Version 1. In force from 1 August 2026.
This is information, not advice
Everything published on this site describes Russian criminal law and procedure in general terms, for readers who are not lawyers and who in most cases do not read Russian. It is not legal advice, and it cannot be. Advice requires someone to have read the case file, and no page written in advance can do that.
Two cases that look identical in a summary can turn on a difference of a few grams, a date, a word in a search record, or which of two neighbouring articles of the Criminal Code was charged. That is precisely why the general description on a website is not a substitute for a lawyer, and why we would rather say so plainly than bury it in a footer.
Contacting us does not make us your lawyers
Sending an enquiry, writing an email or having a first conversation does not create a lawyer–client relationship. It arises only when a retainer agreement has been signed and we have confirmed, after a conflicts check, that we are able to act.
Please do not send case documents before we have confirmed that. Confidentiality, however, applies from the first contact: under Article 8 of the Federal Law on Advocacy, what you tell an advocate in connection with a request for legal assistance is privileged whether or not you go on to instruct them.
No outcome is promised
Nothing on this site is a promise, a guarantee or a prediction of the outcome of any case. The reviews of practice we publish describe results actually obtained in specific cases; they are illustrations of the kind of work we do, not an indication of what will happen in yours, and they are published in summary form with identifying details removed.
We state elsewhere on this site, and repeat here, that full acquittals in Russian criminal courts are rare. Any lawyer who promises you one is not being straight with you.
The law changes
Sentencing ranges, procedural deadlines and the interpretation given by the Supreme Court all change. We keep this material current and correct errors when we find them, but the law as at the moment you read a page may differ from the law as at the moment it was written. Statutory maximums are ceilings, not expected sentences.
Not a substitute for a consulate
We describe consular rights because families ask about them. We are not a consulate, we do not act for one, and we cannot exercise the functions of one. If your relative is detained, contact your embassy or consulate as well as a lawyer — the two do different things and you need both.
Reporting an error
If you find a legal or factual inaccuracy on this site, please write to office@lawyersinrussia.com. We correct errors promptly.