Characteristics of professional and personal qualities of a legal specialist - Статья

Characteristics of professional and personal qualities of a legal specialist Столярчук Л.Б., Яшин Н.Ю., Formulation of the problem. The importance and prestige of the legal profession has always been high enough, but it is becoming especially popular nowadays when we are facing dramatic events in our country and the corresponding significant changes in people’s lives. A lawyer is assigned a weighty role in modern society consisting in strengthening the ideals of justice and equality. Legal practitioners tend to occupy leading positions among specialists whose moral aspects of professional activity are extremely essential. They are obliged to respect the law as well as to assert and protect the interests of citizens. Legal professionals are set high moral requirements due to exceptional people’s trust explained by the fact that they frequently decide their fate. Nowadays Ukraine needs a new generation of lawyers able to work in new dynamic social, economic and political realities. A lawyer, as a specialist characterized by high social activity, must possess appropriate professional ethics, strength of moral convictions, legal and psychological culture. V. Zelenetskyi notes that only a professionally competent lawyer on both theoretical and practical levels can effectively perform the professional duties [4, p. 48]. It is necessary to provide law enforcing bodies and agencies with the competent staff not only having excellent knowledge in the field of law, but also endowed with such professional and personal qualities that meet moral standards and universal values ??since highly-qualified lawyer’s activity greatly depends on his / her personal characteristics. Analysis of recent research and publications. The issue of ethical lawyer’s conduct is highlighted both in the academic literature on legal deontology and in specialized scientific works of such researchers as H. Hrebenkov, V. Lozovyi, S. Slyvka, D. Fiolevskyi, O. Khomenko, V. Tkachenko, S. Pogrebniak D. Lukianov, I. Bryzhalov, S. Husarev, A. Tykhomyrov. Psychological and pedagogical aspects of lawyers’ professional activity are discussed in the works of A. Bandurka, S. Bocharova, O. Zemlianska, V. Vasyliev, V. Ryzhykova, V.Zelenetskyi. Professionally significant qualities and individual personal characteristics are considered by O. Kotykova, O. Kobets, V. Medvedev, V. Sushchenko. V. Kikot, A. Stoliarenko, etc. However, professiographic analysis of legal specialists, its psychological aspects are still not sufficiently developed and require further research. The purpose of the article is to identify professional and personal characteristics of a lawyer crucial for the effective legal practice. According to the purpose, the key objectives of the study are determined: to analyze professional aspects of certain legal specialists; to define the basic skills of a lawyer required for productive daily work; to distinguish professional and personal qualities of a legal professional. Presentation of the main material. A lawyer is a specialist possessing legal knowledge, however, not only general information on law and the state, but also professional, that is basic and specialized knowledge [2, p. 22]. Law faculty graduates can hold positions as judges, prosecutors, investigators, legal counsels, barristers, notaries, etc. Let us consider the characteristic features of each of these professions in order to find out what professionally significant qualities should be formed in the process of psychological and pedagogical training of future lawyers at universities in Ukraine. In accordance with the constitutional principles of separation of powers, the judiciary in Ukraine is exercised by independent and impartial courts. A judge is a representative of the state power, who is entitled to exercise justice based on the Constitution and laws of Ukraine, being guided by the rule of law [3]. A judge “provides everyone with the right to a fair trial and respect for other rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of Ukraine and international treaties” [3]. This presupposes a high level of professionalism and personal responsibility for passing a fair and thoroughly weighted decision in every legal case. A judge should deliver a judgement without being subjected to any external pressure from privies and representatives of power-holding structures. For sentencing the defendant he / she must carefully hear both parties and their delegates, take into account the views of all participants of a lawsuit, objectively evaluate and correlate the information provided. His / her responsibilities also include the task of organizing the conduct of those present in court as well as ensuring the observance of legal procedure, etc. The prosecution bodies supervise the observance of the law in Ukraine, including the comprehensive consolidation of supremacy of the law, strengthening the rule of the law and protection of public relations from illegal encroachments. A major