Criminal Law Practice

For many years, attorneys at law of the BMS Law Firm Criminal Law Practice have been successfully acting for their clients in terms of protecting witnesses, suspects, the accused and defendants in criminal proceedings.

The law firm’s criminal practice focus on defending their clients’ interests when the latter are accused in committing crimes against property (fraud, misappropriation or embezzlement), in the area of economic activities (for instance, illegal banking activities, money laundering, tax evasion), breach of official duties in commercial and other organizations (abuse of power, corrupt business practices).

Due to the above specialization, our criminal law practice experts efficiently advise their clients coming from major international companies on how to prevent criminal risks associated with doing business, and prevent any interference on the part of law enforcement, regulatory and supervisory authorities aimed to exert any form of pressure on businesses.

Despite its specialization, our criminal law practice team has been successful in defending their clients from accusations in committing serious and particularly serious offences against person, public security and public order, and crimes against the state.

It should be noted separately that the law firm’s criminal law practice, in collaboration with their colleagues from experts of Praelegal affiliated offices, defend their clients against claims by law enforcement agencies not only in the territory of Russia, but also in jurisdictions where Praelegal’s offices are located, i.e., in more than 140 countries across the globe. Besides, attorneys at law of BMS Law Firm can boast a wealth of experience and expertise in dealing with most complicated criminal cases, such as, for instance, cases involving jury trials or criminal extradition.

Defense in the course of a pre-investigation check

• | Analyzing an existing situation, actions by employees of law enforcement agencies and the essence of claims of criminal nature submitted by them
• | Clarifying causes of their interest to a client
• | Assessing the scope and nature of the information available to law enforcement agencies which compromises the client
• | Drawing preliminary conclusions as to the prospect of initiation of a criminal case and holding the client criminally liable, designing practical steps to prevent the above situation
• | If needed, coming immediately to a defendant in the event of a surprise visit by employees of law enforcement agencies, protecting his or her interests in the course of a legal search of premises, questioning and other operational-investigative activities.

Defense in the course of a preliminary investigation

• | Defending a witness in the course of questioning and other operational-investigative activities
• | Coming promptly and defending the suspect when he or she is being detained and in the course of conducting urgent investigative activities against the client, including questioning, identification, face-to-face interrogations, searches, etc.
• | Acting for the client when he or she is being charged with committing a crime and while being questioned as a suspect and in the course of other investigative activities, including, if needed, visiting temporary detention facilities and pretrial detention centers
• | Defending the client when a court considers pretrial restrictions in relation to him or her, counteracting pretrial restrictions in the form of custody, including, if needed, challenging pretrial restrictions in further instances
• | Analyzing actions by employees of law enforcement agencies, challenging their illegal activities with further bringing them to liability in accordance with the established statutory procedure
• | Acting for the client in the course of all investigative activities performed in relation to him or her
• | Developing a defense line for the client within the framework of his or her criminal case and its step-by-step implementation with simultaneously monitoring all the parties involved

Defending a client’s interests in court

• | Analyzing criminal case files at a pre-trial stage with drawing relevant conclusions
• | Developing a defense line for the client within the framework of his or her criminal case and its step-by-step implementation with simultaneously monitoring all the parties involved
• | Defending the client’s interests when his or her criminal case is heard by the first instance, including cases involving jury trials
• | Acting for the client when his or her case is heard by courts of appeals, cassation and supervisory instances, including representation before the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation
• | Representing the client before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)

Audit and Prevention of Criminal Risks

• | Checking the client’s financial and business activities or specific transactions for presence of elements of illegal activities and determining the probability of the participants of these deals and transactions being held criminally liable
• | Designing and implementing steps aimed to mitigate any revealed risks of these parties being held criminally liable, with preservation of initially identified objectives and the desired economic effect