Zmiany zakresu pomocy prawnej świadczonej przez radców prawnych (1 października 1982 r.–1 lipca 2015 r.)
Changes concerning the scope of legal aid provided by legal advisers (October 1, 1982–July 1, 2015)

Summary/Abstract: This article presents the evolution of the scope of legal aid provided by legal advisers, from the effective date of the Act on Legal Advisers until July 1, 2015, i.e. the entry into force of a significant amendment to the Code of Criminal Procedure of 2013, which prompted the amendment of the Act of Legal Advisers. In the time frame covered by this analysis, the Act on Legal Advisers was amended multiple times, which contributed to a gradual broadening of legal advisers’ professional rights. On occasion, however, the legislative process was not thoroughly thought through, as the modifications that corresponded with the will of the legislators were not followed by necessary amendments to other, related pieces of legislation, eventually leading to a lack of coherence in the legal system. In fact, changes were effected with respect to procedural law but related regulations of the statute on legal advisers – concerning the scope of legal aid rendered by legal advisers – were left unaltered. Other times, the reverse was true (e.g. in 1997). The broadening of legal advisers’ rights concerning legal representation in criminal proceedings was also a corollary of efforts to fuse the professions of legal adviser and advocate, led in 2009, which never came to fruition, in the wake of a negative assessment by the highest legal professional self-governing bodies. The final amendment (which was made while simultaneously amending the Code of Criminal Procedure – a commendable exception) was the crowning achievement of the reforms and vested legal advisers with rights to appear in criminal proceedings as counsels for the defense (beginning July 1, 2015).

• Details
• Contents