Stop wide-scale violation of right to legal help for most vulnerable groups in society!
Stop destruction of human rights society!
the State Duma has passed the Code of administrative legal proceedings and Federation Council has confirmed it also. Unfortunately, this document keeps to restrict rights of civilians.
This regulatory act states that only people with diploma in law are allowed to be representatives of parties (art.55, 126 KAS). This new requirement goes against social structure of Russian society and established traditions.
Thus, if this act comes into force, have-nots and low-income people in fact will not have an opportunity to get legal help from human rights organizations upon cases about disputes with authorities. Members of these organizations don’t have diplomas in law and as a rule they focus on defense for some vulnerable groups towards whom there are mass violations of rights. In particular, children, migrants, refugees, convicts, released people, people in hardship, military people, retirees etc.
Human rights defenders and other members of our society protect others providing them with legal help on a very good level, sometimes even better than lawyers with diplomas. It’s connected with first of all huge experience in this field, as well as moralities of these people which are based not on money-making but desire to change situation there.
It’s obviously that in case of becoming effective most of human rights organizations which cannot afford to hire lawyers or at least make one-time agreement, won’t be able to provide hundreds of thousands citizens with legal help. These people don’t posses enough money to hire lawyer with diploma in law.
Moreover, the Code forbids participation in cases people without legal education together with some who have it.
In some points the Code completely violates a right to court defense. Thus, situation goes this way: » the road to hell is paved with good intentions», because law-makers intending to guarantee people their rights to qualified legal help, in fact restrict them. It will make worse intense social and political situation in Russian society and may lead to impossibility for people to fight for their rights.
Due to this things, we call on President of the Russian Federation — Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin to put a veto on the Code of administrative legal proceedings.
Human rights defenders of the Urals
