On 26 February 2025, an expanded meeting of the Council of the Belarusian Republican Bar Association (BRKA) was held. During the event, the leadership of the legal profession presented reports on the state of the profession. Notably, when summarising the year's results, BRKA Chairman Alexey Shvakov highlighted that "the number of attorneys in the country increased by five over the past year, reaching a total of 1,605 attorneys," and that "there are no legal consultations operating without attorneys".
Our project first detected "lawyerless" legal consultations back in March 2023. Now, standing at the threshold of March 2025, it appears that due to a shortage of personnel in the legal profession — combined with ongoing efforts to push "undesirable" individuals out of the profession — it has taken a full two years to address the problem of so-called "Schrödinger’s legal consultations" (offices that technically existed but had no lawyers).
In addition, some other interesting figures were shared:
Our project first detected "lawyerless" legal consultations back in March 2023. Now, standing at the threshold of March 2025, it appears that due to a shortage of personnel in the legal profession — combined with ongoing efforts to push "undesirable" individuals out of the profession — it has taken a full two years to address the problem of so-called "Schrödinger’s legal consultations" (offices that technically existed but had no lawyers).
In addition, some other interesting figures were shared:
[screenshot text states:
“In 2024, more than 56,000 assignments were carried out for criminal cases, and 26,000 assignments for handling civil cases in courts of first instance, appellate, and supervisory levels, of which 488 cases were handled free of charge. Approximately 16,000 contracts were signed for the provision of legal assistance, and more than 12,000 cases were handled in economic courts. A total of 116,000 legal consultations were provided, 17,000 of which — or 15% — were offered free of charge. 72,000 legal documents were drafted, of which 5,000 — or more than 7% — were prepared free of charge.
The country's population and economic entities’ needs were, according to Alexey Ivanovich, fully addressed with legal assistance by the bar.”]
The statistics on "educational" activities were also highlighted. As a reminder: attorneys organise meetings with labour collectives, schoolchildren, and university students, where they speak about responsibility for “extremism” and “terrorism” — terms primarily used by the Belarusian authorities to restrict freedom of speech and suppress dissent.
“In 2024, more than 56,000 assignments were carried out for criminal cases, and 26,000 assignments for handling civil cases in courts of first instance, appellate, and supervisory levels, of which 488 cases were handled free of charge. Approximately 16,000 contracts were signed for the provision of legal assistance, and more than 12,000 cases were handled in economic courts. A total of 116,000 legal consultations were provided, 17,000 of which — or 15% — were offered free of charge. 72,000 legal documents were drafted, of which 5,000 — or more than 7% — were prepared free of charge.
The country's population and economic entities’ needs were, according to Alexey Ivanovich, fully addressed with legal assistance by the bar.”]
The statistics on "educational" activities were also highlighted. As a reminder: attorneys organise meetings with labour collectives, schoolchildren, and university students, where they speak about responsibility for “extremism” and “terrorism” — terms primarily used by the Belarusian authorities to restrict freedom of speech and suppress dissent.
[screenshot text states:
“The country’s bar associations regularly conduct activities aimed at promoting a legal culture among citizens, improving legal literacy, and fostering stable respect for the law. Recently, the number of such activities carried out by lawyers in the context of legal education and public awareness has grown significantly. In 2024 alone, the bar associations conducted more than 26,000 such events.
The leadership of the BRKA also noted an improvement in the quality level of these activities.”]
During these meetings with workers, students, and pupils, attorneys justify legislative amendments adopted as part of the campaign to legalise repressive practices. Nearly all such legal education events focus exclusively on citizens’ responsibilities and obligations, with little to no discussion of rights and freedoms. This one-sided approach enables the state to continue narrowing the space for rights and freedoms without resistance from those who are supposed to defend and promote them.
This trend has a profoundly negative impact on the very existence of the right to legal defence, which is effectively being "switched off" for large groups of Belarusians. It is hard to imagine a lawyer today giving a talk about combating "extremism" without any reference to international human rights standards — and then tomorrow defending someone charged over a five-year-old social media repost.
Comparing the information presented at the BRKA meeting leads to a striking conclusion: the number of "educational" events held annually — the vast majority of which promote state ideology — is now equivalent to the number of civil cases involving attorneys.
For now, we are simply recording this fact. In the near future, our project will publish an analytical piece examining the link between the violation of Belarusians’ right to free and democratic elections and the role of the Bar Association in state propaganda — in particular, the involvement of attorneys in meetings with workers and students, during which loyalty to the current regime is promoted and the repressive legislative framework is legitimised.
“The country’s bar associations regularly conduct activities aimed at promoting a legal culture among citizens, improving legal literacy, and fostering stable respect for the law. Recently, the number of such activities carried out by lawyers in the context of legal education and public awareness has grown significantly. In 2024 alone, the bar associations conducted more than 26,000 such events.
The leadership of the BRKA also noted an improvement in the quality level of these activities.”]
During these meetings with workers, students, and pupils, attorneys justify legislative amendments adopted as part of the campaign to legalise repressive practices. Nearly all such legal education events focus exclusively on citizens’ responsibilities and obligations, with little to no discussion of rights and freedoms. This one-sided approach enables the state to continue narrowing the space for rights and freedoms without resistance from those who are supposed to defend and promote them.
This trend has a profoundly negative impact on the very existence of the right to legal defence, which is effectively being "switched off" for large groups of Belarusians. It is hard to imagine a lawyer today giving a talk about combating "extremism" without any reference to international human rights standards — and then tomorrow defending someone charged over a five-year-old social media repost.
Comparing the information presented at the BRKA meeting leads to a striking conclusion: the number of "educational" events held annually — the vast majority of which promote state ideology — is now equivalent to the number of civil cases involving attorneys.
For now, we are simply recording this fact. In the near future, our project will publish an analytical piece examining the link between the violation of Belarusians’ right to free and democratic elections and the role of the Bar Association in state propaganda — in particular, the involvement of attorneys in meetings with workers and students, during which loyalty to the current regime is promoted and the repressive legislative framework is legitimised.
