Recommendations On Reform of the Legal Profession in Tajikistan
The Open Society Justice Initiative presented a series of recommendations for reforming the legal profession in Tajikistan during a meeting of law reform experts in Dushanbe on July 20.
The objective of the meeting was to discuss challenges facing the legal profession in Tajikistan and to establish a reform agenda aimed at ensuring citizens' access to qualified legal assistance in accordance with both the country's constitution and international standards on regulating the legal profession. Titled "Problems of the Legal Profession and Reform of the Bar in the Context of Judicial Reforms in Tajikistan," the meeting was organized by the Open Society Justice Initiative and Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation Tajikistan in cooperation with the American Bar Association's Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative and attended by lawyers, Ministry of Justice representatives, criminal justice officials, and nongovernmental organizations.
Recommendations advanced at the meeting focus on important issues in regulating the legal profession, including: the functions of the bar association, standards of professional ethics, requirements for admission to the bar, disciplining of lawyers, and training. Presenters noted that these issues are equally important for the legal profession and the public at large, as it is in their interest to have their rights protected by an independent, competent, and accountable professional bar association.
Conference participants also discussed the concept paper on the reform of the Bar in Tajikistan. The document was developed by a joint working group consisting of representatives of various professional groups of lawyers set up by the Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation Tajikistan. The working group members presented a concept for a single, independent, and self-governing professional body, with primary functions of admission to the profession, development and enforcement of professional standards of lawyers' ethics, provision of continuous legal education, and participation in government-funded legal aid schemes.
The recommendations and the concept paper were based on American Bar Association's Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative's newly released Legal Profession Reform Index, an assessment tool based on 24 factors derived from international standards pertaining to the legal profession, which documents the current state of the profession in Tajikistan and degree of lawyers' independence. The Legal Profession Reform Index provides benchmarks in such critical areas as professional freedoms and guarantees; professional education and training; access to the profession; conditions and standards of practice; legal services; and professional associations.
The recommendations were developed by a group of international and regional experts, established by the Justice Initiative to develop policy recommendations on the reform of the bar in central Asia, as part of the Justice Initiative's project on monitoring the independence of the legal profession in central Asia.