Representation in court in 2022

Contents:

The legislation guarantees every citizen of the Russian Federation the right to participate in the judicial process, this can be done personally or through his representative. This is regulated in detail in the rules of arbitration and civil procedure law.

Requirements for a citizen’s representative in court

Both a qualified lawyer (lawyer) and another person providing legal assistance services can represent the interests of a person in an arbitration court, if the following criteria are met:

• higher education in the specialty of jurisprudence;
• the presence of a confirmed scientific degree in one of the legal disciplines and the current status of a lawyer.

Separately, the law stipulates the circle of persons who cannot represent individuals and legal entities in the framework of the arbitration process:

• current Federal judges and assistant judges;
• investigators;
• arbitration assessors;
• prosecutors.

The above-mentioned persons may act in the judicial process only as representatives of the relevant State bodies.

Possibilities of a representative in court

The representative performs any actions within the framework of the judicial process on behalf of his client. However, the arbitration procedural legislation separately identifies a list of those actions, the implementation of which requires direct regulation in a document that gives the right to defend the interests of the client in court:

• signing and withdrawing a statement of claim, as well as statements of enforcement of claims;
• transfer of the case to the arbitration court;
• recognition of claims, as well as full or partial; rejection of previously stated claims;
• changing the subject of the claim or its grounds;
• conclusion of a settlement agreement between the parties.

As a rule, to obtain the right to appear in court on behalf of the client, it is enough to issue a power of attorney. In addition, the representative must present documentation confirming that he has the appropriate qualifications (higher legal education and a degree in legal discipline).

It is important that this rule does not affect lawyers who are professionally engaged in the practice of law, they only need to provide a lawyer’s certificate to participate in the meeting as a representative. Their powers are guaranteed by a special warrant issued by a lawyer’s education.

The competence of the heads of organizations should be supported by documentation confirming their status and the fact that they have been given the appropriate powers.

The powers of the legal representatives of minors in the judicial process are also confirmed by the presentation of relevant documents. So, in order to protect the interests of a minor in court, parents must provide a birth certificate of the child.

Changes in the field of judicial representation

The main change in 2022 in the field of judicial representation is the prohibition of lawyers who were previously deprived of their lawyer status to act as representatives at a court hearing.

The law also lists the following grounds for disbarment:

• the entry into legal force of the court verdict on the recognition of the lawyer guilty of committing an intentional crime;
• non-fulfillment or unfair fulfillment of assumed obligations;
• non-compliance with the standards of lawyer ethics;
• disclosure or misuse of information related to the provision of representation services.