Lawyers in Poland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In Poland any person who possesses a master's degree in law is called '"lawyer"' (prawnik). New law of June 30, 2005 essentially made lawyer's profession more open that it was before. Previously, because of examiners' discretion in choice of questions for the oral part of internship entrance examination, it was extremely difficult to join respective Bar without support from family already in the profession.
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[edit] Poland's Bar Association
Five jurist's occupations require prospective candidates to apply for internship, pass an examination for admission to internship, finish an internship of three and a half years (or in case of judges or prosecutors three years), and finally pass an appropriate admission exam. Those occupations are:
- Public Prosecutor (prokurator): The legal representative of prosecution and supervision over police investigations;
- Judge (sędzia);
- Notary (notariusz): whose job consists of mixture of civil law notary and notary public duties;
- Barrister (adwokat): whose main function is to represent persons before court in both civil and criminal trials;
- Legal Counsellor (radca prawny) whose main function is to advise and represent persons before courts in civil and some criminal trials.
[edit] Adwokat and Radca prawny
The division adwokat / radca prawny is a remnant of the pre-1989 situation, when barristers were to advise natural persons in civil, criminal and family matters, while legal counsellors were responsible for assuring legal assistance for legal persons (enterprises, administration). Today, adwokat is usually specialised in criminal and family trials, and radca prawny in business law. However, the distinction is less and less apparent and a fusion of the two professions is anticipated.
[edit] Alternative ways of Bar admission
There are also ways to be admitted to Barristers' or Legal Counsellors' bar associations without finishing internship (articles). It concerns Ph.D. in Law holders and law graduates with several years of practical experience in rendering legal services. However, those provisions were declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Tribunal because of their imprecision and are to be enacted again.
[edit] Bar Examination
An examination for admission for internship is a written test, positive result guarantees admission. Bar Examination taken at the end of internship consists of both written and oral part.
[edit] Bar members
Once admitted to the bar association of one occupation, a jurist can move to another occupation with little hassle.
Only members of those five occupations can write certoriaris to the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Tribunal in cases in which they themselves are sides. All others must use the services of barristers or counsellors.
Similar privileges have habiliated Doctors of Laws They can join any bar association without exams, and can write certoriaris to Supreme Court and Constitutional Tribunal.
[edit] Lawyers not members of the Bar Association
Many lawyers do not practice law in the strict sense. They may work in public administration (which has its own highly legalized proceedings), the police (which prosecute small crimes), tax services and similar governmental agencies. Additionally, since a company can be represented in civil court by its own employees, some small and medium companies do not employ barristers or counselors, but instead rely on in-house lawyers not admitted to bar.
Because under Polish law an agent can act for any person therefore some lawyers do what in the UK is being done by solicitors. Thus, specialized persons write legal agreements, perform negotiations, or execute debts. Polish law specifically permits persons with Masters Degree in Law to give legal advice.
