Paper long abstract:

We determined the most pressing issues faced by advocates and lawyers in Kyrgyzstan as a result of their professional activities. The survey was organized into seven categories: access to the legal profession; right to independent practice; professional immunity; disciplinary proceedings; access to clients; confidential communications with clients; and right to information.

Several trends clearly emerged from this survey. First, most respondents replied that although rights of lawyers are protected by law, in practice, the majority of time, those rights were violated and norms are not implemented. Although an overwhelming majority, 93%, said that there were existing protections for the independence of advocates in Kyrgyz law, 69% of those said that those safeguards were insufficient or ineffective and that their rights were violated.

Second, it appears that in general, the rule of law is respected in broad outlines and lawyers are largely allowed to defend their client's interests. That said, on each of the factors, there are numerous failings in the details and implementation of how lawyers are treated. Further, advocates and lawyers have a low status in society, and as a result, people engage in physical assaults, intimidation and threats without fear of ramifications for their actions.

Our survey found, however, that these issues are overcome-able. The lawyers indicated that they believed these were not larger political attempts to undermine the work of advocates. It is incumbent on the Kyrgyz Bar Association (Advokatura) and Government agencies to work together and ensure that all law enforcement and judicial bodies understand the rights and responsibilities of lawyers and respond appropriately to lawyers' requests. The government should publicly condemn, at all levels, any attack and other acts of harassment against lawyers, and actively seek to prevent such acts.

The Advokatura, as an advocacy body, must ensure that advocates follow established rules and procedures and support adoption of the new Code of Professional Ethics of Advocates. They should also play the role of highlighting and documenting the instances of violations of advocates professional rights when other actors in the legal system do not play their own role.

Non-profit organizations should continue to monitor the situation on the ground and make the public aware when attorneys and lawyers' rights are violated. International organizations should continue to highlight the importance of the rule of law and the benefits a strong legal system brings to Kyrgyzstan and make detailed and specific recommendations to the national government.