Chastnyi Poverennyi

(private attorney), in tsarist Russia, the second of the two categories of lawyers created by the Judicial Reform of 1864, the first category being that of prisiazhnyi poverennyi (sworn attorney).

The position of chastnyi poverennyi was introduced in order to force out of the courts the private intercessors known as khodatai po chuzhim delam, who were slipping beyond the government’s control. The chastnye poverennye could practice only in courts from which they had received formal permission. Unless they had received a higher legal education, they were subject to an examination. They were also checked for “reliability and morality.” The chastnye poverennye had the right to conduct no more than three civil cases a year, but the number of criminal cases they could conduct was unlimited.