PASO Council meeting

On May 22, 2023, the regular meeting of the PASO Council was held. It was the final one before the Twenty-third (regular) annual conference of lawyers of the Samara Region.

According to tradition, the meeting began with the taking of the oath by candidates who successfully passed the qualification exam. Eight out of nineteen candidates were noted by the Qualification Commission as having demonstrated a particularly high level of knowledge. Dzhumaev T.R., Efanov P.E., Chudnovets I.M. were the best of those who passed the oral part of the exam. Akopyan A.A., Bakhaev M.V., Boyarkin O.I., Dedova A.O., Kutuzova E.S., Molokoedov D.Yu., Ryndina E.A., Sheludyakov V.K. showed the best results in testing, receiving 70 out of 70 possible points. President of PASO T.D. Butovchenko wished her new colleagues success in their careers and to reach the highest point of this success - an acquittal. For only success gives a lawyer a boost of strength and energy, which allows him to overcome all the difficulties he faces daily while defending his clients.

Some of the agenda items were devoted to the preparation of the upcoming conference.

The PASO Council discussed reports on the work of the PASO Council and the implementation of the income and expense budget for the maintenance of the Bar Association for the period from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022, approved the draft income and expense budget of the Samara Region Bar Association for 2023 while maintaining the previous deductions for the maintenance of the PASO, and also heard the Report of the Audit Commission on the audit of the financial and economic activities of the Bar Association.

The Council elected PASO Vice President A.V. Borodin as the chairman of the 23rd annual conference.

In accordance with the amendments to the Federal Law "On Advocacy and the Bar in the Russian Federation" (subparagraph 1 as amended by Federal Law of 02.12.2019 N 400-FZ), by Decision of the PASO Council No. 23-01/SP of 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 Chamber of Advocates of the Samara Region for the next term by the Twenty-third annual conference of advocates of the Samara Region. The president is elected by secret ballot for a term of four 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 advocates of the Samara Region.

For other issues of the conference, the voting procedure remains open - by raising ballots.

The Council members were the first to get their hands on the memorable publication “History of the Samara Bar Association”, which had been in preparation for more than two years. In order for the publication to be published, two professional historians G.V. Aleksushin and Z.M. Kobozeva were involved, and the enormous efforts of the PASO apparatus were involved. The archives of the Central State Archive of the Samara Region, the Samara Regional Archive of Social and Political History, and the Samara Regional Bar Association were raised.

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 lawyer dynasties that pass on experience from generation to generation, and the development of the Samara Bar Association in the post-Soviet period.

Each PASO lawyer will receive a free copy of this publication. The conference delegates will be the first to do so.

The Council of the Chamber of Advocates of the Samara Region also considered the agenda items regarding changes in the register of advocates, having satisfied two applications for suspension of status and one application for changing membership in the PASO to a bar association of another region.

The Council regretfully terminated the status of advocate Vladimir Veniaminovich Katkasov due to his untimely death.

The PASO Council once again reminds that May 31 is the target date for most advocates to fulfill the requirements of the Standard of professional training and professional development of advocates and trainee advocates, according to which advocates with less than 3 years of experience must annually confirm the professional development of at least 40 academic hours, advocates with more than 3 years of experience - at least 30 academic hours.

There is a week left until the end of the calculated "academic year", however, more than four hundred PASO advocates have not yet submitted information confirming the professional development. There are still opportunities for this, including webinars of the PASO and the Federal Chamber of Lawyers of the Russian Federation. Failure to comply with the above Standard is grounds for initiating disciplinary proceedings with the selection of a disciplinary measure up to and including termination of the status of a lawyer.

The agenda of the current meeting considered the applications of four lawyers for offsetting the requirements for improving the professional level of completing distance courses and other training. Their personal accounts were replenished by the decision of the PASO Council in an equivalent amount confirmed by documents.

The Council also decided to conduct an individual quality check of the provision of subsidized legal assistance by one of the PASO lawyers in accordance with Article 50 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, and the execution of decisions of the bodies of the bar association. In 2020, the PASO Center for Legal Assistance issued him two "blue" order books for work as intended, but to date he has not reported on any of them and insistently demands the issuance of new orders. He categorically refuses to submit the stubs of the orders used for verification.

Based on the Decision of the PASO Council "On approval of the Rules of the Chamber of Advocates of the Samara Region for the implementation of the Procedure for appointing lawyers as defense attorneys in criminal proceedings, approved by the decision of the Council of the Federal Chamber of Advocates of the Russian Federation dated March 15, 2019", the Center for Legal Aid for the Protection of Legal Entities does not have the right to issue a new order book to a lawyer without checking the numbers of previously distributed claims registered in the Center's electronic system with the numbers of the orders issued by the lawyer for cases. This Decision imposes on the PASO Council the obligation to monitor the quality of the provision of subsidized legal assistance by lawyers upon the appointment of inquiry bodies, preliminary investigation bodies and courts by requesting for verification of materials of lawyer proceedings on distributed claims, and not only as part of a centralized check, but, if necessary, also individually. The PASO Council will conduct an audit of this lawyer's work on claims distributed to him from the moment of receiving order books in 2020 to the present.

