Increasing fees for assigned lawyers. The professional community believes that it is necessary to increase the remuneration of appointed lawyers

Starting from 2018, expenses for remuneration of appointed lawyers will be included in the budget as a separate line. Business FM was informed about this by the Federal Chamber of Lawyers (FPA). Lawyers hope that this will finally solve the problem of multimillion-dollar debt to defenders, which accumulates annually starting from the middle of the year.

Andrey Suchkov Executive Vice President The Federal Chamber of Lawyers “FPA hopes that a separate line in the budget for remuneration of lawyers will solve the problem of chronic non-payments and delays. The current order generates systematic debt, since the financing of the defense for its intended purpose is now in the “Other expenses” line among many others financial obligations Ministry of Internal Affairs. This provokes payment on a residual basis, especially considering the fact that cash are transferred in favor of the procedural opponent. Single line the budget is also not without its difficulties, for example the need for clear monitoring of payments, taking into account the dynamics of expenses and forward planning. But there is confidence that these difficulties can be overcome and long delays in paying lawyers will become a thing of the past.”

According to the managing partner law office“Koblev and Partners” by Ruslan Koblev, remuneration for lawyers is a fairly old problem.

Ruslan Koblev Managing Partner of the Law Firm “Koblev and Partners” “This is very old problem. Different chambers solve it differently. But everywhere there is one difficulty: there is underfunding on the part of government agencies, primarily the Ministry of Internal Affairs, because, as they believe, they have more important expenses. And when this is spelled out separately, the money cannot be spent on any other needs. For example, they could spend it to upgrade their forensic department. The Ministry of Internal Affairs believed that this was not a problem at all, and never took seriously the remuneration of appointed lawyers. “I agree with the leadership of the FPA and regional chambers that from now on it will be more difficult to drag these issues and evade payment.”

Managing partner of the law firm Sokolov, Trusov and Partners, Fyodor Trusov, considers the decision of the Ministry of Finance to be good news for the legal community.

Fedor Trusov, managing partner of the law firm “Sokolov, Trusov and Partners” “This is very good news for the lawyer community. If for lawyers in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other large and solvent regions, payment for the services of appointed lawyers is not so important, then for regions with little purchasing power (in other words, for poor regions and republics), payment for assigned lawyers is of significant importance for families local lawyers. The constant delay in paying for the services of assigned lawyers is, in my opinion, a belittlement of the role of the domestic legal profession. I hope that now lawyers will forget about such a bad practice as delaying payment for their services.”

As Fyodor Trusov notes, “it is very gratifying that the leadership of the FPA in Lately fights so effectively to improve the status of the legal profession and protects specific rights lawyers."

This idea was expressed by the President of the Federal Chamber of Lawyers of the Russian Federation Yuri Pilipenko at a meeting with the Chairman of the State Duma Sergei Naryshkin, as reported on the official website of the FPA. Yuri Pilipenko noted that about a million criminal cases are considered in Russia per year, approximately 80% of them with the participation of appointed lawyers. At the same time, the amount of remuneration for lawyers participating in criminal proceedings as appointed by the authorities preliminary investigation or court, significantly lower than the rates at which the work of other participants in the process is paid.

Thus, today the remuneration of a lawyer participating in a criminal case as appointed by an inquirer, investigator or court is at least 550 rubles per working day. and no more than 1.2 thousand rubles. If a lawyer has to work at night, then the minimum and maximum dimensions his fee increases and amounts to 825 rubles. and 1.8 thousand rubles. respectively. And lawyers forced to work on non-working holidays or weekends, including at night, will receive at least 1.1 thousand rubles. and no more than 2.4 thousand rubles. The specific amount of remuneration for the defense attorney is determined by the court, taking into account the complexity of the case (hereinafter referred to as the Regulations). A year ago, the RF Supreme Court emphasized that the minimum and maximum amounts of remuneration for a lawyer for one day of participation as a defense attorney in criminal proceedings are established based on objective criteria, including financial opportunities states().

And the services of the Cossacks invited for external protection district courts Moscow, are estimated, according to Yuri Pilipenko, at 3 thousand rubles. in a day.

In this regard, in the opinion of the Federal Law Firm of the Russian Federation, the remuneration rate for lawyers participating in legal proceedings by appointment must be increased to the rate at which the work of other participants in the process is paid.

