional chamber, but were never included in the register of another. The experience gained in Samara has been replicated throughout the territory of the Russian Federation.

I would like to note that disciplinary practice is changing qualitatively. If previously such categories of cases as the failure of a lawyer to appear in court, incorrect registration of relations with a client, bringing prohibited items into a pre-trial detention center, the absence of a lawyer's dossier prevailed, then recently disciplinary offenses have become more complicated: in particular, this concerns the registration of relations with clients through an LLC, payment for work by appointment, when a lawyer deliberately inflates the amount of assistance provided. It must be understood that clients have also become "more technologically advanced", therefore, in order to avoid negative consequences for lawyers, one should not neglect such a security tool as a questionnaire.

Ensuring the quality mark of the legal profession is possible by carrying out legal activities only in full compliance with the law and preventing cases that may lead to a drop in confidence in the legal community. In the conditions of the existing competition among lawyers, the fact of being brought to disciplinary responsibility may affect both the client's decision when choosing a lawyer and the reputation as a whole.

I am confident that thanks to experience, the Samara legal community will continue to occupy leading positions in the future, all the necessary prerequisites for this are in place. Good work at the conference and positive elections!

P.V. Sokol presented letters of gratitude from the Office of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation for the Samara Region for effective assistance in solving the problems facing the Ministry of Justice, a significant contribution to strengthening the rule of law, protecting the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of citizens to lawyers:

Volkova Taisiya Alekseevna
Dorofeeva Yulia Aleksandrovna
Latyshkin Evgeny Viktorovich
Strukov Igor Anatolyevich

President of PASO T.D. Butovchenko solemnly presented her colleagues with awards from the Federal Chamber of Advocates of the Russian Federation and the Chamber of Advocates of the Samara Region.

The Order "For Loyalty to the Lawyer's Duty" was awarded to:

Inzhevatova Lyudmila Anatolyevna
Spektorov Mikhail Gershonovich
Sukhova Natalia Yuryevna
Shamanova Ksenia Viktorovna

The Medal "For Merit in the Protection of the Rights and Freedoms of Citizens of the 1st Degree" was awarded to:

Akinina Valentina Yuryevna
Drozhzhin Aleksey Vladimirovich
Strukov Igor Anatolyevich
Foefanov Viktor Viktorovich
Shchepina Natalya Petrovna

The Medal "For Merit in the Protection of the Rights and Freedoms of Citizens of the 2nd Degree" was awarded to:

Gnedkov Aleksandr Nikolaevich
Gomozov Aleksey Yuryevich
Eremina Yulia Valeryevna
Zemchikhin Vyacheslav Valerievich
Korolkova Olga Nikolaevna
Martynov Dmitry Viktorovich
Sviryakin Alexey Viktorovich
Chizhov Roman Valerievich

Certificates of honor from the Federal Chamber of Lawyers of the Russian Federation were awarded to: Akashin Ivan Petrovich Anashkin Oleg Aleksandrovich Andriyanova Elena Igorevna Arziani Vakhtangi Eduardovich Artemova Irina Nikolaevna Galtseva Tatyana Viktorovna Golub Olesya Aleksandrovna Gorokhov Sergey Aleksandrovich Grigoriev Dmitry Sergeevich Guts Evgeniy Albertovich Dyachenko Artem Evich Dyachenko Igor Vitalievich Zhirova Marina Yurievna Ivanova Tatyana Dmitrievna Karkotka Aksana Vitautovna Karpov Sergey Ivanovich Konovalova Natalya Vladimirovna Lisetsky Sergey Konstantinovich Lvitsyn Ivan Gennadievich Morozov Artem Vladimirovich Natarevich Denis Olegovich Nepomnyashchaya Margarita Nikolaevna Samigullin Dmitry Damirovich
Simanovskikh Agnessa Anatolyevna
Sokolov Andrey Sergeevich
Statsenko Alexey Anatolyevich
Surkova Lyudmila Nikolaevna
Takidze Larisa Lukmanovna
Chirkov Vladimir Dmitrievich
Shchepovskikh Alexey Nikolaevich
Yusupov Tagir Alievich

The honorary badge "For an acquittal", which, on the initiative of PASO, is awarded to lawyers who have achieved the highest professional result in criminal defense - an acquittal verdict, 6 lawyers were awarded:

Zaitsev Mikhail Viktorovich
Zemchikhin Vyacheslav Valerievich
Nikitin Vladimir Nikolaevich
Odnodvortseva Olga Mikhailovna
Paulov Alexander Anatolyevich
Chubukina Lyubov Alekseevna

7 lawyers received Certificates of Honor "For an acquittal in a private prosecution case":

Varlamov Dmitry Valerievich
Petrov Mikhail Borisovich
Posashkova Yulia Vladimirovna
Prorokova Valeria Valerievna
Stuchilin Oleg Vladimirovich
Fayzullin Marat Rafikovich
Fomina Victoria Vladimirovna

The following were awarded the PASO Honorary Diploma:

Makhiyanova Elena Anatolyevna
Nikitin Vladimir Markovich
Solovyov Alexander Nikolaevich
Kharitonova Evgenia Gennadyevna

The conference participants greeted their colleagues with loud applause, having received badges of distinction and recognition for their high professional skills in protecting the interests of clients, selfless service to the cause of protecting the rights and freedoms of citizens, for an impeccable business reputation, loyalty to the high ideals of honor and dignity, for long-term fruitful work in the bodies of lawyer self-government, active participation in the organization of advocacy and the bar, worthy representation of the lawyer community in public associations, legal education of young lawyers.

