Tasks of the Association and its activities
Facilitating the processes of organization and integration of the Russian legal profession r into the international legal community through cooperation with trade unions, non-governmental organizations and professional associations of lawyers at the international, national and regional levels
The International Association of Russian Advocates informs the international community about the state of affairs in the Russian Bar, drawing attention to cases of persecution of lawyers and violations of their professional independence, prepares alternative reports to the state reports on international treaties, focusing on the problems of the Association's activities and real problems of advocacy in the process of defense or representation.
The Association contributes to the processes of integration of the Russian lawyers' community into global legal processes by providing its representatives with access to international legal resources and platforms.
The Association establishes cooperation with bar associations and law firms, trade unions, non-governmental organizations and professional associations of lawyers at various levels.
One of the main areas of work is cooperation with international organizations that protect lawyers' rights and promote their interests. This cooperation facilitates the exchange of information and best practices between Russian lawyers and their foreign colleagues, which helps to introduce international standards and legal technologies into the Russian practice of advocacy.
The Association's regional initiatives help Russian lawyers integrate into the international community, even if they work in remote parts of Russia.
The Association promotes partnerships with Russian legal associations and bar associations. This cooperation strengthens the position of Russian lawyers in the global arena, supports their rights and contributes to the development of the Russian Bar in accordance with international standards.
Without principles, lawyers are a mere set of private individuals with some skill at solving problems with the law; with principles, however, they are a powerful corporation capable of remaking society according to their visions. The legal profession is a gigantic force that must be predictable and controllable by the lawyers themselves. This power is based on two things: 1) in modern society, people need lawyers as much as they need doctors; and 2) in order to get the help they need from lawyers, people must trust them with information that they would never trust to anyone else under any circumstances and that gives its holder enormous power.
Human rights advocacy opposes power as such; it opposes the principles of abstract law to all positive law. Therefore, for human rights, there are no boundaries established between the spatial spheres of action of individual authorities. Human rights in itself acts as a principle of natural international law; and it must be such for itself and for others, that is, it must acquire self-awareness and the status of a transnational estate with its own organization and principles of activity.
The Theory of Advocacy : a monograph / A.V. Vorobyov, A.V. Polyakov, Yu. V. Tikhonravov. Moscow : Grant, 2002.