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Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation to the Federal Chamber of Lawyers of the Russian Federation, expenses federal budget for the remuneration of lawyers participating in criminal proceedings as appointed by the bodies of inquiry, investigation or court, from 2018 will be reflected in a separate area of ​​expenses “Payments to lawyers participating in proceedings as appointed by the bodies of inquiry, investigation or court”. The department also announced the allocation of about 1.6 billion rubles to the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. for the purpose of additional budgetary allocations to fulfill the department’s obligations related to the repayment of debts to appointed lawyers.

On October 16, 2017, the President of the Federal Chamber of Lawyers of the Russian Federation, Yuri Pilipenko, sent a letter to the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation on measures to remunerate lawyers involved in criminal cases on assignment.

In his address to the Deputy Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation Alexey Lavrov, the President of the FPA of the Russian Federation recalled the agreement reached on May 23, 2017 during negotiations between the Ministry of Finance of Russia and the FPA of the Russian Federation related to changes in the mechanism financial security protection for its intended purpose, which would eliminate interruptions in payments, and would also make it impossible or difficult for the provision authorities to manipulate the funds allocated for remuneration of lawyers. In accordance with the agreements, this should be facilitated by the introduction for each main manager budget funds individual codes budget classification to finance the costs provided for the intended defense.

Yuriy Pilipenko reported that based on the results of monitoring the situation with the remuneration of lawyers by appointment, it was revealed that as of September 30, 2017. total amount debt to lawyers in 43 constituent entities of the Russian Federation amounted to 160.8 million rubles, of which most of(118.6 million rubles) falls on the bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. In addition, he pointed out that in bar associations In some regions, the situation became critical and this led to appeals to the prosecutor’s office and the Government, as well as decisions to suspend the acceptance of new orders for defense in criminal cases assigned by the bodies of inquiry, investigation and court.

In this regard, the President of the FPA of the Russian Federation asked to expedite the consideration of the issue of introducing separate budget classification codes for each main manager of budgetary funds to finance expenses intended for defense purposes. Yuriy Pilipenko asked to take immediate measures to allocate appropriate limits of budget funds to pay off existing debt and allocate necessary funds to ensure current payments.

On November 28, 2017, the Federal Chamber of Lawyers received a response from the Ministry of Finance. The Ministry reported that starting from 2018, federal budget expenditures on remuneration of appointed defense attorneys will be reflected in a separate area of ​​spending “Payments to lawyers participating in legal proceedings assigned by bodies of inquiry, investigation or court.” As the department emphasized, this “will make it possible to fully ensure isolation and transparency, both within the framework of the costs of purchasing services and within the framework of procedural costs.” It is noted that the redistribution of funds from this direction expenses can be carried out only by making appropriate changes to the consolidated indicators budget list federal budget.

Regarding the issues of increasing the volume of budgetary allocations for remuneration of appointed lawyers and repayment of debt to them, the Ministry of Finance indicated that planning and determining priority areas spending of federal budget funds falls within the powers of the main managers of budget funds. “For insufficient funds to carry out the in full Only the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia indicated corresponding obligations in 2017. In this regard, in 2017, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs will provide additional budget allocations for these purposes in the amount of 1,599.8 million rubles,” the Ministry of Finance reported in its response.

Context

Lawyers Ivanovo region initiated the collection of signatures under a collective appeal to the President of the Russian Federation with the initiative to increase the rates of appointed lawyers and invited colleagues from other constituent entities of the Russian Federation to sign this document, the FPA press service told RAPSI.

Now the fee for defenders working as intended is only 550 rubles per day, which is 10 times lower than market prices.

At the same time, lawyers do not always receive even these meager amounts on time. At the end of 2017, strikes by appointed lawyers took place in several regions of Russia related to debts to defense lawyers. According to estimates from the bar associations, the amount of unpaid funds was 225 million rubles.

Currently, the FPA website is collecting signatures in support of the initiative to appeal to the head of state with a request to solve the current problem.

Constitutional rights

The address to the President of the Russian Federation states that in order to ensure the constitutional rights of citizens to receive free legal assistance urgent measures must be taken.

The activities of defense attorneys are provided for by the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation and the Law on advocacy. Increasing rates will guarantee legal status and opportunity judicial protection citizens who are unable to pay for lawyers.

The 30-day period for payments established by the government of the Russian Federation according to the decisions of interrogators, investigators and courts on the payment for the work of a lawyer participating in the defense as assigned is not always fulfilled, the press service of the chamber reports.