Congratulations and words of gratitude were addressed to the employees of the Chamber of Advocates of the Samara Region Salnikova Elena Vladimirovna and Zotova Anna Andreevna, who were awarded medals of the Federal Chamber of Advocates of the Russian Federation.

Words of gratitude and the highest public recognition of the conference delegates were addressed to Abdryakhimova Rumiya Rustamovna for the selfless work shown during the transition of the InternetP@SO system to the Samara Region Bar Association's own domain.

The work of E.V. Salnikova and R.R. Abdryakhimova in creating the book "History of the Samara Bar Association" was separately noted.

The Conference then continued its work on the approved agenda.

The Counting Commission, consisting of:

Ekaterina Sergeevna Bikmurzina,
Muratshina Elena Vladimirovna (chairperson), Maria Domentyevna Khroniopulo - was elected unanimously.

A.V. Borodin announced the agenda of the conference:

1. Approval of the reports of the Council of the Chamber of Advocates of the Samara Region, including the implementation of the estimate of income and expenses for the maintenance of the Chamber of Advocates, for the period from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022.
2. Approval of the report of the Audit Commission of the Chamber of Advocates of the Samara Region on the results of the audit of the financial and economic activities of the PASO for the period from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022.
3. Approval of the estimate of income and expenses of the Chamber of Advocates of the Samara Region for the period from January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023, including determining the amount of mandatory deductions for the general needs of the Chamber of Advocates of the Samara Region.
4. Election of the President of the Chamber of Advocates of the Samara Region in accordance with paragraph 6.1. Art. 31 of the Federal Law "On Advocacy and the Bar in the Russian Federation".

The President of the Chamber of Advocates of the Samara Region Tatyana Dmitrievna Butovchenko delivered a report on the work of the Council of the Chamber of Advocates of the Samara Region and the implementation of the income and expenditure budget for the period from January 1 to December 31, 2022.

Traditionally, having started the report with statistical information, T.D. Butovchenko noted: “Our chamber is the sixth largest in the country after Moscow, the Moscow Region, St. Petersburg, the Leningrad Region, Krasnodar and Rostov. Our large number allows us to accumulate advanced ideas, through joint efforts, including material ones, to implement these ideas and convey the accumulated experience to the entire advocacy community.”

The trend towards an annual decrease in numbers (16% less than the previous year) is due not only to general political and economic reasons, but also to legislative changes introduced in 2019 on the possible suspension of status due to personal circumstances. 1722 people are lawyers with active status, 152 have their status suspended (they are exempt from paying fees). According to T. Butovchenko, there is no critical decrease in the number of lawyers in the context of the organization of legal assistance, so far the changes in the composition affect only the formation of the revenue part of the estimate.

T. D. Butovchenko presented the delegates with a unique printed publication - "History of the Samara Bar Association", which was painstakingly collected over two years by historians, PASO employees, veterans of the bar, and successors of bar dynasties. Materials from the Central State Archive of the Samara Region, the Samara Regional Archive of Social and Political History, and the Samara Regional Bar Association were studied and used. The publication is a 278-page collection that tells the history of the Samara Bar Association from the Judicial Reform of 1864 to the present day. The President of PASO expressed confidence that the book will become a worthy exhibit in the Museum of Advocacy created by the FPA RF, and the history of the Samara Advocacy will not end there, but will be continued by new generations of PASO lawyers.

Project No. 1 - the Center for Subsidized Legal Aid of PASO - not only allows young people to gain legal experience, but also provides many experienced lawyers with the necessary employment in economically difficult times. The Chamber, for its part, takes all measures to effectively and conveniently organize work for lawyers as assigned. The transition to the federal system of CIS AR is not excluded, but so far the automated system of PASO surpasses CIS AR in terms of content and functionality. This is also recognized by information technology specialists of the FPA RF.

As noted by T.D. Butovchenko, the strict disciplinary practice in the first ten years of the Chamber's existence pointed out to lawyers their mistakes, taught them a lot. And today's practice shows that the number of disciplinary proceedings has decreased almost twice, and the number of rejected materials has increased by 40%. The emergence of such a measure of influence as a warning also contributed to the softening of disciplinary practice.

However, instances of the highest professional measure of punishment (termination of status) do occur.

There were three such cases during the reporting period.

One related to failure to comply with the Standard for Improving Professional Level and practicing law with a suspended status.

“The third case is special,” Tatyana Dmitrievna shared with her colleagues. “Throughout the entire trial, both members of the Qualification Commission and members of the Council, some silently and some out loud, exclaimed in disbelief: “How is this possible?!”, “It can’t be!”, “A lawyer with 15 years of experience could not allow this to happen”... As part of the criminal case, the lawyer appointed as the defense attorney also became a witness for the prosecution, identifying his client as the robber on a video recording for the record. This is despite the fact that the client denied his involvement in the crime.”

