Is a new power of attorney for the lawyer required after separating materials into a separate proceeding: Supreme Court's answer
Separating materials concerning the suspect into a separate criminal proceeding does not indicate the termination of the defense attorney's authority during the pre-trial investigation and trial, since the legislator has not defined this circumstance as one that prevents the lawyer's participation in the criminal proceeding, provided there is a previously issued power of attorney to represent the person's interests. This conclusion was made by the First Judicial Panel of the Criminal Cassation Court of the Supreme Court in case No. 334/4071/23.
Positions of courts of first and appellate instances
The courts of previous instances found the accused guilty and convicted her under Part 2 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code.
In the cassation appeal, the defense side claims that the power of attorney for the lawyer was issued by the Center for Free Secondary Legal Aid to protect the rights of the convicted person in criminal proceeding No. 120220000000001125 and applied specifically to that case, and therefore he did not have the authority to represent the interests of the accused in this criminal proceeding.
Position of the Criminal Cassation Court
The decisions of the lower courts were left unchanged.
The panel of judges of the Criminal Cassation Court indicated that, taking into account the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code and the Laws "On Free Legal Aid" and "On Advocacy and Advocacy Activity," the panel considers the position of the lower courts justified that the separation of materials from the criminal proceeding into a separate proceeding concerning the suspect does not indicate the termination of the defense attorney's authority during the pre-trial investigation and trial, since the legislator has not defined this circumstance as one that prevents the lawyer's participation in the criminal proceeding, provided there is a previously issued power of attorney to represent the person's interests.
The ruling of the panel of judges of the First Judicial Panel of the Criminal Cassation Court of the Supreme Court dated 02.04.2026 in case No. 334/4071/23 (proceeding No. 51-2756km25) can be found at this link.
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