According to the drafters of the appeal, the Bar fully fulfills its obligations in accordance with the law and provides legal assistance low-income citizens in each case when such a requirement comes from the body of inquiry, preliminary investigation or court. Help of proper quality, according to the FPA representative, turns out to be timely and urgent.

The drafters of the appeal complain about the position of the state, which creates the economic unattractiveness of activities to protect the rights of citizens and impedes the realization of their rights. “The current approach actually means a refusal to provide constitutional law citizens to receive free legal assistance, which clearly does not correspond to the characteristics enshrined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation Russian state as social,” the appeal says.

Price issue

The creators of the appeal complain about the low base salary of assigned lawyers, which is only 550 rubles per day. “This is more than ten times lower than economically prevailing market prices,” the appeal says.

Lawyers believe that the state is not fulfilling its obligations to annual indexation pay rates, which resonates with the regular increase in salaries of other participants in criminal proceedings: judges and law enforcement officers.

The appeal notes that in April 2017, the VIII All-Russian Congress of Lawyers adopted a resolution asking to increase the base rate of payment for assigned defense to 3 thousand rubles for one day of participation in legal proceedings. An alternative approach provided for a payment of 700 rubles per hour of work.

Strikes

At the end of 2017, the head of the FPA, Yuriy Pilipenko, spoke about the problem of appointed lawyers. He stated high employment in criminal proceedings by appointment, which accounts for up to 80% of all defense cases. Pilipenko stated that the monthly income of a defense attorney for his assignment could be less than 10 thousand rubles.

Due to the debt situation in November 2017, the legal community Chelyabinsk region decided to temporarily suspend the work of the defenders as assigned, since the debt to them amounted to 36 million rubles. The strike was ended after a promise to pay off the debt and the allocation of 45 million rubles.

Unlike the Ural lawyers, the Chuvash defenders did not stop carrying out the defense as intended, however, the adoption of these measures in response to the non-payment of amounts due to them was discussed by the community. Eventually regional administration The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation has repaid the debt to the appointed defenders in the amount of over 3 million rubles.

Chamber opinion

According to the FPA press service, the needs of regional chambers of lawyers determine the state of the professional lawyer corporation. “FPA RF supported the initiative of Ivanovo lawyers: the text of the letter with an appeal addressed to the President of Russia was posted on the website of FPA RF with a proposal Russian lawyers express your opinion in support of the arguments set out therein,” the message says.

The FPA press service explained that the chamber’s website has launched online voting and collection of signatures from lawyers under open letter. “FPA of the Russian Federation applied a mechanism for identifying persons who spoke in support of this appeal, as well as to exclude any abuses during this procedure,” the press service adds. IN currently The appeal was signed by more than 3 thousand lawyers, but the collection of signatures has not yet been completed.

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Lawyers of the Ivanovo region initiated the collection of signatures under a collective appeal to the President of the Russian Federation with the initiative to increase the rates of appointed lawyers and invited colleagues from other constituent entities of the Russian Federation to sign this document, the FPA press service told RAPSI.

Member of the Presidential Development Council of the Russian Federation civil society and Human Rights (HRC) Yuri Kostanov announced support for Ivanovo lawyers to send to Vladimir Putin collective appeal regarding an increase in the amount of remuneration for lawyers participating in legal proceedings as appointed by the bodies of inquiry, preliminary investigation or court.

Let us remind you that the collection of signatures for the corresponding appeal continues on the website of the FPA RF. As noted in its text, increasing payment rates will contribute to proper provision the constitutional right of Russian citizens to receive free legal assistance, which is guaranteed to them by Art. 48 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

Yuri Kostanov promised that at the next meeting of the Human Rights Council with the participation of the President of Russia, he will definitely ask the head of state a question about the need to increase the rates of remuneration for appointed defense lawyers. According to him, although the decision this issue falls within the competence of the Government of the Russian Federation, the President of the Russian Federation, being the guarantor of the rights and freedoms of citizens (including the constitutional right to receive qualified legal assistance), cannot remain indifferent in the current situation. The current state of affairs creates an economic unattractiveness for the activities of a defense attorney, which can seriously complicate the implementation of this constitutional right of citizens.

