legal defence against persecution and discrimination
LEGAL SERVICES
ASYLUM AND IMMIGRATION
Legal assistance and legal support in issues on obtaining of a status of a refugee, alternative status, political asylum, temporary or permanent residence permit, naturalization matters, as well as in connection with protection mechanisms available in the Republic of Latvia and in other member states of the EU
Nowadays a common practice of authoritarian regimes and dictatorships is the persecution of people for reasons of political convictions, communal affiliation, religion or other discriminatory motives. By abusing sovereign state powers and applying physical and psychological violence, the state authorities of many countries and civil servants of various levels settle accounts with their political opponents, economic competitors, tear off property and business, and persecute representatives of individual social, religious and ethnic groups. Military aggression practiced by such regimes, seizure of territories of neighbour states, coup d’etat and civil unrests pose additional factors forcing people to leave their home countries or countries of residence. Often a permanent or temporary asylum in a democratic country with a stable legal system is the only opportunity to save life, health or escape from prison.
In this respect Latvia is unique, because here all international standards for asylum are satisfied, moreover, the mental environment is favourable for refugees from the Post-Soviet countries. Because of a small number of asylum seekers and recipients the attitude of the Latvian national authorities is individual in each case. Thereby the victims of discriminate persecution can receive full-fledged protection, but economic migrants and other persons, who abuse the mechanism of protection of these rights, are sifted out. In light of the foregoing peculiarities of the Latvian protection and asylum system, the support of a professional and experienced lawyer in the process of seeking asylum plays a significant role, because it helps to avoid many mistakes and manifold increases chances and favorable outcome.
I have provided legal assistance to approximately ten percent of the total number of people, to whom the refugee status in Latvia was granted, and up to now none of my clients has been refused asylum. The Latvian national authorities actively support the integration of refugees into Latvian society, inter alia, facilitate to become naturalized (to obtain citizenship) as soon as possible. I provide legal services also in this field. In less dangerous situations legal assistance is provided in receipt of temporary or permanent residence permit, but in special cases — lawyer’s assistance in obtaining asylum in other members states of the European Union.
HUMAN RIGHTS
preparation of materials on defence and representation of interests of a victim of violation of human rights at the United Nations Human Rights Committee and at the European Court of Human Rights, as well as defence within the framework the institutions of the UN Special Rapporteur and other institutions of human rights
When fundamental human rights and freedoms are violated by authoritarian states or by their individual representatives, you cannot rely on the internal rights protection mechanisms of the same states or on sovereign judicial system. Law enforcement authorities and courts in such states are usually applied as the persecution and discriminatory tools. Officials of such states apply sovereign powers and state immunity and thereby not just violate civil and political rights of victims of persecution, but often deprive them of legal capacity, place them outside of the legal system. Authoritarian regimes often apply unlawful deprivation of freedom, arbitrary arrests, torture, inhuman and degrading treatment, violate the presumption of innocence, refuse entitlement to independent, impartial and fair trial, violate right to housing and property rights, violate honour, dignity and business reputation, practice various forms of discrimination and even arbitrary killing. In such situation resorting to international judicial and law enforcement institutions for the defence can appear to be the only salvation.
Over the recent history a civilized society has developed a range of efficient tools for the supranational defence of human rights, inter alia, such institutions of the United Nations Organization as Human Rights Committee, other UN treaty bodies, as well as Human Rights Council with their Special Rapporteurs on certain states and topics. Unlawful actions of member states of the European Council can be challenged at the European Court of Human Rights, but of other states – at other regional law enforcement and judicial instances. At the same time a significant number of complaints, comparatively complicated complaints procedure with a number of procedural nuances, as well as a precedential character of law enforcement practice considerably complicate and impede victims of violation to implement rights to defence at a court. The foregoing problems can be successfully and effectively resolved with the help of a professional lawyer, who is specialized the field of human rights defence.
Clients, who seek my legal practice, are provided with a professional approach, supplemented with experience gained over years. Proper use of opportunities rendered by inter-state and international mechanisms of protection of rights and by supranational courts ensures success in the restoration of violated human rights and effective defence against unlawful persecution, as well as enables to fight discrimination successfully.
INTERPOL AND EXTRADITION
protection of victims of unjustified persecution by the International Criminal Police Organization or INTERPOL, inter alia, cancellation of Red Notices (warrants), deletion of personal data from the INTERPOL files, interruption of searching and defence against unlawful extradition.
Lately, the world’s authoritarian regimes and dictatorships increasingly oftener and cynically use the mechanisms of the International Criminal Police Organization or INTERPOL in neutralization of their political opponents and persecution of unwanted persons. Despite the fact that this organization has strict prohibitions and mechanisms of internal control, the said trends have reached really alarming proportions. Even OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in its Istanbul Declaration (June 29 – July 3, 2013) urged the INTERPOL to improve its monitoring mechanisms 'on the identification of attempts of misuse of its systems by OSCE member states, which judicial systems are inconsistent with international standards’, furthermore, to enable ‘persons unfairly accused for political reasons promptly inform of the attempts to abuse the INTERPOL system and suppression thereof’.
