Meeting of the PASO Qualification Commission

On November 10, 2022, a regular meeting of the Qualification Commission of the Chamber of Advocates of the Samara Region was held.

The agenda of the meeting determined seven disciplinary proceedings for consideration, one of which was initiated at the request of the court, one on the recommendation of the Department of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation for the Samara Region, three - on the recommendation of the Vice President of the PASO, two - on the complaints of principals

The second half of the meeting of the Commission was devoted to taking the qualification exam for the status of a lawyer for 19 applicants.

In essence, all disciplinary proceedings were considered.

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The Vice-President of the PASO made three submissions in respect of lawyers who are in arrears in monthly deductions for the maintenance of the Chamber of Lawyers of the Samara Region, which is a violation of the requirements of the law on advocacy and advocacy, p.p. 4.5,5.2.5 of the PASO Charter.

Having seen in all three cases the presence of disciplinary offenses, the Commission draws the attention of colleagues to the fact that the lawyer is obliged to allocate funds monthly for the general needs of the Bar Association in the manner and in the amount determined by the meeting (conference) of lawyers of the Bar Association of the relevant subject of the Russian Federation, as well as allocate funds for the maintenance of legal education. For non-fulfillment or improper fulfillment of his duties, the lawyer shall be liable under the Federal Law "On Advocacy and the Bar in the Russian Federation" (clause 5, clause 1, clause 2, article 7).

Violation by a lawyer of the requirements of the legislation on advocacy and the advocacy and the Code of professional ethics of a lawyer, committed intentionally or through gross negligence, entails the application of disciplinary measures provided for by the legislation on advocacy and the advocacy and the Code of professional ethics of a lawyer (clause 1, article 18 of the Code).

In accordance with paragraph 4.5 of the Charter of the Chamber of Advocates of the Samara Region, each lawyer is personally responsible to the Chamber for the timeliness, correctness and completeness of making monthly deductions. Failure by a lawyer to make, without good reason, monthly deductions for three months during a year (in a row or in total) is the basis for the Council of the Chamber, upon the conclusion of the Qualification Commission, to decide to terminate the status of a lawyer.

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The disciplinary proceedings initiated on the proposal of the Department of the Ministry of Justice for the Samara Region on bringing leaflets, a tube of PVA glue and a flash card into the territory of the FKU SIZO-1 by lawyer K. were subjected to the most thorough investigation. One of the leaflets, completely identical to those found in the lawyer's backpack, turned out to be pasted on the wall of the toilet of the SIZO-1 administrative building. Lawyer K. visited SIZO-1 together with the investigator to conduct an investigative action with the participation of the defendant G.

The Qualification Commission, having established the stated factual circumstances and assessed the actions of the lawyer for their compliance with the requirements of the legislation on advocacy and advocacy and the Code of Professional Ethics of the Advocate, came to the conclusion that the flash card, leaflets and glue confiscated from lawyer K. to carry out professional activities in order to protect principal G. have no relationship and are intended for purposes not related to advocacy.

The Qualification Commission found it established that lawyer K., having carried leaflets into the territory of FKU SIZO-1 of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia in the Samara Region, committed actions that did not meet the goals of the existence of the institution of the bar, used the status of a lawyer contrary to the goals and objectives of protecting the rights, freedoms and interests, and also access to justice of the principal G., which denigrates the honor and dignity of a lawyer, detracts from the authority of the bar, undermines confidence in the bar as an institution of civil society.

The arguments of lawyer K. that he accidentally brought the flash drive into the territory of the sensitive facility due to forgetfulness were accepted by the Qualification Commission as reliable and considered it necessary to regard them as not constituting a disciplinary offense, since neither the fact of handing over the flash drive, nor the attempt of such a transfer by the lawyer not undertaken. However, in this part of the lawyer's actions are regarded as reproachful.

A lively discussion was caused by disciplinary proceedings against lawyer B. on the complaint of citizen P. Thus, the complaint states that an agreement was concluded between citizen P. and lawyer B. dated April 28, 2021 to protect her interests in a criminal case. As part of the agreement, the lawyer did not study the materials of the criminal case, did not bring comments to the minutes of court sessions, was not ready for some court sessions, did not talk to defense witnesses in advance, did not prepare himself and did not prepare the principal for participation in debates in the court of first instance, promised a positive result in the case (return of the criminal case to the prosecutor), however, the result was a guilty verdict. He prepared the appeal complaint “chaotically and without studying the materials of the criminal case”, before the hearing in the court of appeal he did not eliminate the shortcomings in the complaint, he never drove to the pre-trial detention center to agree on the position with the client, he was not ready for the court hearings of the court of appeal.

From the explanations of lawyer B., it follows that an agreement was concluded with citizen P. dated 04/28/2021, and further, numerous agreements for each court session, upon completion of which acts of work performed were signed between the parties. After the verdict was passed by the court of first instance, an agreement to protect the interests of P. in the appellate instance was concluded with the applicant's spouse, citizen K..

The lawyer's file was not submitted to the materials of the disciplinary proceedings by lawyer B..

It follows from the materials of the disciplinary proceedings that all funds, by agreement, were deposited not into the account of the lawyer's education after they were paid by the principal, but on arbitrary dates from the personal account of lawyer B., which does not meet the requirements of Part 6 of Art. 25 of the Federal Law "On Advocacy and Advocacy in the Russian Federation", Part 1, Art. 8 of the Lawyer's Code of Professional Ethics. The last payment was also made by the lawyer from a personal account in the amount of 73,000 rubles after the complaint was received and disciplinary proceedings were initiated.

The applicant's claims about the provision of unqualified legal assistance were also found to be substantiated, since the lawyer did not submit a lawyer's dossier that could be accepted as a refutation of the applicant's arguments.

Based on the foregoing, the Commission unanimously came to the conclusion that there were elements of a disciplinary offense in the actions of lawyer B..

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In another disciplinary proceeding, the qualification commission came to the conclusion that it was necessary to terminate the disciplinary proceedings in connection with the withdrawal of the appeal by the court.

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Eighteen applicants have successfully passed the qualification exam and are invited to take the oath at the meeting of the Council of the Chamber of Advocates of the Samara Region, which will be held on November 24, 2022.

PASO Press Center