Meeting of the Qualification Commission

On May 15, 2022, on the eve of the Twenty-second (regular) annual conference of lawyers of the Samara Region, a regular meeting of the Qualification Commission of the Chamber of Lawyers of the Samara Region was held.

The agenda of the final meeting in the current composition determined nine disciplinary proceedings for consideration, two of which were initiated at the request of the court, three - on the proposal of the Vice President, four - on the complaints of principals, as well as the admission of a qualification exam for conferring the status of a lawyer for applicants who successfully passed computer testing (18 people).

In essence, four disciplinary proceedings were considered.

So, in the appeals sent by the court, it is indicated that the actions of lawyers that lead to the disruption of court hearings are inadmissible.

In the first case, the commission found that on December 30, 2021, at 11:27 a.m., through the SYUP PASO Center, he accepted a demand to participate in a court hearing in a criminal case on January 10, 2022, at 4:00 p.m. business and upcoming holidays). Without any objective reasons, the lawyer did not attempt to familiarize himself with the materials of the criminal case in advance. During the meeting, he filed a motion to adjourn due to the need to familiarize himself with the case, which the court was forced to satisfy.

In the second case, the court agreed in advance the schedule of court sessions, however, one of the lawyers participating in the criminal case did not appear at the court session on 12/16/2021 at 14.00 (in accordance with the schedule), the court did not notify in advance about the reasons for the non-appearance to the court did not say, in connection with which, the court announced a break to clarify the reasons for the absence of a lawyer, and after the break, the court session was adjourned due to the absence of a lawyer. From the explanations of the lawyer given to the Qualification Commission, it follows that at 9.03 am on 12/16/2021, i.e. five hours before the meeting, she received a call from one of her principals with a request to participate in an unplanned investigative event, after which she left for the address indicated by the principal to participate in the search. At the end of the investigative action, she was going to leave towards the court, however, from other participants in the process, she learned that the meeting was adjourned. The commission found that the lawyer did not take any action to notify the court.

In both cases, the Commission found elements of disciplinary offenses; the Conclusions indicated that such actions were not inadmissible, since they led to the disruption of court hearings, which indicates disrespect for the court and participants in the process.

The Vice-President of the PASO made a submission against a lawyer who, while defending the interests during the interrogation of a person who was involved as a witness in a criminal case, actively interfered with the interrogation, refused to sign the protocol with the client, and as a result, together with the client, left the investigator’s office without waiting for the end investigative action.

Seeing the composition of a disciplinary offense in the actions of a lawyer, the Commission indicated that a lawyer in his professional activities must comply with the norms of the relevant procedural legislation, respectively, in this case, participating in an investigative action conducted within the framework of a criminal case, he must take measures of procedural response to inadmissible from the point of view the lawyer's view of the investigator's actions provided for by the criminal procedural legislation.

According to the disciplinary proceedings on the client’s complaint, which also ended with the issuance of a Conclusion on the existence of a disciplinary offense, the Commission found that the lawyer, in the period from the moment of suspension of the status on 01/25/2018 until its renewal on 01/27/2022, accepted an assignment to protect the interests of the complainant in the framework of the civil process. In the process of representing the interests of the applicant by a lawyer, her husband entered into civil law relations with the applicant - he entered into a preliminary contract for the sale of property, which was subsequently not executed by the applicant, which led to a conflict and, as a result, the lawyer’s spouse went to court with a lawsuit against the applicant . The lawyer in the case on the claim of the spouse entered the case as a third party on the side of the spouse.

During the meeting, the lawyer explained that she did not perceive the applicant as a principal and representing his interests in court was not her professional activity, since she provided legal assistance to a loved one and free of charge.

The commission did not share the position of the lawyer and saw in her actions the composition of a disciplinary offense.

Whether the Council of the Chamber of Advocates of the Samara Region will agree with the conclusions and conclusions of the Qualification Commission will become known on the day of the meeting, which will be held on May 23, 2022.

Five disciplinary proceedings are adjourned to provide additional evidence.

Fifteen applicants successfully passed the qualification exam and were invited to take the oath at a meeting of the Council of the Chamber of Advocates of the Samara Region (three applicants did not pass the oral interview).

At the end of the meeting, PASO President Butovchenko T.D. the results of the work of the current composition of the Commission chaired by Aleksey Valeryevich Kokin were summed up, the high level of interaction between colleagues, objectivity and professional approach when considering complex disciplinary proceedings, as well as the formation of a unified disciplinary practice on “systemic” issues, were noted.

PASO Press Center