The number of persons put in databases of the INTERPOL’s Red Notices for human rights activists, political opponents and personal enemies of dictators and authoritarian regimes is growing year by year. Persons, who officially received a refugee status or political asylum in third countries, get on INTERPOL watch list, thereby directly in violation of Paragraph 1 of Article 33 of UN Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees dated 28th July 1951. In all such cases the INTERPOL General Secretariat humbly states that this police organization deals only with information procedures of international dissemination of national arrest warrants and is not authorized to impact on a decision of any member state to accept or refuse in complying with a request for arrest on each particular case. At that no explanation is provided that in reliance upon Article 82 of INTERPOL’s Rules on the a Processing of Data (Resolution No.AG-2011-RES-07) Red Notice is published by INTERPOL at the request of national bureaus or international organization for criminal persecution and investigation to localize a wanted person with his further detention, arrest or movement restriction for the purposes of extradition, deportation or analogous actions. Therefore, by default, for every member state there is an obligation to accept and carry out rather than to analyze independently data of international watch list. While finding of particular facts, political motivation and data of the person is carried out at the time of his detection and detention in each state, which in itself is violation of human rights. If such state ignores the international human rights law, then the consequences of dissemination of investigation data on a person persecuted for political, religious or social reasons become catastrophic.
The situation is exacerbated by supranational status of INTERPOL and its immunity against any prosecution, international inclusive. Therefore, taking an appeal from actions of INTERPOL at any judicial instance is simply forbidden. There is the only opportunity – to address its Internal Commission for the Control of Files, successful work with which requires some specific experience. In the world there is a quite sufficient quantity of professional lawyers who have knowledge and practice in the defence of persons, who subject to unreasonable persecution by INTERPOL.
At the same time my specialization lies in rendering legal assistance to victims of violation of human rights and unfair discrimination in issues relating to their defence against illegal persecution by applying mechanisms of INTERPOL, including cancellation of red notices and deletion of data of the person from the database of this international police organization. In my practice there is a large amount of cases on appealing against searching by INTERPOL, the majority of which were successful and resulted in unconditional annulment of arrest warrants and arrest of my clients involving full withdrawal of all information of them from the INTERPOL’s files. In some circumstances the necessity arises to defend unreasonably prosecuted persons against illegally requested extradition, or other interstate procedures for legal assistance in criminal cases, which is also falls within my competence.
INVESTMENT PROTECTION
defence of victims of business persecution, expropriation of investment and economic discrimination at international courts of arbitration and tribunals, including UNCITRAL tribunals, ICSID centres, tribunals at TPP, as well as national judicial, arbitral institutions
Often the real reason for politically, socially or even religiously and ethnically motivated persecution lies in the intention of authoritarian states or of individual officials or of persons within their circles to take over property, illegally grab business, deprive the victim of investments or, at least, force the victim to share business profit and assets with corrupted authorities. By depriving an investor of freedom, by threatening bodily harms or expelling from the country, the interested persons freely seize his property. By applying the entire oppressive tooling and formal legal proceedings, the interesants drive the investor practically to the wall, thereby destining either to full refusal of any significant struggle for his property and business or to long-standing and expensive internal legal proceedings with a pre-determined negative result. Under the cover of its sovereign immunity against foreign legal proceedings such regimes feel themselves absolutely unpunished.
Nevertheless, as a result of development of interstate cooperation some progress in the elaboration of tooling and mechanisms of investment protection against unlawful interference and violations on the part of similar governments has been made. The international human rights system is built, first and foremost, on versatile procedures of arbitration and commercial arbitration. The general foundation for such procedures is posed by all forms of abandonment by states from their judicial immunity to permanent or temporary institutions of international justice. Such abandonment may be contained in domestic legislation of certain states, set out by interstate bilateral investment treaties, can arise out of universal or special conventions and multilateral treaties, as well as can be executed otherwise. All of the aforesaid open certain potentials for the protection of rights of persons who suffered from persecution and discrimination of investors.
Thereby, one may state that the full-fledged and effective of protection of interests and rights of victims of politically motivated or discriminatory persecutions, as a rule, is impossible without legal assistance in restoration of violated investment rights and demands of compensation for unlawfully seized property or business. Therefore my practice encompasses legal services on the protection of interests of victims of business persecution, expropriation of investments and of economic discrimination at international courts of arbitration and tribunals, including UNCITRAL tribunals, ICSID centres for settlement of investment disputes, tribunals at various chambers of commerce and industry, as well as national judicial, arbitral institutions of legal jurisdictions.
Success of my works is also attributable to that fact that my professional experience includes also work for one of the governments similar to the above listed, connected exactly with settlement of investment disputes with foreign investors. This enables me in rendering legal services то assess adequately the likelihood steps of my opponents, thereby arranging the strategy and tactics of defence in light of understanding of their motivation and likelihood internal contradictions. Such approach multiplies chances for success at any and all arbitral and legal proceedings against authoritarian and dictatorship regimes, and also in the course of all kinds of negotiations relating settlement of investment disputes with them.
EXPERTISE AND CONSULTATIONS
legal and forensic analysis, preparation of legal opinions and rendering consultations on different branches of rights and issues of enforcement by CIS countries, including civil law and proceeding, mineral and bank law, criminal law and proceeding
By using my higher legal education, skills of scientific and teaching activities and long-term experience of successful law practice in the countries of Central Asia and Russia, I provide various consulting services on points of law of countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States. I have a license to practice law, whereby I have authority to defend clients in criminal, civil, administrative and constitutional proceedings. Moreover, I have worked for quite long time at commercial banks in decision-making positions in management and board of directors. I was a member of the supreme governing bodies of gold mining companies, including transnational public corporations. Such experience enables me also to carry on various legal analyses relating to the noted above spheres, inter alia, for courts and law enforcement institutions of foreign jurisdictions, and also make relevant legal opinions.