Probably every Russian citizen has heard of such a socially important profession as a lawyer. Lawyers are called legal advocates. These are specialists in the field of law, who provide feasible legal assistance to the population. This article will discuss the most important provisions of the law "On advocacy and advocacy", the norms of which govern the activities of legal assistants.
Advocacy: general characteristic
The bar is called the community of lawyers. It is a full-fledged civil society institution, independent of state power. Advocacy is based on the principles of independence, legality and corporatism. The main sources of activity are the Constitution and the law "On advocacy and advocacy in the Russian Federation" (adopted in 2002). The latest version of this normative act will be considered later.
The main element of the bar is a lawyer - a professional official who has the right to practice law. By law, it cannot be entrepreneurial. The system of powers of a lawyer, according to the law "On advocacy and advocacy," includes the provision of legal assistance to the population.
Attorney Duties
Section 7 of the Law "On Advocacy and the Bar" describes the responsibilities of the officials in question. Here are their functions that are worth highlighting:
- Assertion of own rights and realization of the principal’s interests by all legal means. The lawyer must carry out his work on the basis of the principles of reasonableness, integrity and honesty.
- Constant improvement of their skills and knowledge. Studying new laws and amendments to regulatory enactments.
- Compliance with the code of ethics.
- Insurance of all occupational risks.
A separate duty of a lawyer is enshrined in article 8 of the law. It indicates the need to keep the lawyer's secret, which may contain information about the client’s specialist.
Thus, a lawyer can provide legal assistance to the population by absolutely any means. It is only important to comply with the law and to be conscientious.
Attorney at Law
A lawyer has a fairly wide range of different powers. So, the specialist in question has the opportunity to collect all the necessary information to implement his functions. I must say that the work of a lawyer is closely connected with bureaucratic processes. It is often not so easy to get an important certificate or document, and therefore work can be delayed.
Article 6 of the Federal Law "On Advocacy and the Bar" indicates the following powers of a person:
- attracting specialists from various public spheres to solve a particular issue;
- fixing the information contained in the documents to the case;
- interrogation of witnesses and eyewitnesses;
- implementation of other actions that do not contradict the legislation of the Russian Federation.
At the same time, the lawyer does not have the right to make public statements about the fault of the principal, refuse the assumption of protection or take a position contrary to the will of the client.
About bar status
In the Russian Federation, not every citizen can acquire legal status. A prerequisite is the presence of a legal education and state accreditation. Work experience by profession should be at least two years. Incapable and minor persons, as well as citizens with a criminal record, cannot obtain legal status.
According to article 9 of the Law on Advocacy and the Bar, a special qualification commission assigns the status of a lawyer to a citizen. A person who claims to receive it must pass a qualification exam and receive special clearance. The exam itself consists of a test and oral part.
The lawyer's status is assigned to a citizen for an indefinite period. The applicant for the position of lawyer must take a special oath. Only after that he will get into the lawyer register.
Cabinet and board
Lawyer activity has several forms established by law. Next, you should consider them separately.
An individually working lawyer with at least five years of experience has the opportunity to form a law office. This form of organization will not be a legal entity. Any type of property can be chosen for placement of a lawyer office.
Article 22 of the Law of the Russian Federation "On advocacy and advocacy" describes another, no less common form of advocacy organization. A bar association is created when there is an agreement between two or more lawyers. Such an instance will be a non-profit organization based on the principles of membership and the existence of a charter. This document must contain:
- college name;
- business goals and subject;
- location of the organization;
- collegium management procedure;
- reorganization process requirements;
- the procedure for amending the charter.
Collegial representatives are not liable for the obligations of the organization.
Bureau and legal advice
What is a law office? The answer to this question is provided in article 23 of the Law "On advocacy and advocacy" (No. 63-FZ). By law, two or more lawyers can form a bureau. A special partnership agreement must be concluded in writing in simple form. According to it, lawyers join forces to provide joint assistance to people in need. When leaving the partnership, the lawyer hands over to his colleagues all those cases (in the form of documentation) that he previously dealt with.
Article 24 of the law talks about legal advice, an education that is quite common in our country. This is a non-profit type organization located in a separate judicial district. She is engaged in providing free legal assistance to the population.
Advocate Council
All lawyers of a particular Russian region are united in a lawyer chamber - an organization created to provide qualified legal assistance to the population. The chamber is formed by the constituent attorney assembly. In turn, the meeting of lawyers is the highest body that is formed in the regional legal chamber. What is his competence? In accordance with article 30 of the law "On advocacy and advocacy in the Russian Federation", it is worth highlighting:
- determining the location of the organ;
- election of representatives of the audit commission;
- formation of cost estimates;
- approval of lawyer regulations;
- formation of a regional bar council;
- the creation of trust funds for the Chamber of Lawyers;
- adoption of other decisions in strict accordance with the law of the Federal Law "On advocacy and advocacy in the Russian Federation", which was adopted in 2002.
Recent changes to the regulatory act were made in 2017. Then amendments were made to article 31, which described the lawyer's council.
Law Offices
When and in what cases are lawyer meetings convened? Article 41 of the normative act in question does not fix special rules on the frequency of convocation of meetings. Conferences themselves should be formed from the lawyers of a particular region. The council will work only if at the event there will be at least half of the number of declared persons.
Participants of the Bar Association discuss issues of modernization of all legal organizational forms, whose mandate is to provide quality assistance of a legal nature.