Ministry of Justice against attorney-client privilege

The Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation sent to the Presidential Administration a package of amendments to several laws "in connection with the improvement of state administration in the field of state registration" , providing for the abolition of attorney-client privilege, Nezavisimaya Gazeta reports on June 6, 2005.

Correspondents of the publication managed to get the text of this document. The authors of the bill propose to actually annul the existing institution of attorney-client secrecy, seeking the right to "demand from lawyers, bar associations information related to the provision of legal assistance, including on specific cases" ; intend to "send the President of the Chamber of Lawyers a submission on the application of disciplinary measures against the lawyer" and even "demand the suspension or termination of the lawyer's status" (that is, apply extrajudicial measures of influence). In addition, the law will allow officials of the Ministry of Justice "to send recommendations to the bodies of the Federal Chamber of Lawyers, Bar Associations in the areas of activity of these bodies" , that is, as Anastasia Kornya, the author of an article in Nezavisimaya Gazeta, writes, "actually give orders under the guise of recommendations " .

The lawyers interviewed by the journalist were categorically against such amendments. All of them believe that the purpose of the amendments is to place the bar under the full control of the state and hope that the amendments will not be adopted. So, for example, Boris Kuznetsov noted: "If you follow this path, the very meaning of the existence of the bar is lost ... This will be a blow not so much to the bar as to justice . "

Sources

• Root A. Defense broken // Independent newspaper. 2005. 6 July.