In The Name Of God
A resolution for the centers and in the direction of the interests of the lawyers
(Justice Attorney's Fund for Excellence)
By: Kioumars Sepehri
First: Introduction and topic design:
According to the critical article of Dr. Nemat Ahmadi, the esteemed lawyer of the judiciary, which has been published in the 12th issue of Sur Israfil Weekly (July 10, 2015) under the title of "A resolution against the law and the interests of lawyers", because it contained some information. As it requires more enlightenment, I decided to be one of the members of the Fund's Assembly, which has been continuously present in all the Fund's assemblies since 2004, to convey to the esteemed readers and lawyers of the judiciary that some of the inferences and citations will be answered. He also hoped that these discussions would ultimately lead to greater excellence and promotion of the support fund.
In addition, the question that this article seeks to answer is whether the fund can use its funds other than keeping banks and buying bonds in other ways. Before addressing the main issues, it should be noted that due to the issue raised in several meetings of the Assembly, at least, the overwhelming majority of members of the Assembly believe that the Fund can invest and act in a healthy and secure economic way, otherwise. In this case, considering the economic developments and fluctuations and considering the necessity of observing the interests of the fund members, the use and exploitation of the fund's capital will be inherently and practically meaningless and fruitless. With this brief introduction, some of the necessities, effects, and reasons for this decision will be pointed out.
Second: the need to pay for facilities or partnerships with bar associations to build or purchase the required building.
1. First of all, it should be borne in mind that the fund is essentially a financial and supportive institution, so it goes without saying that it should be managed and managed by methods and principles that are worthy of the nature of such persons.
2. Bar Associations are members of the Fund's Board of Directors and, in other words, on behalf of their members, have the authority to manage and manage the Fund, and the General Assembly is the highest pillar in any institution and legal entity. If it is necessary for the assembly to pay for the facility, it can be said that the example of "the light that goes to the house is forbidden to the mosque" (instead of keeping the funds in the banks).
3. Bar Associations are composed of member lawyers and are managed by the Board of Directors directly elected by its members and work to manage the affairs of lawyers. Therefore, although the Association has an independent personality, it represents the will of lawyers. So the things he does are supposed to be in line with the collective will and the interests of the members and to advance their affairs, and nothing else. Therefore, if it assumes facilities and facilities from the fund, it will be for the benefit of its members and the progress of the center, and its benefits will go directly or indirectly to the members themselves, and from this perspective, at least indirectly will help members.
4- The capital of the Bar Associations shall be provided from the place of membership fee and a share of the income of the attorneys' fees and counseling rights of the lawyers and trainees or their grants. The government or public organizations do not help the centers either. Therefore, governmental and non-governmental entities have a financial and revenue role. So it is clear how relevant the centers are to their members. Accordingly, providing any facilities to the centers is equivalent to reducing the financial pressure of the centers to the members and providing more services that are desirable for all lawyers.
5. In addition to the above, even the payment of the fund's facilities to the members of each association must be approved by the board of directors of the association, i.e. without this approval, the member of the association cannot use the facilities at all.
6- If a center needs facilities to manage the affairs of its members, it seems that in the first way it can use the facilities of the fund (of course, observing the economic conditions and interests) because the protection of the collective interests of the lawyers precedes their individual interests. is. However, in principle, this does not conflict with the individual interests of the members and does not imply the so-called proof of negation.
7- Bar associations need infrastructure due to the increase of their members and the existing social and cultural developments and the development of their affairs (both in terms of legal duties and in terms of social requirements and also the request of members and legal authorities). One of these infrastructures is to have a place and a building to perform legal duties and activities. Therefore, the use of the fund's facilities (which will also include benefits for the fund) will at least be desirable for the majority of the members of the centers.
Third: the reasons for the unpaid payment of facilities:
A. Although Article 17 of the Executive Regulations of Article 8 of the Law on the Establishment of the Fund for the Protection of Lawyers and Employers of Justice states that: Maintaining cash is not a matter of determining the total assets of the fund and prohibiting other activities and exploitation in other ways.
B. If we limit all the economic and financial activities of the Fund within the framework of the mentioned article, the result will be adverse effects that no one will accept, because it is stated in this article that the Fund must fund the funds (Receipts after deduction of payments) by depositing deposits with Iranian banks ... Now the question is what is meant by payments? If this is what some colleagues have said, then the fund cannot and should not even buy a building for its office, because the payment does not include the building transaction and, for example, it can only rent and pay the monthly rent so that it can take action. Be subject to payment!! Because the deduction is based on the calculation of current (and possibly annual) current expenses, no one will accept this interpretation. So I think that's enough to prove it.
