According to Art. 6, clause 3 of the Law "On the Bar", a lawyer has the right to request information necessary for him to assist the client. This can be a certificate, description and other documentation. A lawyer's request for information can be sent to state authorities and territorial self-government, various public organizations and associations.
Legal basis
Art. 48 of the Constitution establishes a general procedure that determines what a lawyer's request and its execution should be. The aforementioned Federal Law stipulates that the right of a lawyer to take certain actions with the aim of providing qualified assistance arises if there is an appropriate agreement. A special assignment may also act as a normative basis for sending a lawyer's request. It may be provided for in a court decision, a resolution of the preliminary investigation body, inquiry and other authorized units. On such orders, a lawyer's request can be made to the STSI (a sample document will be presented later).
It follows from the law that the said action is considered legitimate only in the case of a legal justification for the right to provide assistance. This is what gives the lawyer the authority to request information necessary for him. This, in turn, gives rise to a reciprocal obligation of authorities and other organizations and institutions (including commercial ones that provide paid services to the population) to transfer information to the lawyer free of charge. In this case, the lawyer's request itself should contain a link to the appropriate appointment, order or agreement. However, the legislation establishes that no one has the right to require the lawyer or his representative to present the documentation directly, acting as a justification for the actions.
Associated documents: warrant
The powers vested in a lawyer, according to Art. 6, Part 2 of the corresponding Federal Law shall be executed by appropriate papers. This requirement is implemented by warrant (in cases prescribed by law) or power of attorney (in other situations). The normative acts do not spell out the need to present these documents. In this regard, it is not necessary to attach them when exercising powers.
The exception is a lawyer's request in a criminal case. This is due to the provisions of Art. 49 of the Criminal Code. In accordance with them, a lawyer is allowed to participate in such a process only on the basis of an order. This requirement is mandatory in such cases. Thus, a warrant is necessary for a lawyer to enter the process as a defender, and at any stage, including at the execution stage. Also, this paper is necessary if the design of a power of attorney is not possible. For example, in the case of the appointment of a lawyer as a representative of the defendant, in accordance with the procedure prescribed in Art. 50 Civil Code, and other situations defined by law. 
Power of attorney
It is executed if a citizen wants a lawyer to defend his interests. In this case, the law does not provide for notarization of power of attorney. In this regard, the document may be in writing. The power of attorney may contain an indication of the existence of an agreement between the client and the lawyer. This information is certified by the signature and seal of the head of legal education.In some cases, a lawyer's request (to the registry office, clinic and other institutions) involves obtaining the personal data of the client (if this is not prohibited by law). The document in such situations should contain the consent of the principal to this.
Lawyer Request Form
For this document, as well as for many others, certain filling requirements are provided. Consider what a lawyer's request should look like. A sample document allows you to comply with regulatory requirements. Regardless of which institution the paper is sent to, all the elements prescribed by law must be present in it. The first thing that a lawyer's request should contain (the sample presented at the end of the article illustrates this) is the data on the lawyer. In particular, his full name, information about the fact that he is an employee (member) of the relevant organization (association) should be indicated.
The document must contain the lawyer’s number in the register, references to the existence of an agreement with the client and the need to obtain certain information (the purpose for which the lawyer's request is made). A sample to a hospital or other institution that has information about the client also implies the presence of a principal on their transfer to a lawyer. As a rule, if the paper contains such information, there are no difficulties in obtaining the required data. 
The legislative framework
The lawyer's right to collect information regarding third parties is regulated by the provisions of Art. 48 of the Constitution. They provide citizens with the opportunity to receive qualified legal assistance. Sectoral procedural laws also provide for the right of a lawyer to collect evidence in production. However, at the same time in Art. 23 of the Constitution contains provisions guaranteeing the preservation of family and personal secrets, and the inviolability of a person’s private life.
