A lawyer who provided free legal assistance in criminal proceedings was detained and forcibly sent to a local staffing and support center.
The violation of the Constitution and the rights of lawyers guaranteed by the Law “On the Bar and Legal Activities” was reported by the Bar Council of the Odessa Region.
He was in the city of Reni on behalf of the Center for Free Secondary Legal Assistance, where he represented the interests of those detained by the police.
During a search in one of the premises, police officers were informed that, by order of management, the lawyer seemed to urgently arrive at the TCC. After the refusal, armed men appeared within 10 minutes, forced the lawyer into a minibus with hidden license plates and took him to the TCC.
The Bar Council of the Odessa Region assessed such actions as a gross violation of the guarantees of legal practice. We are talking about the relevant paragraphs. 1.6 hours 1 tbsp. 23 of the Law “On the Bar and Legal Activities”. Any interference or obstacles to the exercise of advocacy are prohibited. The life, health, honor and dignity of a lawyer and his family members, their property is under state protection, and attacks on them entail liability provided by law.
“These actions indicate an obstruction of a lawyer’s activities in connection with his practice as a lawyer, which, as a consequence, limits a person’s constitutional right to defense and deprives a lawyer of the opportunity to properly carry out his professional duties,” says the statement of the body of lawyers’ self-government.
It is reported that the lawyer’s appeal to the Bar Council of the Odessa Region will become the basis for taking measures to respond to violations of the rights and guarantees of the lawyer’s activities.
It is known that incidents related to TCC’s violation of the guarantees of legal practice have already occurred, including in the Odessa region.
So, last year, a lawyer providing professional legal assistance arrived at the TCC and SP in Odessa, where the client underwent a second military medical commission. However, the center workers did not physically allow the lawyer to see the client. Then the Committee for the Protection of the Rights of Lawyers and Guarantees of Legal Activities of the NAAU sent an appeal to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. In the end, the Odessa Regional Center for Recruitment and Social Support set a requirement for the heads of district TCCs to exclude cases of violation of the professional rights of lawyers in their official activities.