C. Article 22 of the Fund's Articles of Association (prepared and approved in accordance with Article 4 of the Law on the Establishment of the Protection Fund) states that one of the Fund's sources of income is income from the use of the Fund's funds and reserves. Consider using funds from the fund.
D. Article 22 of the Executive Regulations of Article 8 of the Law on the Establishment of the Fund has considered the cases of silence in the regulations to be subject to the Social Security Law. Article 28 of the Social Security Law stipulates that one of the sources of income of the Social Security Organization is the income from the organization's funds, reserves and property. On the other hand, Article 4 of the Organization's Articles of Association, which is the expression of the organization's assets and revenues, as well as Article 5, which lists the organization's duties and powers, refers to investing and exploiting the Fund's funds and reserves. In practice, the Social Security Administration has implemented and carried out this operation well.
E. Neither the legislature nor the Council of Ministers has imposed a ban on exploitation and investment, because although they have been in the position of expression, they have remained somewhat silent on the matter, and silence in the position of expression here means being allowed and No ban. On the other hand, the principle is absurd. Therefore, the existence of Article 17 of the bylaws cannot prevent the fund from operating.
F. In addition to the above-mentioned cases, the fund has a branch or representative office in all provincial centers. Needless to say, the agency or branch needs physical facilities, so taking action to expand the administrative space of the centers can also be considered the development of the fund.
Fourth: Fields, conditions and effects of facility payment:
First of all, the issue of payment of facilities by the fund to the centers has been going on for many years and has been approved by the assembly many times in different ways. Therefore, it is not a matter of creating an hour and a proposal that has been considered in a meeting. As in the meeting of the General Assembly dated 4/5/93, it was approved that the legal bases, necessities and conditions of payment of facilities be examined by a working group and the results be announced to the Assembly, which was done and the members of the Assembly - and possibly some The board of directors of the centers has also reviewed it at different times.
Second: The use of the fund's facilities will not be free of charge, as in the conditions stipulated (as a draft of the terms of the loan conditions) by the said working group, in detail on issues such as: the need to meet the need, confidence From timely repayment, late penalties, priorities, appropriateness of facilities with capital and capability of the applicant center, determining the ceiling of facilities payable each year, repayment period, determining incentives for early repayment, interest rates based on central bank standards and ... Clarified and emphasized.
Third: the fact that some of the centers are indebted to the fund has nothing to do with the case and cannot be a reason for this to be illegal. However, it should be noted that the problems of most debtor centers are due to the purchase or construction of the building. He adds that one of the conditions for using the fund's facilities (according to the draft prepared above) is to be well-off and have no debt to the fund.
Fourth: Assuming that the fund pays the facilities to the centers, there will be no damage to the facilities payable to the lawyers, as well as at the same time with this discussion, various suggestions and solutions to increase the number and ceiling of facilities payable to lawyers. The submission and some of these proposals have been approved and implemented (in addition to the facilities that have been in place for the fund over the last few years). He added that the dissatisfaction of some banks with their not-so-usual strictures has always been raised in the fund's meetings, and the fund's officials have always tried to make the situation easier for the benefit of their colleagues.
Fifth: Development of the activities of bar associations such as the establishment of arbitration centers, holding various scientific-educational-specialized courses, humanitarian and assistance activities, special activities to support children, women, prisoners, publishing books and magazines, establishing a library Specialized activities, various sports activities, and holding sports competitions, etc., all require the development of the physical space of the bar associations. Certainly, the cooperation of the Protection Fund in this regard is not only an example of the need to use lights in the house instead of a mosque, but also a positive step towards the development of centers and the promotion and excellence of centers and consequently the development of legal and judicial security.
Fifth:the result:
Based on what has been said, the claim and the statement that the funds belong to the fund related to the members (lawyers) and if the fund pays facilities to the centers is a violation, etc., is not correct and apparently due to not having all the relevant information. Otherwise, a freelance writer like Dr. Ahmadi (who should be very concerned about lawyers' associations, of course) is unlikely to comment, and with this quality, the problems of the associations will not be borne by the protection fund in any way. . Finally, contrary to the inference of the above-mentioned author, it should be said that the fund is on the path of law and on the path of progress. Updating regulations and developing activities and making the best use of their facilities has benefited the Iranian bar association, which has no support other than God Almighty and the trust and efforts of its members and managers. Therefore, it is appropriate for everyone to rush to the fund with their facilities and abilities and with their footsteps or pens in this way, and to avoid comments that cause misunderstandings and unrealistic concerns.