Lawyers in private practice in Russia work mostly within colleges of advocates – self-managed cooperative-type organizations. There are about nineteen thousand advocates in more than one hundred colleges. The highest body of advocates’ self-management is the general meeting of a college. The presidium headed by the chairperson is the executive board of each college. The presidium is elected by the general meeting for a term of three years.
Colleges of advocates are formed in accordance with territorial subdivisions – in the cities, regions (oblasts), republics or autonomous entities. In its territory any college is represented by law firms or legal aid offices, which render all regular legal assistance to citizens: advocates counsel people, draft legal documents, represent plaintiffs or defendants in civil litigation, and provide defense in criminal proceedings.
There are now more and more American-type law firms in Russia functioning separately from colleges of advocates and especially involved in representing private businesses.
Many lawyers are employed by the law offices of enterprises, ministries and agencies as in-house counsel (jurisconsult). These lawyers have all powers of an attorney, but they represent their single and permanent “client” – their respective organization. There are about twenty thousand of them in Russia, and in view of the economic reform this body is growing.
Of course, many in the legal profession teach or do academic research work. In Russia there are forty institutions of higher education in law (either a law school attached to a university or a separate entity called a “juridical institute”). New private law schools are popping up. There are also separate research centers in law, the most prominent of which is the Institute of State and Law under the Academy of Sciences of Russia.
Comprehension check
How is the college of advocates organized?
What does the work of advocate involve?
Why has the number of in-house counsels increased lately?
Why is the legal profession gaining popularity in Russia?
INTERNATIONAL LAW
Warming-up questions
What do you think is international law?
What is the main task of international law?
International law constitutes that body of rules which governs the relationships between sovereign states. These rules of law emanate from the free wills of states as expressed in conventions or by usages which are generally accepted as expressing principles of law. The object of these rules is to regulate the relations between these co-existing independent communities as means of achieving common aims deemed important in the collective opinion of the international community. See the Lotus Case (1927). Since international law is the product of forces within international society, in order to understand the nature of the international legal system, it is necessary to analyse the structure and processes which function within the global society.
Historically, although several systems of international law have existed since antiquity, contemporary international law has its origins in Medieval Europe. Arguably, the most notable historic development was the signing of the Peace of Westphalia 1648 which established an embryonic sovereign state system in Europe. Prior to this agreement, the creation of a sovereign state system had been retarded by the transnational authority of the Pope in spiritual matters and the control of the Holy Roman Emperor in political concerns. In the signature of the Peace of Westphalia the Emperor acknowledged restrictions on his dominion in favour of the territorial autonomy of the various nation states which had previously composed the Empire, whilst simultaneously the treaty recognised the limits of the authority of the Pope.
International society since then has remained a pluralistic structure of sovereign states. Sovereignty in the relations between states is synonymous with independence. This independence allows states to regulate the internal constitutions of their territories and to enter into international relations with other sovereign states.
Comprehension check
How can you define international law?
What is necessary to do to understand the nature of the international legal system?
What is the origin of contemporary international law?
In what case can we say that sovereignty is synonymous with independence?