The Chamber of Lawyers and other legal organizations may receive specific recognition in the Russian Civil Code
Vladimir Pligin, the Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building, and Pavel Krasheninnikov, the Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Civil, Criminal, Arbitration, and Procedural Legislation, again suggested amendments to the “Legal Entities” section of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. This time, the parliamentarians proposed to abandon the practice of equating attorneys’ chambers and associations for lawyers (boards, bureaus, and chambers) with associations (unions). Instead, they decided to classify such organizations as legal entities that have recognition in the Civil Code.
According to amendments of September 2014 to the Civil Code, lawyer chambers and major legal practices received the classification of associations (unions). The legal community perceived this negatively. In particular, many lawyers noted that the model of self-government of the Russian legal profession differs from the management of associations (unions).
The authors, who realized the inappropriateness of last September’s amendments, mentioned in the explanatory note to the bill that relations among Russian attorneys have their own characteristics, in contrast to those of associations (unions), because the legal profession is based on the principle of collegiality. This trait contributed to the establishment of an effective and democratically functioning system of Chambers of Attorneys and created a unique model for the historical development of advocacy in the country. According to the developers of the amendments, both the Federal Chamber of Lawyers (FPA) and the lawyer chambers are components of the All-Russian Congress of Advocates, with their associated councils or conferences, and not governing bodies.
The bill defines “lawyer chambers” and “legal practices.” “Lawyer chambers” are nonprofit organizations, based on compulsory membership in the Chamber of Attorneys of the Russian Federation or the Federal Chamber of Lawyers of the Russian Federation, that supervises lawyers’ activities and advocacy in general. “Legal practices” are nonprofit organizations, established in accordance with a law on lawyers’ activity and the legal profession and designed to facilitate legal advocacy. However, this bill does not cover the creation and activity of nonprofit organizations, through which lawyers provide qualified legal assistance. A special Law on advocacy and the bar will regulate the establishment, operation, and management of “lawyers’ chambers” and “legal practices.”
These proposed changes generated a great deal of discussion in the legal community. Some advocate the “elimination” of lawyers’ associations (unions), using the special “collegial” relationship among lawyers to justify their stance. Others do not see the relevance of this legislative effort because they do not anticipate that it will have any impact on the bar.
Oddly enough, this bill lacks any specifics regarding the organization and management of the Chamber of Attorneys and the legal practices. As a result, there is a continuing debate about how to regulate the relationships among lawyers and whether there can be a regulatory hierarchy in the profession, that is, the subordination of one lawyer to another.
The new rules are to come into force upon the date of their publication.
The text of the bill can be found here
