"A country's openness should not turn into vulnerability"

The most frequent questions to Russian lawyers from compatriots living abroad are the protection of their rights in emergency situations. Vladimir Pligin, co-chairman of the Russian Bar Association, told Izvestia about this in an interview at the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum (SPIEF). For example, requests for advice on evictions or dismissals based on citizenship have become frequent. At the same time, international lawyers often face bans on providing such assistance. Within Russia, the most popular request for clarification of their legal status is especially relevant among the participants of the SVR. Read more in an interview with Izvestia.

"Paradoxical conditions of the 21st century — prohibitions on the actual provision of assistance to Russian citizens"

— AYUR helps Russians who live abroad. How many people have applied for legal assistance over the past year and on what issues?

— For the entire duration of our project "For the Rights of Compatriots", since April 2022, about 1.5 thousand consultations have been held. I would like to note that we are talking about an initial consultation, after which a person already addresses lawyers. We are also building relationships with the Foundation for the Support and Protection of the Rights of Compatriots, which was established under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The main problems that our compatriots address to us are protection. That is, when a person finds himself in some kind of emergency situation — for example, he was evicted only on the basis that he is a Russian. Or he gets fired from his job for the same reason. This is a kind of legal and moral assistance, but it must be understood that it is not so easy to implement it on the territory of other countries. There are paradoxical conditions of the 21st century — prohibitions on the actual provision of assistance to Russian citizens in some cases.

Another aspect of this issue is related to the fact that a person abroad has the opportunity to communicate. Of course, we are not talking about well-known cases now, but assistance often led to release from prison.

— And what about Russia? What questions do people ask you?

— Within the state, for example, according to the results of the four All-Russian days of free legal aid in 2024 alone, more than 60 thousand consultations were provided. The main request is clarification of the legal status, especially among veterans of the military.

— Problems of international law were discussed at the SPIEF. What are the current difficulties for international lawyers?

— International law is the result of centuries—old civilizational development. It was formed slowly, especially in the field of humanitarian and human rights, the rapid development of which began after the tragedy of the Second World War. Today, unfortunately, its role as a regulator of international relations is weakening.

The national interests and political ambitions of individual elites undermine the foundation of the international legal order. This poses a threat not only at the global level, but also undermines domestic legal systems, such as the institution of ownership, when issues of freezing foreign assets and using interest on them are discussed.

"Respect for the laws of the host country is mandatory"

— Both at this forum and in the past, the topic of migration was one of the main ones. Recently, migration legislation has been significantly tightened, introducing, in particular, a register of controlled persons. A significant tightening has occurred in the mechanism of control over the Russian language exam. Can you evaluate the first results?

— This is an extremely difficult question. He has a previous Soviet history, when it was a question of forming a united Soviet people. And these are not just some abstract things, but really the history of our country. On the one hand, Russia is interested in international cooperation, on the other hand, it is necessary to maintain a balance. A country's openness should not turn into vulnerability.

Respect for the laws of the host country is mandatory. The requirements for knowledge of the Russian language, registration and compliance with the norms of behavior are well-founded. However, it is also important to develop inclusive integration mechanisms: to create cultural and educational platforms, including abroad.

— How do you assess the real level of legal education in Russia? What, in your opinion, are his main problems?

— When I am asked whether it is worth getting a law degree, I always recommend thinking about getting some other one. There is a huge need for engineers, physicists, chemists and other specialists.

The fashion for legal education developed in the previous period of time and in other historical conditions, when it was necessary to build up a new replacement for regulators that were in the previous state form. About several hundred thousand people are currently studying in this field.

Legal education is one of the best humanitarian education because it is broad. But for it to be the best, you need to add philosophy, culture, and law as a multifaceted phenomenon. On February 3, 2016, the decision was supported to create an autonomous non-profit organization, the Expert Center of the Russian Bar Association for Assessing the Quality of Legal Education and Qualifications in the field of jurisprudence.

If we are talking about legal education not as a special one, but about mastery of general jurisprudence in general, then the indicator here is legal dictation. It is held annually, and more than a million people took part in it last year. And the average score of the participants indicates that society knows and understands the law, but within certain limits.

To be honest, the volume of legal material is so large that it requires more specialization. But, for example, the material to which the Constitution of Russia refers should be part of school education.

"False lawyers enjoy the trust of citizens"

— It is not uncommon for news to appear in the media about people being deceived by lawyers. Why do such false lawyers arise? Does the AYR record an increase in the number of complaints against unscrupulous lawyers?

— It is especially tragic if this situation affects the fate of people. One of these professions is doctors, but the second one that can have an impact on a person's life is lawyers. The whole point of the profession is to trust, so this situation is assessed as a challenge to professionals.

We are dealing with very large contingents of specialists. My colleagues, especially the legal profession, are trying to set up work, respond promptly and initiate disciplinary proceedings.

Such pseudo-lawyers enjoy the trust of citizens, since the status of a lawyer is understood by people as honorable, assuming a high level of knowledge and integrity. Unfortunately, this expectation does not always correspond to reality. This issue is on the agenda in the AYUR. We are popularizing the legal profession, and, of course, it is very sad that false lawyers tarnish our profession so much.

The idea of a blacklist of lawyers is currently being discussed, and this issue is being worked out. There are already blacklists of passengers from aviation companies, sporting events, droppers or scammers. As the largest expert community, we plan to prevent unscrupulous individuals who abuse the status of a lawyer as effectively as possible.

— One of the topics of SPIEF 2025 was the protection of personal data and cybersecurity. Recently, many regulations have been adopted to combat leaks and fraud, but judging by the data from Roskomnadzor and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, there are no fewer data thefts and deception of Russians. Does the legislation regulate this issue sufficiently?

— The measures taken have just begun to take effect, it takes more time to see their effectiveness. For example, many people did not even have time to find out about the recent federal law allowing the introduction of a self-ban on issuing loans, although this issue was widely covered in the media.

The main thing is to raise awareness. Criminals are increasingly using psychological pressure and technology (including voice tampering), so common sense and self—control are the most important elements of prevention. But panic is unacceptable: it is important to maintain a balance between vigilance and trust.

— A difficult situation has developed in the field of investigation of cases of telephone fraud. Victims often complain that they are denied the initiation of criminal cases or their investigation does not end with anything. Can the legal community offer something to protect the rights of defrauded Russians?

— The meaning of the state is that it performs the function of ensuring security. This is its function — external and internal. Therefore, citizens have the right to insist on initiating criminal proceedings in such cases. And those people who deny this to citizens should remember that they exist on their taxes.

These are not their private initiatives. You represent a state in which there is a constitutional obligation to ensure the safety of citizens. It seems to me that sometimes we lose this thing. But the problem is the cross-border nature of crimes: money often goes to unfriendly jurisdictions, cryptocurrencies and temporary SIM cards are used.

Nevertheless, the initiation of cases is necessary at least for prevention. The issues of protecting elderly citizens, whose savings become the target of criminals, are particularly acute. The legal community, in particular the AYUR, participates in public monitoring of these issues and will continue to work in this direction.