Legal assistance in cases of administrative offences and other types of legal assistance

Abstract

The subject of this research is the Institution of legal assistance in cases of administrative offenses. The author examines the concept, according to which the norms on international legal assistance related to various branches of law (civil procedure, arbitration procedure, criminal procedure, administrative, private international) and reflecting the basic principles of international law, constitute an independent set of norms. The Institute of rendering legal assistance in cases of administrative offences is most similar by the content to the Institution of rendering legal assistance in cases of criminal offences established in the Chapter 53 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation. The comprehensive analysis of these institutions along with the position of the international community on their correlation, contributes to elaboration of ways for their development. The European Court of Human Rights, in the context of correlation of the norms on criminal responsibility in different countries, claims that regardless of whether the act is a criminal offence (France), minor offence (Germany), or administrative offense (Russia), it falls under the category pf  “criminal matter” (criminal sphere), from the perspective that the country is obliged to provide a person with due procedural guarantees if indicted. Considering that the international community understands “criminal matter” as both crimes and offenses, the provisions on rendering legal assistance in cases of administrative offenses can be implemented in accordance with the standards that are effective in providing legal assistance in cases of criminal offences. The latter may include the process of harmonization and unification of international and domestic law, conclusion of bilateral and multilateral agreements between the countries, etc.