论相对独立的辩护观——以辩护律师与被告人的关系为视角

我国长期以来一直坚持独立辩护观,实践中,这已经危及到了律师与被告人之间的信赖关系,以及被告人的利益及其主体地位。由此,有观点认为应改独立辩护观为被告人中心主义辩护观。但是,鉴于刑事辩护工作的专业性与公益性,为维护被告人的实质利益、社会公共利益与行业利益,律师辩护中仍需保持一定的独立性。因此,律师辩护应遵循相对独立的辩护观,明确独立辩护的具体内涵及其边界。     

Council of the Chamber of Attorney of the City of Moscow Record of Disciplinar Proceedings Against Attorney I. [Spring 2008]

[Main accusation: showing disrespect for the court.—Eds.]

An attorney is obliged to challenge unlawful and unjustified actions and rulings committed (issued) by judges in a specific case, but only in a form that does not contravene stipulations of legislation on work as an attorney and the legal profession and of the Code of Professional Ethics for the Attorney.     

Attorney communication and impression making in the courtroom

This study investigated the effectiveness of attorney communication and impression making in the courtroom. Trained in-court observers rated attorney presentations for factual and legal informativeness, organization, articulateness, and rapport during the opening statement phase of 50 trials. After the trials, jurors were asked to evaluate the attorneys' overall articulateness. enthusiasm, and likableness during the trial. The attorneys were then questioned about their own performance on these indices. The results revealed that the opening statements of prosecuting attorneys were judged by observers as better organized and more factually and legally informative than defense attorneys. However, these variables were not related to trial outcome. Juror evaluations of prosecuting attorneys more closely agreed with these attorneys' self-perceptions of courtroom performance while defense attorneys rated themselves significantly more favorably than did jurors. More courtroom experience did not generally lead to better courtroom performance during opening statements for either prosecuting or defense attorneys, and often resulted in significant overestimations of general performance relative to juror evaluations, particularly among defense attorneys. System constraints operating in favor of prosecutors and performance feedback mechanisms available to prosecutors but not to defense attorneys are discussed. These mechanisms may account for the discrepancies between juror perceptions of attorneys and attorney self-perception.     

律师与程序公正

真正成功的优秀的辩护律师心中追求的不是个案中可能有罪的人被判无罪这种结果的出现 ,他追求的是他心中的梦 ,他的职业的最高理念———程序公正的实现。     

关于派驻基层检察室开展社区矫正法律监督制度构建

随着社区矫正工作的全面展开,派驻基层检察室开展社区矫正法律监督有充分的法理依据及现实必要性。然而,当前派驻基层检察室开展社区矫正法律监督存在职能定位不明确,与内设监所部门的关系不明确,人员、装备和经费保障机制不健全,监督信息渠道不畅通,监督缺乏程序保障等诸多现实问题。只有从制度和立法上解决这些现实问题,才有利于派驻基层检察室有效开展社区矫正法律监督工作。     

以检察室为载体延伸检察机关法律监督职能问题的思考

检察机关是国家的法律监督机关,对基层司法执法活动进行监督是其法定职责。然而,当前检察机关缺少更多的在基层的机构设置,直接影响了检察机关法律监督职能的蔓有效发挥。在当前推进三项重点工作的背景下,检察机关应当以推进检察室建设为载体延伸法律监督职能,服务基层基础建设,维护人民群众权益。法律应当明确检察室的设置、赋予检察室独立的编制以健全基层司法体系,同时检察机关应明确检察室的职责地位,加强对检察室的物质人员保障,对其执法活动进行监督制约,促进其工作规范开展。     

Council of the Chamber of Attorneys of the City of Moscow Disciplinary Proceedings Against Attorney Sh. [Summer 2008]

[Main accusation: showing disrespect for the court.—Eds.]

Being an independent professional adviser on legal questions, an attorney may not be held liable in any way . . . for an opinion expressed by him while carrying on work as an attorney, unless he has been found guilty of a criminal act (inaction) by a court verdict that has entered into legal force.

… According to general principles of jurisprudence in the Russian Federation, and also generally accepted norms of morality (interpersonal intercourse), the legislator presumes constructive cooperation among professional participants in criminal court proceedings, with each of them performing the procedural function assigned to him by law.     

改革、完善我国律师刑事辩护制度若干问题的思考

针对目前刑事诉讼实践中存在的问题,提出改革、完善我国律师刑事辩护制度的基本理念和若干建议。     

Mitigation Evidence and the Ethical Role of a Defense Attorney in a Capital Case

In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Furman v. Georgia. This landmark case changed the death penalty in the United States. In Gregg v. Georgia (1976), the Supreme Court made it clear that mitigating factors were to be heard before sentencing to ensure individualized sentencing. Every defendant has a story, a family, a childhood, trauma, and celebration—a reason their life should be spared from execution. In a capital case, a defense attorney’s ethical role is to craft that story and articulate it in a way that enables the jury to have a complete picture of the defendant’s background and character as they decide his punishment. Mitigating factors are not an excuse for the defendant’s behavior, but rather an insight into who the defendant is and what has shaped his life. A defense attorney’s ethical duty in a capital case is to argue the case on all legal points and to present a thorough investigation of mitigating evidence. A thorough investigation of all such evidence is required by case law and explained by the standards set forth by the ABA guidelines.     

