In this submission, the ICJ provides comments on the Draft Federal Law “On amending certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation concerning ensuring the right of a lawyer to collect data necessary for providing qualified legal assistance” No 993553-6 (Draft Law).
The comments are provided in light of international law and standards on the role of lawyers and are informed by the ICJ report Towards a Stronger Legal Profession in Russia published in December 2015.
The document addresses the following issues: a “lawyers’ query”, a new legal tool which intends to empower defence lawyers to make requests for data and information; admission of evidence gathered by lawyers to be included in the case-file; the lawyers’ certificate which grants access to state buildings and the related issue of obstruction of lawyers’ access to their clients; ethical standards of lawyers and the problem of “pocket lawyers” in the Russian Federation.
Russia-Comment on Lawyer draft law-Advocacy-Analysis brief-2016-ENG (full text in English, PDF)
Russia-Comment on Right of Lawyer Law-Advocacy-Analysis brief-2016-RUS (full text in Russian, PDF)
Photo: Russian lawyer’s ID. Credit: http://minjust.ru/