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The Chamber of Advocates has proposed criminal punishment for failure to access detainees
This proposal would impose prison sentences for preventing lawyers from visiting detainees, violating attorney-client privilege, and interfering with the activities of lawyers.
The Federal Chamber of Advocates of the Russian Federation (FPA) has prepared a draft law on criminal liability for obstructing legal defense. It includes a number of amendments to the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code, including the creation of a new Article 149.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Violation of the right to qualified legal assistance," Kommersant reports.
Up to four years of imprisonment are expected to be imposed on charges of "preventing a lawyer from meeting with a detainee participating in an investigation and other proceedings on a client's case," as well as illegally collecting and disseminating information. Attorney-client confidentiality "for the purpose of violating the right to competent legal assistance." The lawyers propose a fine (up to 80 thousand rubles), forced labor, or arrest for up to six months if they "obstruct" or "obstruct the lawful activities of lawyers."
If the listed crimes are committed under serious circumstances, such as a group, prior conspiracy, abuse of official position or use of force against a lawyer, the punishment is more severe. In this case, the maximum prison term increases to 6 years.
In the explanatory note, the lawyers remind that although the Constitution guarantees everyone the right to qualified legal assistance, the law does not sufficiently protect this right. Therefore, in the opinion of the FPA, it is necessary to recognize violations as socially dangerous and punish them in the form of criminal liability.
The head of the drafting group and adviser to the Federal Chamber of Lawyers of the Russian Federation, Evgeny Rubinstein, told the newspaper that the initiative is not as important for lawyers as it is for their clients. It performs an important public-law function. These rules are primarily intended to ensure the right to qualified legal assistance. Lawyers play a large, if not overwhelming, role in ensuring compliance with this right."
The Justice Ministry told the newspaper that it was “working closely” with the FPA to “improve the legal regulation” of the legal profession. Irina Pankina (Russian Federation), first deputy chair of the State Duma Committee on State Development and Legislation, said lawmakers were ready to “examine the proposal in detail” once the bill reaches the committee.
In the fall of 2022, the newspaper cited a report by the Federal Chamber of Lawyers and the Center for Constitutional Studies, which stated that 41% of lawyers said their professional rights had been violated, in particular by investigators and the police.
According to a survey of 520 lawyers in 64 regions of Russia, lawyers most often complained about cases of violation of their professional rights during the investigation (for example, failure to provide procedural documents (67.5%)) and time restrictions for familiarization with the materials. It turned out that. Criminal cases "on far-fetched grounds" (55.4%). In addition, lawyers were subjected to physical (6.5%) and psychological (31.5%) violence by employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, investigative bodies, employees of federal prisons and bailiffs.
Of the lawyers surveyed during the study period, 45.2% called the identified problems systemic, and 64.9% said that they created serious or insurmountable obstacles to the provision of legal assistance. At the same time, the surveyed lawyers appealed only 11.8% of violations, and 38% of lawyers sought assistance.
The researchers explain such low activity by the fact that all legal remedies available to lawyers are useless and do not protect them from serious violations of professional rights. “Lawyers do not waste time on useless things,” Olga Schwartz, co-author of the report and FPA consultant, briefly commented on the issue.