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Appeal to advocates of the Dnepropetrovsk oblast

12.12.2001   
Dear colleagues!

Lately a new tendency has appeared in the law-enforcing system of our oblast: the statements of the Ukrainian Constitution, Criminal-Procedural Code, Law ‘On advocates’ and related legal acts directed to defend rights and interests of citizens are systematically ignored. These tendencies are especially noticeable in the criminal legal proceedings at the phases of the opening of a criminal case and the preliminary investigation. This situation became possible because the rights of advocates, when they defend their clients, are brutally violated by law-enforcers. In many cases, under any pretexts, pressure is exerted on the suspects in order to deprive them of legal aid at the early stages of investigation. Advocates are not given the documents of the case, which justify the detainment of the suspect, or justify the kind of preventive measures or the kind of the accusation. They are restricted in the number and duration of meetings with their clients, the terms of responding to complaints, applications and petitions are made too long, contrary to the instructions. The mentioned responses are often quite formal, they are considered longer than within three days stipulated by law, the measures on the fulfillment of the legal norms are rarely applied. When advocates defend their clients they are identified with the latter and their cases. In fact advocates are treated as ‘poor relatives’. Otherwise, how one can explain the fact that advocates are not admitted to prosecutor’s offices and militia precincts, when they show their IDs? In spite of the nihilistic attitude to advocates in the Dnepropetrovsk oblast, one must not forget that advocates make the legal institute of human rights protection. The meeting of the oblast advocates, held on 19 January 2000, in the 1st anniversary of the adoption of the Ukrainian law ‘On advocates’, appeals to all advocates of the oblast to direct to the Presidium of the oblast collegium of advocates all the available information on illegal actions of law-enforcers relative to advocates. This information will be used for the compilation of the appeal to the President of the advocates’ Union of Ukraine and the General Prosecutor of Ukraine. The address for sending the information: Dnepropetrovsk, 49070, 65 K. Marx St., room 12.

The present appeal will be published in mass media.

Approved at the meeting of advocates of the Dnepropetrovsk oblast on 19 January 2000
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