Statements made by Alexey Dobrynin to the article ‘They Will Put You by the Side of the Lawyer’. Rossiyskaya Gazeta, 15 November 2018
Advocates supported the idea of removing cages from all courts.
The Russian Federal Chamber of Lawyers unreservedly supported the bill repealing the use of cages and protective cabins for defendants in criminal cases in courtrooms. The Federal Chamber of Lawyers sent an appeal to the Council of Federation expressing conviction that the adoption of the document would not only eliminate the problem of domestic law enforcement, but also lead to budget savings.
The day before, a group of Senators submitted to the State Duma a draft federal law on the elimination of court cages. Article 9 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation is supplemented by paragraph 3 reading as follows, ‘It is prohibited to place suspects, defendants or accused in safety booths in the procedural zone of courtrooms, and also use other structures that prevent these persons from communicating with a lawyer. It is understood that during the trial a defendant will sit at the table next to his or her lawyer.’
The Bar Chamber notes that in no European state outside the former USSR defendants are placed in a cages or a glass booth. ‘The countries that are considered civilized, treat this tradition as barbaric. The European Court of Human Rights declares such actions a violation of the prohibition on torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,’ the Federal Bar Chamber stated.
The appeal also states that the adoption of this law will be a comfort from a financial point of view as well. The European Court of Human Rights from time to time finds violations in the Russian government actions and awards substantial monetary compensation in favor of the persons subjected to such treatment. These compensations annually amount to hundreds of thousands of euros. Furthermore, installation of protective booths in the courtrooms requires considerable expenses. All these expenses are reimbursed by the state budget.
‘The moral and psychological aspect of the problem also should be noted. It can be stated that the society disapprove of the fact that suspects, defendants or accused are housed in ‘cages’, an explanatory note to the bill outlines. The issue of banning the bars was raised in July of this year by Valentina Matvienko, the Upper House Speaker. She said that it was ‘inhumane’ and ‘unworthy’ to keep people ‘not yet accused of anything’ in the cages. According to her, an exception should be made for the most dangerous criminals only.
‘Initially, cages appeared in the 90s, when cases of cruel gangs and organized criminal groups were heard,’ - says Ivan Solovyov, an honored lawyer of Russia. ‘Moreover, a number of daring shoots directly from the courtrooms made the use of such means of protection urgent. Over time, due to their obvious association with medieval customs, cages were replaced by plastic fences. Today, they equip most of the courtrooms. However, according to the expert, this contradicts a number of international treaties on the protection of human rights, which have been signed and ratified by Russia. ‘Therefore, it is necessary to rectify gradually the situation,’ concluded Solovyov.
‘This initiative is absolutely just, since during the trial, a defendant must be near his lawyer, not in a cage,’ said advocate Alexey Dobrynin, recalling the presumption of innocence.
Aleksey Dobrynin, partner, head of the attorneys at law Pen & Paper criminal-legal practice