The President of PASO reminded her colleagues that the deadline for reporting on the implementation of the Professional Development Standard expires on May 31, and urged them to take advantage of any of the available training programs (in-person or distance, including free ones). She drew attention to the PASO webinars, including on such a relevant topic as the implementation by lawyers of the norms of the Federal Law "On Combating the Legalization (Laundering) of Criminally Obtained Incomes and the Financing of Terrorism" dated 07.08.2001 N 115-FZ. The speaker did not ignore such an area of ​​PASO activity as legal education of schoolchildren and students (non-legal specialties). The President thanked the Vice President of the PASO Borodin A.V., members of the PASO Council Eremina Yu.V., Ivanova T.D., members of the PASO Qualification Commission Shamanova K.V., Zhdanov I.A., lawyers Makhiyanova E.A., Verkhova E.A., Kharitonova E.G., lawyers of the Yablokov and Partners Law Firm and other colleagues who take part in educational projects and provide legal assistance to children at the sites of public organizations.

The Samara Bar Association’s School of Young Lawyers is successfully forming a personnel reserve of the Samara Bar Association from students of the legal specialty and trainee lawyers.

“Young lawyers are the future of the profession! The participants of the Volga Region Youth Forum of Lawyers, organized by the Chamber of Lawyers of the Samara Region and the Union of Young Lawyers of Russia, with the support of the Federal Chamber of Lawyers of the Russian Federation, strengthened our belief that this is a bright future. Representing the Chamber at the federal level and receiving such an impressive audience is exciting and honorable, but the Samara residents did it! Once again, we proved that we are a progressive and effective corporation,” said Tatyana Dmitrievna, and the video about the forum served as a clear confirmation of this.

The President of PASO paid special attention to such a direction of work as information support. The printed publication “PASO Bulletin”, the updated version of which was appreciated by the conference delegates, successfully fulfills its tasks; the official website, which has collected all possible awards, is always up-to-date and maximally informative; a mobile application, which no other bar association has.

Changes have occurred in the InternetP@SO system, which has served faithfully since 2008. “Yandex notified about the transition of corporate domains to paid service. PASO corporate mail was estimated at more than 6.5 million rubles annually, 250 rubles for each mailbox monthly. Since we are a non-profit organization and have no income other than lawyers' membership fees, an application was immediately sent to Yandex to classify the chamber as a non-profit organization engaged in organizing the provision of legal assistance, including free legal assistance, and entitled to free service. However, the application was rejected. In parallel with negotiations with Yandex, the Council decided to keep the domain, and complex technical manipulations began. Lawyers were notified of the transfer of the mail service, as well as the need to archive mailings and clear mailboxes. Archiving and transferring letters from Yandex to the server of the Chamber of Advocates of the Samara Region took more than 20 days. Numerous wishes and comments from lawyers, received 24/7 by information technology specialist Abdryakhimova R.R., were taken into account.

On April 17, the PASO domain was moved to a temporary cloud server. Since then, preparations have begun for a permanent site for hosting the chamber's corporate domain. On May 22, the postal service moved to a new orbit of its own! There are still questions about servicing corporate mail, we are working on it,” said T. Butovchenko.

The conference approved the report unanimously

The Chairman of the Audit Commission Zoya Vyacheslavovna Baybulatova presented to the audience the report of the Audit Commission of the Chamber of Advocates of the Samara Region on the results of the audit of the financial and economic activities of the Chamber of Advocates of the Samara Region for the period from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022.

The lawyers were also in solidarity in approving the budget for 2023.

Moving on to the next issue on the agenda, A.V. Borodin informed the conference participants:

- In accordance with the amendments to the Federal Law "On Advocacy and the Bar in the Russian Federation" (clause 1 as amended by Federal Law of 02.12.2019 N 400-FZ) by the Decision of the PASO Council No. 23-01 / SP dated 02.26.2023, council member T.D. Butovchenko, who held the position of president of the bar association for two terms, was nominated for election as president of the Samara Region Bar Association for the next term by the Twenty-third annual conference of lawyers of the Samara Region. The president is elected by secret ballot for a term of 4 years. Based on these provisions of the law on the issue of electing the president of the PASO, the Council approved the procedure for secret voting of delegates using the PASO electronic voting system, successfully tested at the Twenty-second annual conference of lawyers of the Samara Region.

After a short pre-election speech by T. D. Butovchenko, the conference delegates began voting.

According to the voting results, only 10 delegates out of all those present voted against the candidacy of the current president of PASO.

The Conference participants supported the voting results with thunderous applause.

As the President of the FPA RF Svetlana Igorevna Volodina said at the XI All-Russian Congress of Advocates, “we are very pleased with the stability in the legal profession.”

Tatyana Dmitrievna thanked her colleagues for their trust and such nationwide recognition.

The Conference considered all the issues on the agenda, having made an appropriate decision on each of them.

PASO Press Center