Belarus may narrow scope of activity for certain categories of lawyers

<p> MINSK, Mar 19 – PrimePress. Belarus may introduce restrictions on the scope of activity for certain categories of lawyers. This follows from the statements of the Minister of Justice of Belarus, Oleg Slizhevski, published on the National Legal Internet Portal. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Slizhevski said that during a meeting with President Lukashenko on 18 March there was a discussion about the expediency of lawyers' work in the existing regulatory framework - legal advice, law firms and standalone lawyers. </p> <p>   </p> <p> “There are often complaints from citizens as well as from the courts about the quality of services rendered by lawyers. Sometimes lawyers who have been working in the sphere of economic law all their lives can enter a criminal or administrative process for the sake of one case, they don't understand the process and, in fact, violate the rules of procedural law, which, of course, does not affect the authority of the legal profession,” said Slizhevski. </p> <p>   </p> <p> In his words, as a possible solution, it was proposed to legislate that lawyers working individually and lawyers working in law firms should specialise in civil and economic cases. Lawyers working in legal consultancy offices would be able to provide legal services in all areas. </p> <p>   </p> <p> “However, no final decision has yet been taken on the matter. "This is an issue that will be worked through in the next few days and a final proposal will be made. The main thesis is that all lawyers should work under the same conditions,” Slizhevski said. </p> <p>   </p> <p> “A lawyer’s status implies high respect, reverence for the rules of law and the fact that a lawyer, as a representative of the legal profession, must set an example of law-abiding behaviour. Nevertheless, some lawyers allow themselves to go beyond the powers granted to them by the legislation on the legal profession, allow themselves to violate, transgress the law. Sometimes this is done rudely and demonstratively, which requires a principled assessment,” Slizhevski said. </p> <p>   </p> <p> In his opinion, the self-governing bodies of lawyers do not always react properly to “such inadmissible actions on the part of lawyers”. The draft law includes a provision which would abolish disciplinary commissions and entrust the review of cases which require lawyers' accountability to the councils of the bar associations. </p> <p>   </p> <p> As previously reported, after the presidential election of 9 August 2020, in which Alexander Lukashenko was declared the winner for the sixth time with 80.1% of the vote, there followed four months of protests, with thousands of people expressing disagreement with the official results. During this period, some lawyers involved in the political processes were detained or stripped of their licences by law enforcement agencies. </p> <p>   </p> <p> The presidential press service said in a statement following the 18 March meeting that the presidential administration, the State Secretariat of the Security Council and other agencies had prepared some ten draft laws in the area of national security and public order. End </p>

2021-03-20

Primepress