The Federal Chamber of Advocates has no desire to construct a “disciplinary vertical”

The website of the Federal Chamber of Advocates (FCA) informs that the FCA will submit to the Ministry of Justice its commentaries on the amendments to the advocacy legislation prepared by the Ministry. The website cites the meeting of the Chamber Council, which was held in Saint Petersburg. First Vice-President of the FCA Yury Pilipenko told Vedomosti that the advocates’ community in general is strongly in favor of the draft law, but there are debatable matters: in particular, advocates suggest correcting the status and the powers of the Ethics Commission, the creation of which is stipulated by the Ministry’s initiative.

In October, the Ministry submitted for discussion a draft law, which expanded the advocates’ rights to receive information essential for rendering qualified legal support. The amendments oblige the public authorities, companies and credit institutions to provide advocates with the requested information and fix administrative liability for failure to comply. Meanwhile, illegal use or disclosure of such information will be a cause for disbarment, and a new collective body – a special Ethics Commission – must be established under the Federal Chamber of Advocates. Said Commission will be entitled to elaborate and approve the standards of quality of rendering qualified legal assistance, give compulsory recommendations on the matters of application of the relevant laws and summarize the disciplinary practice. Besides, the Commission will be able to review the decisions of regional chambers on disciplinary proceedings (these are mainly the requests to disbar) upon submission by the Council of the FCA. Only the council of the regional chamber may currently disbar an advocate, and such decision may only be appealed against in courts.

The Moscow Chamber of Advocates was against the stronger vertical. The opinion on the draft law, signed by the President of the Moscow Chamber Henry Reznik, says: “Endowing not only the commission but any authority of the FCA with the powers to review disciplinary decisions taken by regional chambers is absolutely wrong”. H.Reznik insists that only the elaboration of recommendations must be the function of the Commission.

Y.Pilipenko agrees that the Ethics Commission must not deal with personal dealings of each advocate: its function is to analyze the disciplinary practice and to influence the forming of common approaches. The Vice-President of the FCA emphasizes that the most important powers – admission to the Bar and disbarment – must remain with the regions. Y.Pilipenko has promised that the advocates’ community will formulate its position concerning the place of the Ethics Committee in the system of advocates’ self-government, but refused to give any estimates regarding the extent, to which said suggestions will be taken into account by the Ministry of Justice. The spokesman’s service of the Ministry also provided no answer.

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