Is the advocate's fee appropriate for a citizen in Azerbaijan?

In Azerbaijan, every person has the right to apply to an advocate of his choice, along with legal assistance at the expense of the state, to protect his rights in court and in the preliminary investigation. However, in some cases, citizens claim that advocates want high fees for defense, which is a source of some dissatisfaction. Is it true that the service fee paid to an Azerbaijani advocate today does not correspond to the financial situation of citizens?

E-huquq.az presents the opinion of lawyers on the issue.

Anar Gasimli, head of the Sumgayit Regional Advocacy Bureau, said that prices for advocacy are not determined by any tariff rate, and this price is free to determine: "There is paid independent advocacy all over the world. At the same time, it is possible to use this service free of charge in cases provided by law. There are such cases in our legislation. It is expected that the scope of free legal aid will be further expanded in the future. That is, in the future, the legislation is expected to be amended and a new law will be adopted, which will provide free legal aid to low-income people throughout the trial, as well as in criminal cases. In general, there is no free legal aid. Legal aid is paid in any case, it just depends on who pays the lawyer's fee. In one case, the citizen pays on a contract basis, and in another case, the service fee is paid by the state budget. The Bar Association has free legal aid, which is not paid at the expense of the state. As you know, the Bar Association has recently been conducting large-scale free legal aid campaigns of this type. Lawyers from various bureaus visit to different regions and penitentiaries as a team and provide free legal assistance to applicants. All this is done on the personal initiative of the Bar Association and lawyers. It should be noted that, according to the recommendation of the Bar Association, legal aid is provided free of charge to the families of martyrs and veterans in all advocacy institutions across the country, and all necessary expenses, such as the lawyer's visit and other expenses, are paid by lawyers. As for the service price, we know that the service price of each advocate is determined independently. The price is determined by mutual agreement on the basis of the assignment agreement concluded with the advocate. "

A. Gasimli considers that the fees for advocacy in Azerbaijan are very low compared to other countries: "Advocacy is an expensive process in most countries around the world, and there are higher fees for using this service. Of course, this is not comparable in our country. It is possible that in some cases, one or another contract may indicate higher prices. This is not always the case. The fee set by every advocate is his commercial income."

According to him, the money paid to the advocate under the contract should not be considered as a advocate's income: "14 percent of this amount is income tax, 10 percent is allocated to the State Social Protection Fund, 2 percent is a advocate's liability insurance. In addition, the bureau has maintenance costs, membership fees and other fees."

Roman Garashov, a member of the Bar Association, also stressed that the fees paid to lawyers in the country today are not high. He noted that sometimes citizens have the impression that a lawyer receives a certain salary and fees for being a member of the Board. Instead, the advocate pays the membership fee himself. In general, attorney's fees are offset by the attorney's fees, because the attorney has no other source of income. If an advocate has established and is a member of any bureau, he / she pays the maintenance costs of that bureau every month. At the same time, the salaries of technical staff and others are paid at the expense of the advocate's earnings. The advocate also pays about 30 percent of the contract to the state budget. This includes the advocate's social insurance costs and other taxes. In general, the advocate pays 30 percent of the contract to the state in this form. In addition, the advocate's office has maintenance costs. Sometimes our colleagues, despite being representatives of the bureau, open private offices in other places. This is an additional cost. At the same time, he has stationery expenses, payments of his assistant and other people, which he pays all the expenses at the expense of the contract.

If we take into account the court proceedings, we can see that in both criminal and administrative cases, sometimes a trial lasts up to 1 year. When you include the lawyer's visit and other expenses here, you get a large enough amount. Therefore, the service fee must cover the costs so that the lawyer can see the result of his suffering. Given that an advocate must have at least 4 years of higher legal education, in addition to which he must have an additional 3 years of legal experience and pass an exam consisting of three stages. After going through so many stages and obtaining the status of an advocate, he also considers that he can meet his financial needs and other income on the basis of legal services. The advocates working under contracts of 200-300 manats remains incomprehensible to me. It is questionable in what form the expenses are incurred. However, in all other cases, depending on the advocate's workload, the cost of an advocate in Azerbaijan is very low compared to other countries. The fee paid to an advocate is very low. "

The advocate also noted that sometimes a citizen pays for defense in one instance, but in the next instance avoids this payment: "Or citizens have a misconception that the amount paid to the lawyer is given as a result of the case. Unfortunately, sometimes citizens do not understand the full essence of the lawyer's service. There is also a type of legal aid that is low-income and free for some people according to the rules established by law. However, in other cases, an advocate is not obliged to provide legal advice, written explanations or defend his rights in court. "