Flexibility, Experience Exchange, and Solidarity

The conference was organized by the Polish Bar Association and Warsaw Bar Association with the participation of representatives of the bars of Albania, Great Britain, Italy, Hungary, Romania, Spain, Turkey, and Ukraine. The Russian Federal Bar Association was represented by Konstantin Dobrynin, State Secretary of the RFBA. He expressed the opinion that today in professional lawyers' communities, solidarity and mutual assistance should become priorities, along with the active work and assistance of corporate self-government bodies. According to Konstantin Dobrynin, international conferences of lawyers act a bridge between countries and help lawyers find a common language in these difficult times.

Monika Całkiewicz, President of the Warsaw Bar Association, opened the conference and noted that in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, lawyers must benefit of new advantages, such as the possibility of working and learning remotely, maintaining international contacts and sharing experience.

Ms. Całkiewicz read out an address to the participants of the conference by Włodzimierz Chróścik, President of the Polish Bar Association. Mr. Chróścik also stressed that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought not only challenges but new solutions and opportunities as well. In this regard, it is important for bars and lawyers to show flexibility and creativity, and to exchange experience new practices.

Paweł Kowalski, Member of the International Cooperation Committee of the Warsaw Bar Association, spoke about the impact of the pandemic on the legal profession and the legal service market in Poland in general. He stressed that the pandemic has given impetus to the active use of new technologies by courts, in particular, online court hearings. In general, despite the significant difficulties that have affected the legal market, the number of lawyers and law firms in Poland remained the same. The demand for some kind of legal services has even increased, e.g., insurance (claims against insurers when the sum insured did not cover losses from a lockdown for a business); lawsuits against government agencies for the unjustified introduction of restrictive measures during a pandemic; claims to doctors for negligent performance of their duties; divorce proceedings.

The speaker also talked about the successful experience of the Warsaw Bar Association using new technologies in the context of a pandemic. Since March 19, 2020, online lectures have become available to all applicants for admission to the practice. Thus, the Bar fulfilled its obligation to assist future lawyers in preparing for the exam. In May 2021, thanks to the ongoing vaccination campaign, the bar exam was held offline in compliance with all sanitary measures.

At the beginning of his speech, Konstantin Dobrynin noted that the first year of the pandemic can be characterized as unstable both in the medical and legislative spheres. At the same time, the measures taken by the bars of different countries were similar and were aimed at protecting the members of the bars and clients.

Mr. Dobrynin listed two groups of risks during a pandemic. The first one relates to economic constraints for business and political decisions that threaten human rights, and the second one is to violations of professional rights, in particular, with the lack of procedural equality of the parties. The speaker said that the situation when an advocate is not allowed access to his imprisoned client which often happens after the lifting of pandemic restrictions, is a violation of the constitutional right to legal assistance. According to him, many advocates in Russia are unlawfully persecuted by law enforcement agencies and in this regard, solidarity and mutual assistance should become priorities in professional lawyers' communities, along with the active work and assistance of corporate self-government bodies.

According to Konstantin Dobrynin, the role of lawyers and the law profession in general is underestimated today. International conferences of lawyers act a bridge between countries and help lawyers find a common language in these difficult times.

At the end of the conference, speakers thanked the organizers and expressed their hope that next year the meeting will take place in Warsaw offline.