The PASO Council reviewed nine disciplinary proceedings. Seven cases were initiated in connection with lawyers’ arrears in membership fees. By the time of the Council meeting, all lawyers had paid off their arrears. Moreover, most lawyers had paid their fees for a year in advance to avoid similar situations in the future. In accordance with established practice, disciplinary proceedings against them were terminated due to their insignificance. Lawyers who had paid off their current arrears were given warnings.

One case was terminated due to proper performance of professional duties and the applicant’s arguments being unfounded.

Particular attention was paid to the disciplinary proceedings against a lawyer whose actions the Qualification Commission considered inconsistent with the status of a lawyer and the general principles of morality in society, undermining the authority of the legal profession. The Chamber received a video recording from one of the cameras installed in the corridor of the Samara District Court. The recording shows that after the end of the hearing on the civil case, the lawyer left the courtroom, waited at the door for the representative of the procedural opponents and kicked him twice: first in the buttock, then in the groin. The situation in which a female lawyer hits a male lawyer in the courthouse quickly became public knowledge and came to the attention of the press. In her explanations, the lawyer did not regret her behavior, stating that her actions were caused by the unfair position of the procedural opponents, whose interests this lawyer represented, in relation to her clients. She insisted that she was right, believing that such behavior in the courthouse was entirely acceptable. The Council did not share the lawyer's opinion, stating that in such a situation there is no need to talk about honor and dignity, which a lawyer is obliged to demonstrate in all situations, and above all when carrying out professional activities. The obligation to comply with the Constitution, the laws of the Russian Federation and the Code of Professional Ethics of a lawyer falls on a member of the corporation at the time of taking the oath. To grossly trample on these values ​​in front of procedural opponents, clients, and the court means damaging the reputation of the entire corporation. Under these circumstances, the PASO Council decided to terminate its status.

The Council constantly monitors the situation regarding the payment of wages to appointed lawyers. Due to delays in payment of wages in January and then in April 2023, the President of PASO sent letters about the need to pay off the debt to the Head of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Samara Region, the Head of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Samara Region, as well as to the Office of the Judicial Department of the Russian Federation in the Samara Region. The responses of these bodies were formal in nature; to date, no decisive measures have been taken to change the situation. The issue of delays in payment of wages by appointment was raised by the President of PASO at the XI All-Russian Congress of Lawyers on 20.04.2023. Based on its results, on 03.05.2023, the FPA RF requested information from regional bar associations on debts in payment of wages to appointed lawyers, which must be submitted by 31.05.2023. As practice has shown, the attention of the Federal Chamber of Lawyers of the Russian Federation to this problem in itself encourages law enforcement agencies to take measures to pay off the debt. However, the problem has not yet been resolved. The Chamber is constantly making efforts in this direction. The goal of the FPASO is to resolve the issue within the framework of constructive relationships with colleagues from the law enforcement and judicial systems, so as not to collapse the interaction that has been built up over decades to mutual disadvantage with a one-time categorical action. At the same time, the position of the FPASO is categorical: the right of lawyers to remuneration must be immediately implemented and promptly observed in the future. In the near future, the FPASO will initiate a meeting of the management of the specified structures on this issue.

The FPASO Council considered the response of the Samara Regional Court regarding the untimely notification of the date of court hearings. Let us recall that earlier the Chamber of Lawyers of the Samara Region sent an appeal to the Samara Regional Court regarding the facts of violation of Part 8 of Art. 109 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, according to which a petition for extension of the period of detention must be submitted to the court at the place of the preliminary investigation or the place of detention of the accused no later than 7 days before its expiration. The resolution on the initiation of the petition sets out information on the investigative and other procedural actions carried out in the period after the selection of a preventive measure or the last extension of the period of detention of the accused, and is considered by the court within 5 days from the date of its expiration. At the same time, the requests are sent the day before or on the day of the court hearing.

It follows from the received response to the appeal that the Samara Regional and District Courts issued a total of 37 private rulings on materials on the extension of the periods of detention on the grounds specified in the PASO appeal. Thus, the courts respond to violations of the Code of Criminal Procedure by the preliminary investigation bodies.

The Council concluded the meeting with a sports issue – a decision was made to send the PASO team to the mini-football championship among lawyer teams of the Volga Federal District. The match will be a qualifying round for the federal tournament.

PASO Press Center