Lawyer visits to convicts – according to the Instruction

APPROVED
Head of the Main Directorate of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia
for the Krasnoyarsk Territory
Lieutenant General of Internal Service
V. K. Shayeshnikov
“19” October 2009

Instruction on the organisation of visits to correctional institutions of the Main Directorate of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for the Krasnoyarsk Territory by lawyers
1. General Provisions
In accordance with international legal norms, the Constitution of the Russian Federation, Part 4 of Article 399 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, Part 8 of Article 12 of the Penal Enforcement Code of the Russian Federation, and other legislative and regulatory acts, all necessary procedures for convicts to receive qualified legal assistance are provided in full in the institutions of the Main Directorate of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for the Krasnoyarsk Territory.
For the purpose of obtaining legal assistance, convicts are granted meetings with lawyers or other individuals who have the right to provide legal assistance.
2. Procedure for granting meetings with a lawyer or other individuals who have the right to provide legal assistance
For the purpose of conducting meetings between convicts and lawyers or other individuals who have the right to provide legal assistance, special rooms are equipped within the guarded territory of the institutions.
In accordance with the requirements of Part 4 of Article 89 of the Penal Enforcement Code of the Russian Federation, meetings between a convict and a lawyer or other individual who has the right to provide legal assistance take place in private—in conditions that ensure visual visibility of the lawyer or other individual who has the right to provide legal assistance, and the convict, but excluding the audibility of the conversation for third parties and without the use of technical surveillance equipment.
The room for meetings with a lawyer or other individual who has the right to provide legal assistance must have proper lighting and be equipped with a desk and chairs for sitting. Smoking in the room is permitted only with the permission of the institution’s administration.
Meetings of a lawyer or other individual who has the right to provide legal assistance with a convict are conducted within the framework of the daily routine approved by the head of the correctional institution on working days from 10:00 to 17:00.
The duration of the meeting shall not exceed four hours. The number of meetings of a convict with their lawyer or other individual who has the right to provide legal assistance is not limited and is not counted towards the number of meetings established by legislation.
Upon arrival at the correctional institution, the lawyer shall present their warrant and lawyer’s identity card to the employee of the special records department specifically assigned to work in this area of activity.
If another individual is participating as a defence counsel, then a meeting with them is granted upon presentation of the relevant court ruling or decree, stamped with the court’s seal, as well as an identity document.
To provide qualified legal assistance to a convict, a lawyer or other individual who has the right to provide legal assistance may bring materials related to the convict’s case to the meeting, including paper, pens, and legal literature.
A lawyer or other individual who has the right to provide legal assistance has the right, on general grounds, to provide parcels for their clients, including:
– medical supplies (via the pharmacy or medical unit of the correctional institution);
– transfer funds to the accounting department for credit to the convict’s personal account;
– provide their client with legal literature;
– arrange a subscription for their client to periodic printed publications and magazines, with them being delivered by post to the correctional institution.
In accordance with the Resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation of 26 December 2003, No. 20-P, the placement of a convict in a penal isolation ward, a cell-type premise, a unified cell-type premise, or an individual cell is not grounds for refusing a meeting with a lawyer or other individuals who have the right to provide legal assistance.
3. Duties of the correctional institution administration when organising meetings with a lawyer or other individuals who have the right to provide legal assistance
The head of the institution is obliged to appoint, by their order, a responsible employee from among their deputies and one of the employees of the special records department to organise work with lawyers or other individuals who have the right to provide legal assistance.
Upon arrival at the correctional institution, the defence counsel presents their lawyer’s identity card and warrant to the employee of the institution’s special records department, who verifies the convict’s whereabouts. Demanding other documents from the lawyer is prohibited.
The organisation of a pass for the lawyer or other individual who has the right to provide legal assistance, as well as their escort, is carried out by the relevant employee (an employee of the operational department, an employee of the security department, or a detachment head—depending on the decision of the head of the correctional institution) to the room for meetings between convicts and the lawyer or other individual who has the right to provide legal assistance.
For the duration of the wait for the pass processing to be completed, the administration of the correctional institution shall provide the arriving lawyer or other individual who has the right to provide legal assistance with a waiting area equipped with chairs.
The waiting time for the processing of a pass to the territory of the correctional institution, up to the moment of passing through the checkpoint, must not exceed one hour.
Before entering the territory of the correctional institution, the representative of the administration is obliged to warn about the liability for bringing means of communication, prohibited items, goods, and food products into the controlled area. In the event of their possession by the lawyer or other individual who has the right to provide legal assistance, the representative of the administration of the correctional institution is obliged to offer them for surrender and provide a place for their storage for the duration of the meeting.
The inspection of the belongings of the lawyer or other individual who has the right to provide legal assistance by the institution’s employees is conducted visually, without reading the notes and texts contained therein.
The accompanying employee:
– escorts the lawyer or other individual who has the right to provide legal assistance to the room and, upon completion of the meeting, back to the checkpoint;
– organises the escort of the convict to the room for the meeting with the lawyer or other individual who has the right to provide legal assistance.
The administration of the correctional institution has the right to remind the lawyer about:
- events related to the regime of the institution: meal times for convicts, general roll call for inspection, or other regime events;
- the number of people waiting in line for a meeting with their lawyer or defence counsel;
- propose to the lawyer or other individual who has the right to provide legal assistance that they provide qualified legal assistance on a pro bono basis to convicts who do not have the funds to pay for it.
4. Grounds for the early termination of a meeting and the liability of lawyers or other individuals who have the right to provide legal assistance
Grounds for the early termination of a meeting are:
- an attempt to hand over or the handing over of prohibited items, substances, or food products to a convict;
- an attempt to convey or the conveying by individuals arriving at the meeting of information that may facilitate the commission of a crime.
In the event of the termination of a meeting with lawyers or other individuals who have the right to provide legal assistance, the head of the correctional institution shall order an investigation. The Main Directorate of the Federal Penitentiary Service for the Krasnoyarsk Territory is to be notified immediately of the violation. The conclusion, along with copies of the investigation materials, is sent to the Council of the Bar Association of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, or to the bar association of another constituent entity of the Russian Federation of which the lawyer is a member, to resolve the issue of their liability, with subsequent notification to the administration of the correctional institution.
5. Grounds for not granting a meeting to lawyers or other individuals who have the right to provide legal assistance
Grounds for not granting a meeting to lawyers or other individuals who have the right to provide legal assistance are:
- the arrival at the meeting of a lawyer or other individual who has the right to provide legal assistance without identity documents, or being in a state of intoxication;
- the declaration of a quarantine in the correctional institution or the introduction of a special regime.
Regarding the reasons for refusal to a lawyer arriving for a meeting, the administration of the correctional institution is obliged to indicate in writing on the warrant the basis for the refusal of the meeting, whereby the authorised person shall indicate: position, rank, and the clarification of their signature.
The grounds for refusal can be appealed to the head of the Main Directorate of the Federal Penitentiary Service or to the court at the location of the correctional institution.

Deputy Head of the Main Directorate of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia
for the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Colonel of Internal Service A. K. Gutsalyuk
“15” October 2009

President of the Bar Association of the Krasnoyarsk Territory S. N. Maltov
“15” October 2009

Source: http://www.krasadvpalata.ru/?newsadv&id=689