TURKMENISTAN: LAWYERS ASSOCIATIONS EVOLVE FROM SOVIET

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000382

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SIPDIS

STATE FOR SCA/CEN, DRL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM SOCI KCOR ECON TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: LAWYERS ASSOCIATIONS EVOLVE FROM SOVIET
ROOTS


1. (U) Sensitive but Unclassified. Not for Internet distribution


2. (SBU) SUMMARY: Registered by Turkmenistan's Ministry of Justice
as a public organization, Lawyers Associations provide legal
consultations and legal services to the public. Fees are flexible
and geared towards the client's ability to pay. They operate
essentially as legal clinics, without a broader mandate to develop
and enforce professional standards. Since their activity is still
regulated by the 1981 USSR Statute on Advokatura (the practice of
law),they cannot transform into bar associations that would allow
them to expand and more actively engage in the legislative reform
process. END SUMMARY.


3. (SBU) At a March 12 meeting with the Chairperson of the Presidium
of the Ashgabat Lawyers Association, Besdir Eywanova, Embassy's
Political Assistant learned that Lawyers Associations are public
organizations for the purpose of providing legal consultations to
the public. They are registered with the Bureau of Notary and
Advocacy of the Ministry of Justice. The activity of Lawyers
Associations is still governed by the 1981 Statute on Advokatura of
the USSR because lawyers associations were not deemed the successor
to the Lawyers Association of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic.
As a result, they cannot establish themselves as full-fledged bar
association, but are called "Kollegiya Advokatov" (Lawyers
Association). A new law on advocacy to allow Lawyers Associations
to transform into bar associations is currently in the process of
development.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE


4. (SBU) The Ashgabat Lawyers Association has 83 lawyers who work in
three district legal consultation offices of Ashgabat. There are
six lawyers associations in the country: one in each of the five
provinces and one in Ashgabat city. A joint meeting of Presidiums
of the Ashgabat and provincial Lawyers Associations elects a
Chairperson for each Lawyers Association for a four- or five-year
term in accordance with their respective charters. The Ashgabat
Lawyers Association works on a self-financing basis. It provides
legal services on a fee for service basis except for disabled
persons and World War II veterans who receive legal consultations
free of charge. According to Eywanova, in some cases when an
elderly person turns to them for a legal consultation and they see
that a person is unable to pay for the services, they provide
consultation for free.

PARTICIPATION IN THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS


5. (SBU) The Lawyers Association plays a role in the legislative
reform process. Over the last two years, representatives of the
Lawyers Association actively participated in all Ministry of Foreign
Affairs/Institute for Democracy and Human Rights-organized seminars
to review a law or a code (e.g, the Civil Code and the Civil
Procedural Code). Representatives of Lawyers Associations have
participated in delegations on trips to Uzbekistan and Germany.

OPINION OF A PRACTICING LAWYER


6. (SBU) Sharafat Dovranova, a practicing lawyer from one of the
Legal Consultation Offices of the Ashgabat Lawyers Association, said
that legal matters for which visitors seek legal assistance are
predominantly of civil, not criminal, character. She explained that
Turkmen people are law abiding and rarely appeal court decisions for
criminal cases even if they do not agree with the decision.
According to Dovranova, if a client comes to her office and requests
services, they negotiate how much a client can pay. After agreeing
on payment, the lawyer and a client conclude an agreement, a client
makes payment to the organization's cashier and receives a receipt.
Fifty percent of the payment becomes Dovranova's honorarium and
fifty percent goes to her organization. According to Dovranova, who
has nearly 20 years of experience working as a lawyer, people tend
to use the services of a lawyer who was recommended to them by
someone who had used that lawyer's services before.

ASHGABAT 00000382 002 OF 002




7. (SBU) Dovranova said that lawyers, no matter which Lawyers
Association they belong to, are free to work anywhere in
Turkmenistan. For instance, if an individual from Dashoguz hires a
lawyer from a legal consultation office in Ashgabat, they conclude
an agreement and the lawyer starts working on his case. According
to Dovranova there are a few independent lawyers in Turkmenistan.
Usually, they are certified, highly experienced elderly lawyers who
retired from working in state legal entities, and want to continue
working in the profession.


8. (SBU) COMMENT: The existence of a non-governmental Lawyers
Association in Turkmenistan provides valuable legal consultations
and legal services to the public, with fees based on ability to pay.
Nonetheless, the adoption of a Law on Advocacy could enable the
existing associations to transform and expand into a full-fledged
bar association that would support professional standards and get
more actively involved in the legislative reform process in the
country. END COMMENT.

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