Art. 24 of the Basic Law prohibits the collection of personal data without the consent of people. The same provision is contained in Art. 8 of the Convention for the Protection of Freedom and Human Rights. According to Art. 55, part 3 of the Constitution, certain restrictions may be established for a citizen. In particular, the Federal Law states that freedoms and rights may be limited to the extent necessary to ensure the protection of morality, the foundations of the constitutional regime, the health, interests and capabilities of others, the security of the state and the country's defense.
Types of information
Federal Law No. 27 of July 26, 2006 classifies information in accordance with the category of access to it. So, allocate:
- Publicly Available Information. These include well-known data and other information that does not have access restrictions.
- Private data. This category includes information, access to which is limited by federal regulations to ensure the protection of the state, health, morality, interests and rights of individuals and others.
At the same time, the law distinguishes such categories of information that may constitute a secret (commercial, official, and so on). Regulatory acts establish the requirement of confidentiality and the procedure for holding liable in the event of the publication of such data.
personal information
Federal Law No. 152 of July 27, 2006 provides an incomplete list of personal information about a citizen subject to protection. According to Art. 3, p. 1, personal information should include any information that relates to an individual determined on its basis or determined in accordance with it. This includes his last name, first name and patronymic, date of birth (day, month and year), property, social and marital status, address, income, profession, education, etc.
A restriction on such information also arises from certain other federal laws. They, in particular, establish the requirement to maintain commercial, state, banking, medical confidentiality and so on.Relevant industry regulations provide for declassification of data. However, this requires a request from the investigating authority or the court. When a defender calls, such information is not transmitted. So, a lawyer's request to the tax service may not be satisfied if it contains a request for disclosure of income or financial condition of a citizen.
Case study
For clarity, we give an example. A lawyer complained to the Constitutional Court. In its content, the citizen, who at that time carried out the protection of the principal in the framework of criminal proceedings, indicated the refusal of the customs authorities to transmit the requested information to him. Failure to comply with a lawyer's request was justified by Art. 10 TC and part 3 of the Federal Law "On Commercial Secret". The defender appealed to the customs authority for information regarding a consignment of telephones, which, he assumed, had been imported by the victims into the country. The reason for the refusal to satisfy the lawyer's request was that the defender is not included in the circle of persons who, by law, have the right to access this kind of information.
In his complaint, the lawyer asked the court to recognize Art. 10 TC referred to Customs, contrary to the provisions of Article 45, 37 and 123 (part 3) of the Constitution. He attributed this to the fact that the regulations, along with Art. 6 (part 3) and Art. 3 and 5 of the Federal Law governing the procedure for maintaining trade secrets prevent the lawyer from collecting the necessary evidence in favor of his client. In addition, all these provisions violate his constitutional right to freely dispose of his labor abilities, as well as the principle of equality and competitiveness of the parties during the proceedings.
The Constitutional Court, refusing the aforementioned citizen to satisfy the complaint, explained that the legislator does not include lawyers in the list of persons whose requests for the transfer of information constituting a trade secret can be satisfied. Art. 10 of the LC, as the Court explained, being in conjunction with the relevant Federal Law on the preservation of trade secrets, establishes a special legal regime regarding access to such information and excluding its receipt by third parties. At the same time, the provided procedure does not give any reason to conclude that the applicant’s rights guaranteed by the Constitution have been violated. This is explained by the fact that the regulations do not prohibit participants in criminal proceedings from exercising their rights to defense by all means permitted by law, including drawing up petitions for the requisition of necessary information by the bodies of preliminary investigation, inquiry or the court.
From the above example, it follows that a lawyer can only receive information that does not constitute the aforementioned protected data (access to which is limited by federal laws), i.e. personal, family, medical, banking, commercial, state secrets, etc. Therefore, questions of this nature should not contain a lawyer's request. The sample to the hospital, therefore, requires the indication of only the information that is allowed to be accessed by third parties, even though the client has consented to disclose data constituting a medical secret. 