Plea decision-making: the influence of attorney expertise,trustworthiness, and recommendation

ABSTRACT

Attorney recommendations influence defendant plea decisions; and the degree of influence likely rests on the perceived trustworthiness and level of expertise of the attorney (factors of source credibility). We explored attorney source credibility factors and how these characteristics influence defendants’ plea decision-making. MTurk participants read a hypothetical plea scenario and were asked to imagine themselves as the defendant in a DWI/DUI case making a plea decision; in the scenario, we manipulated the defense attorney’s level of trustworthiness, expertise, and plea recommendation. There was a significant interaction between attorney recommendation and trustworthiness on defendants’ plea decisions; participants who were advised to accept the guilty plea were more likely to plead guilty when the attorney was high in trustworthiness compared to low in trustworthiness. Attorney trustworthiness did not affect plea decisions for defendants advised to reject the guilty plea. Importantly, attorney trustworthiness affected defendants’ decision to follow the attorney’s recommendation and ultimate plea decision (regardless of expertise), and attorney expertise affected defendants’ confidence in their decision (regardless of trustworthiness). Results suggest individual-level characteristics of defense attorneys affect the influence of the attorney and their recommendation, and ultimately defendants’ plea decision-making.     

The Hysterical Attorney: The Legal Advocate Within Lacanian Discourse Theory

In this essay, I apply Jacques Lacan'sfour discourses to the legal profession. A lawyer –i.e. a legal expert – engages in the Master'sdiscourse when he writes the law; he engages in theUniversity discourse when he interprets or attempts tojustify the law. In contrast, an attorney – i.e. a legal advisor – engages in the Analyst'sdiscourse when she counsel's her client; she engagesin the Hysteric's discourse when she represents herclient. From a Lacanian perspective, the two lawyer'sdiscourses are masculine, while the two attorney'sdiscourses are feminine. I divergefrom Lacan's view that the Analyst's is the mostradical discourse. The insight gained throughanalysis can only challenge and change the law iftranslated through the Hysteric's discourse. Consequently, despite dominant sexual stereotypes tothe contrary, to be an effective advocate should takeon a radically hysteric femininity.     

The Child's Attorney and the Alienated Child: Approaches to Resolving the Ethical Dilemma of Diminished Capacity

Increasingly lawyers for children follow a model of “client centered” (as opposed to “best interests”) representation in child custody disputes in which the child client defines the objectives of the representation. The client‐centered model, while appropriate in most cases to give voice to the child's preferences in a process that deeply impacts him or her, can create an ethical dilemma for the child's lawyer in cases where a child is truly alienated from the other parent by the actions of the alienating parent. Alienated children strongly and unreasonably express a preference for objectives of representation that might further damage the alienated parent's relationship with the child. The alienated child's objectives may be the result of a campaign of denigration and “brainwashing” by the alienating parent. This Note suggests that when a child is truly alienated from a parent, as diagnosed by a mental health expert, the child may have “diminished capacity” and therefore, the client‐directed model of representation is not adequate. This Note proposes that the Child's Attorney must determine whether the child is of diminished capacity under the Model Rules of Professional Conduct and, if so, must treat the client accordingly under Rule 1.14. Specifically, the attorney may, if all other remedial measures are inadequate, override the child's wishes and advocate a position that the child would take, but for the brainwashing of the child used to alienate him or her from a parent.     

Limitations on the ability to negotiate justice: attorney perspectives on guilt,innocence, and legal advice in the current plea system

In the American criminal justice system the vast majority of criminal convictions occur as the result of guilty pleas, often made as a result of plea bargains, rather than jury trials. The incentives offered in exchange for guilty pleas mean that both innocent and guilty defendants plead guilty. We investigate the role of attorneys in this context, through interviews with criminal defense attorneys. We examine defense attorney perspectives on the extent to which innocent defendants are (and should be) pleading guilty in the current legal framework and investigate their views of their own role in this complex system. We also use a hypothetical case to probe the ways in which defense attorneys consider guilt or innocence when providing advice on pleas. Results indicate that attorney advice is influenced by guilt or innocence, but also that attorneys are limited in the extent to which they can negotiate justice for their clients in a system in which uncertainty and large discrepancies between outcomes of guilty pleas and conviction at trial can make it a sensible option to plead guilty even when innocent. Results also suggest conflicting opinions over the role of the attorney in the plea-bargaining process.     

Council of the Chamber of Attorneys of the City of Moscow Extract from Survey of Disciplinary Practice (March 29, 2006)

[Main accusation: acting against the interests of a former client.—Eds.]