It should be noted that every year actual size The remuneration of the assigned defense attorney is reduced. Veterans of the legal community recall that in Soviet time it was 4.5 times higher than the economic average, and in modern terms it was equal to 2,640 rubles. in a day. In 1988, the average monthly salary of workers in economic sectors in the RSFSR was, according to the State Statistics Committee, 233.2 rubles, and the salary of a defense lawyer during the preliminary investigation and in the courts of first instance was up to 20 rubles. per day (according to complex matters– up to 25 rub. in a day). That is, the remuneration that a lawyer received per day of work was equal to approximately 1/11 of the average monthly salary in the RSFSR. In December 2013, the average monthly salary in Russia was 29,346 rubles, and the lawyer’s remuneration for most cases was 550 rubles. for 1 ship day. It turned out that the defender’s remuneration per day was only 1/52 of the all-Russian average monthly salary. There is an almost fivefold difference with Soviet level payment.

At first in new Russia The level of remuneration for appointed defense lawyers was established by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation. On January 31, 1994, it approved the Regulations on the procedure for remuneration of lawyers at the expense of the state, in which the amount of this payment was determined at the rate of no less than 1/4 established in Russia minimum size remuneration for one day of a lawyer’s participation in the consideration of the case. At the time of adoption of the regulation, the minimum wage in Russia was set at 14,620 non-denominated rubles, and therefore, the daily rate of a defense attorney for the purpose was 3,655 rubles. Let us remember that for the 90s. The last century was characterized by high inflation, and the dynamics of increasing the size of the minimum wage did not keep pace with it.

Later, the establishment of the amount of remuneration for appointed defense lawyers was assigned to the competence of the Government of the Russian Federation. Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated July 4, 2003 No. 400 “On the amount of remuneration for a lawyer participating as a defense attorney in criminal proceedings as appointed by investigative bodies, preliminary investigation bodies or the court” actually retained the previous procedure for calculating this payment (1/4 of the minimum wage ). And in 2007, the Government of the Russian Federation amended this resolution, eliminating the link to the minimum wage and establishing fixed size payment - not less than 275 rubles. for one day of participation. In 2008, the minimum rate was increased to 298 rubles.

Yuri Kostanov recalled that the Federal Chamber of Lawyers tried to appeal the aforementioned resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation in the Supreme Court precisely on the issue of the amount of remuneration for lawyers participating in criminal proceedings as appointed defense attorneys. However Supreme Court refused to consider the application of the FPA of the Russian Federation on formal basis, citing the fact that the law does not provide Federal Chamber lawyers have the right to go to court in the interests of other persons or an indefinite number of persons (Article 35 of the Federal Law “On Advocacy and Advocacy in Russian Federation" (hereinafter referred to as the Law on the Bar) at that time provided for the FPA RF, among the goals of creation, the representation and protection of the interests of lawyers in the bodies state power; Subsequently, FPA achieved that Federal law dated June 2, 2016 No. 160-FZ in Art. 35 of the Law on the Bar, an addition was made that directly provides for the right of the Chamber to go to court in the manner provided for in Art. 46 Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation and Art. 40 CAS RF, with a statement in defense of rights, freedoms and legitimate interests an indefinite number of persons who are members of the legal community).

I had to wait 5 years for the next promotion. From January 1, 2013 minimum bid was increased to 550 rubles. It should be noted that on the eve of the rate increase, protest sentiments were observed in the regional chambers.

Now, 5 years later, the amount of remuneration for the appointed defense attorney, which remains at the 2012 level, is ten times lower than the economically prevailing market prices. At the beginning of 2018, when legal teams held annual reporting meetings, this problem came to light. As a result, the initiative of the Administration of the Ivanovo Region to seek help from the head of state appeared.

The Federal Chamber of Lawyers has repeatedly raised the issue with government authorities about the need to increase the remuneration of lawyers for participating in legal proceedings as assigned. In March 2016, it was included in the agenda of the 43rd special meeting of the HRC, dedicated to the preparation of proposals for the establishment of additional legislative guarantees independence of lawyers in their performance professional responsibilities. The final recommendations that the Council sent to the President of Russia included a proposal to adjust and index the rates of payment for the activities of a lawyer with a financial and economic justification attached to it and a draft resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation “On amendments to the Regulations on compensation of procedural costs associated with criminal proceedings ..." Then it was only proposed to add an increasing factor of 1.5 to the amount of the lawyer’s remuneration for one working day in cases where the lawyer performed the functions of a defense attorney on assignment outside of working hours. Despite the modesty of the proposed changes, they were not accepted.