Important points
The Constitution provides for the right of every person to freely transmit, receive, seek, disseminate and produce information by any legal means. In Art. 24 of the Basic Law establishes the obligation of state authorities and territorial self-government, officials to provide citizens with the opportunity to get acquainted with documents and materials that directly affect their interests and rights, unless otherwise prescribed by the rules.
Due to the direct effect of the above provision, any personal data, except for those that contain commercial, family and other secrets, confidential information about professional, entrepreneurial, official, inventive activity, should be accessible to people, of course, provided that there is no special legislation legal status of this information. This obligation also proceeds from the requirements of Art. 48 of the Basic Law and a number of industry regulations governing the activities of defense lawyers in the Russian Federation. Thus, a lawyer's request for the disclosure of certain information can be satisfied provided that the publication of the data does not violate the constitutional rights and interests of the persons who possess it. The exception is cases where the need for such measures is dictated by special circumstances. However, in this case, information is disclosed only to those persons who are included in the list of authorized by law.
Requisites
In accordance with Art. 14, part 3 of the Federal Law on personal information, access to personal information is made upon request of the subject or his legal representative. A lawyer-lawyer may act as the latter. In this case, the lawyer's request form must contain the applicant's last name, first name and patronymic, the series and number of the identity document, name of the issuing authority, date of issue, signature. By analyzing the above legislative acts, we can conclude that during the collection of confidential information by the defender in relation to his client, state authorities, territorial self-government and other authorized units undertake to transmit the required information only if this initiative comes from the principal , and the document includes all the details mentioned.
Example Lawyer Request
| Head ___________________________
_____________________________________ _____________________________________ Address _______________________________ _____________________________________ |
Request
Lawyer of legal education ___________ in ___________, having registration number _____ in the register _________________, certificate No. ______________, _________________________ (full name), located at _____________________________________, to provide legal assistance to a citizen ___________________________ (full name), in including for advising on the preparation of a claim (objection) in accordance with Part 2, Article 24 of the Constitution, paragraph 3, Art. 6 Federal Law "On the Bar in the Russian Federation", please provide the following information:
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Appendix: copy of the warrant (power of attorney)
Date:_________________. Signature__________________
I confirm the availability of an agreement on the provision of qualified assistance
Head of education: _____________________ (full name) M.P.
Finally
Sooner or later, each practicing lawyer will have to solve the problem of obtaining the required information, without which it is impossible to represent the interests of the principal in a proper manner. The rights of a lawyer should be more clearly defined. In particular, a defender may:
- Collect information that may serve as evidence in criminal, economic, civil, administrative proceedings upon the fact of certain violations.
- Request and receive originals and copies of documents from institutions, organizations, enterprises, as well as from citizens - with their consent.
- To get acquainted directly with the necessary materials on the spot, except for those that constitute a secret protected by law.
- Receive written opinions of experts on issues that require special knowledge, conduct a survey of citizens.
As a rule, appeals by lawyers are not related to the disclosure of classified data, and therefore there should be no difficulties in satisfying the request. However, business leaders often shy away from conveying the necessary information to the defender. The rationale may be, for example, lack of technical equipment.In response to a lawyer's request, the authorities, in turn, often invite the lawyer to visit the company himself and find the necessary information. These and other circumstances often complicate activities. 
It should also be said that the law does not establish a deadline for responding to a lawyer's request. In this regard, lawyers have to indicate it on their own. In the request it is necessary to state your request as clearly and clearly as possible. The presence of a copy of a power of attorney or warrant is considered a prerequisite in practice. Attaching copies of the documents mentioned is of particular importance when a lawyer requests personal information. Along with this, the lawyer must strictly observe the letter of the law, not exceed his authority. A lawyer has the right to challenge the actions or inaction of the organization to which he refers in cases provided by law. The appeal procedure is established by the relevant provisions of the Federal Law and other industry acts. In any case, in carrying out his activities, counsel should not infringe or limit the interests and rights of others.