An attorney does not have the right to act against the interests of a former client.     

The effects of attorney presentation style,attorney gender,and juror gender on juror decisions

Extralegal characteristics of attorneys may play a significant role in the decision-making behavior of jurors. Presentation style, for example, is one factor to which trial lawyers pay a great deal of attention. However, a given style of speech may not be perceived equivalently when used by different speakers. The present study examined the effects of the defense attorney's presentation style and gender, and juror gender on jurors' verdicts and evaluation of the attorney and witness. Undergraduate college students read a brief summary of an assault-and-robbery case, viewed a videotape of either a passive or aggressive male or female attorney interrogating a witness, then rendered a verdict and rated the witness and attorney on characteristics such as competency, credibility, and assertiveness. The results indicated that, overall, aggressive attorneys were more successful at obtaining an acquittal for their clients than passive attorneys, and that male attorneys were more successful than female attorneys; presentation style also interacted with gender of attorney and juror. Some possible mechanisms for these effects are discussed.     

Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Violations,Federal Law No. 195-FZ of December 30, 2001 [as amended through June 2007]

[Main accusation: ambiguous and complicated formulation of a retainer agreement.—Eds.]

An attorney does not have the right to conclude with a client an agreement containing conditions that are opaque, do not permit of unambiguous interpretation, or can be described only by using expressions such as "the payment is concealed in the column." It is equally impermissible, in view of the special nature of work as an attorney, to combine in a single agreement two contracts that are different in purpose and in legal nature—one to retain an attorney, the other to let premises.     

Council of the Chamber of Attorneys of the City of Moscow Extract from Survey of Disciplinary Practice (May 15, 2006)

[Main accusation: taking on a case that is absolutely hopeless.—Eds.]

An attorney does not have the right to accept a commission to conduct a civil case that in the light of factual circumstances and acting legislation is absolutely hopeless for the client.     

Legal Representation in the Juvenile Dependency System: Travis County,Texas’ Parent Representation Pilot Project

This study examines outcomes related to a parent representation pilot program in Travis County, Texas. Participation in the pilot program was related to earlier attorney appointment, a higher percentage of attorney presence across the life of the case, and a higher percentage of permanent outcomes for children. Parents’ percentage of presence at hearings across the life of the case was related to the child being returned home, dismissal of the juvenile dependency petition, and permanent management conservatorship. Early attorney appointment (i.e., less than 10 days from the initial hearing to full appointment) was related to permanent case outcomes.     

Standing for the client: on the interactional becoming of the criminal defence attorney1

In this essay, I explore the meaning of the legal profession (the defence attorney). I carry out my investigation in the interactional register. I suggest that we examine the profession of defence attorney as a professional identity in becoming. I localize the event of becoming in the first attorney-client interview. I propose that it is during the first encounter that the attorney comes to stand for the client as a legal counsel. I further propose that the analogy of ‘standing for’ be accessed empirically through an analysis of a recorded episode from the first attorney-client conference. For my methods I use a combination of frame analysis and conversation analysis. The two analyses show how the attorney becomes to stand for the client as a legal figure moulded in a series of interactional moves. By reformulating and reframing the ordinary talk that is introduced as an entry mode into an institutional relationship, the attorney and the client alter their discursive positions until the attorney assumes his professional identity, that is, becomes to stand for the client in legal action.     

Legal Representation and Dissatisfaction with Workers’ Compensation: Implications for Claimant Adjustment

This study examined relationships between attorney retention and adjustment outcomes for Workers’ Compensation low back claimants at post-settlement (N?=?1,464; 21 months post-claim settlement) and long-term follow-up (N?=?371; 72 months post-claim settlement). Claimants were classified into three groups: those who had not retained an attorney (no attorney group, 15%); those who had retained an attorney, but for reasons other than dissatisfaction with Workers’ Compensation medical treatment (attorney group, 31%); and those who had retained an attorney specifically because of dissatisfaction with Workers’ Compensation medical treatment (dissatisfied/attorney group, 54%). Groups were compared on demographic characteristics, Workers’ Compensation variables, and adjustment indicators of pain intensity, pain-related disability, general physical and mental health status, and pain catastrophizing. Relative to the no attorney and attorney groups, claimants in the dissatisfied/attorney group were younger, had longer time to settlement, and reported greater post-settlement socioeconomic stress and catastrophizing. At long-term follow-up, the dissatisfied/attorney group reported higher levels of disability and catastrophizing, as well as lower levels of mental health status, relative to the other groups. The results suggest that attorney retention that is motivated by dissatisfaction with Workers’ Compensation medical care is a significant risk factor for poor adjustment, not only in the intermediate time frame following claim settlement, but also over the long term. Findings are discussed in the context of “perceived injustice” in the Workers’ Compensation system and the mechanisms by which dissatisfaction and attorney retention may impact adjustment.