Defending Rights in Russia - Pamela Jordan

Pamela Jordan's engaging study of the Russian bar (advokatura)provides a richly textured portrait of how, after the USSR'scollapse, practising lawyers called advocates began to assume new,self-defined roles as contributors to legal reform and defenders ofrights in Russia. Jordan argues that the post-Soviet advokatura as aninstitution gained more, although not complete, autonomy from the stateas it struggled to redefine itself as a profession and suggests thatadvocates' work is supporting the growth of civil society and thestrengthening of human rights in Russia. However, she also warns thatsuch gains could be reversed if the Putin regime continues to flout dueprocess rights.