Improving advocacy in the interests of the people

The law-in-draft “On Free Legal Aid in the PMR” was considered in the course of the meeting of the Committee on Legislation, Protection of the Rights and Freedoms of Citizens. The authors are members of the Committee.

The law-in-draft was developed to ensure that those citizens who are not able to pay for it could receive high-quality legal assistance free of charge. Such assistance will not affect the entire range of legal services, the authors note. It will be possible to get legal advice free of charge: verbally or in writing. Socially vulnerable categories of citizens will be helped to draw up applications, complaints, petitions on issues of concern to them, for example, recognition of the right to housing, refusal of the employer to conclude an employment contract, establishing and challenging paternity, collecting alimony and other issues. A similar law on free legal aid is in force in Russia.

The authors of the law-in-draft “On Free Legal Aid in the PMR” consider that the new law will allow regulating legal relations in the field of advocacy, which were not previously regulated at the legislative and sub-legal levels.

The Supreme Council is considering the law-in-draft “On advocacy and advocacy in the PMR” at the same time, which is intended to replace the law “On advocacy” that has been in force for 30 years. This initiative, proposed by the PMR Prosecutor, has already been adopted in the first reading. Numerous amendments were made to the law-in-draft; a specially created working group with the participation of various state authorities worked on them. As a result of the working group, about 150 amendments to the law-in-draft were prepared. The initiative was prepared by the relevant Committee for consideration in the second reading at one of the plenary sessions.