New law on advocacy in the PMR has been adopted

The Supreme Council adopted in the third final reading the new law-in-draft “On advocacy and the legal profession in the PMR”. It will come into force on January 1, 2024 after signing and will replace the Law on the Bar, which has been in force for 30 years. Parliamentarians in order for the new law to work adopted changes to the Criminal Procedure Code, Civil Procedure Code and Code of Administrative Offences today.

As Deputy Speaker, Chairman of the Legislation Committee Galina Antyufeeva noted, the new law will have a positive effect, since it will now spell out literally all the activities of lawyers, their rights and obligations, and eliminate all legal gaps.

The rules on the organization of advocacy and the legal profession are enshrined in the new law. Legal entities can be in the form of a lawyer's office, a law office and legal consultations in cities and regions of the republic. Such innovations will create healthy competition, noted Galina Antyufeeva.

Regulations have been laid down for the work of the Chamber of Lawyers, which will be a non-governmental non-profit organization and represent the interests of lawyers in relations with government authorities. The procedure for providing free legal assistance to the population by the Chamber of Lawyers is prescribed.

The new law “On advocacy and the legal profession in the PMR” prescribes the rights and responsibilities of lawyers, the requirements for applicants for the status of lawyer: they must have a higher legal education, work experience in the specialty of at least 3 years, or the applicant must undergo an internship in legal education before 1 year. Those who have not yet worked as a lawyer must pass a qualifying exam, thereby confirming their ability to practice law. The exam will be administered by a qualification commission consisting not only of lawyers, but government officials as well. There are a total of 9 people who will be elected for 2 years: 5 representatives of the Chamber of Lawyers and 1 representative each from the Supreme Council, the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme and Arbitration Courts.

In addition, the new law spells out the procedure for the activities of foreign lawyers so that they have the opportunity to work on the territory of our republic. They will need to obtain permission from the Chamber of Lawyers and register to do this. The new law will not prohibit former investigators, prosecutors and law enforcement officials from working as lawyers, since this category of lawyers is considered more professional than novice specialists.

According to the chairman of the profile committee Galina Antyufeyeva it is planned immediately following the new law coming into effect to hold a meeting with lawyers and analyze its positive aspects, to what extent the law helps in their activities.