About Legal Status International Collegium
Legal Status International Collegium (until 2022 − "International Collegium of Lawyers") specializes in complicated and sensitive issues related to international search and extradition. We are focused on helping clients from around the world and offer effective legal solutions for those who:
- want to check their presence on the Interpol wanted list, or reduce the risk of his appearance there
- are already wanted internationally and wish to delete their data from Interpol databases;
- have already faced, or may face, the extradition procedure;
- wish to exercise the right to international protection (political asylum).
Specialization and areas of law
The lawyers of the Collegium have extensive proven experience in successfully representing the interests of clients in cases related to economic charges. It is worth noting that in post-Soviet countries these cases often have either an explicit politically motivated character or its indirect signs.
We also help to counteract the persecution on the basis on religious believes (of both religious minorities and traditional religious communities). For example, we provided protection for many Jehovah's Witnesses from persecution by Russia as part of the anti–missionary amendments of the Yarovaya-Ozerov package, where they were accused of fraud, bribery, etc.
In their practice, the Collegium lawyers deal with a variety of different forms of criminal prosecution, the targets of which may be anti-war activists, ‘foreign agents’, members of the LGBTQI+ community, politicians and businessmen. The target may also be ordinary citizens who are being pressured by authorities to give false testimony.
At present, the Collegium unties over ten high-qualified lawyers specializing in various legal aspects of protection from international search, including the following areas of law:
- Criminal and criminal procedure law of the EU and post-Soviet countries;
- International private law;
- International public law;
- The law of international organizations;
- International refugee law;
- International human rights law;
- International humanitarian law;
- Migration law.
In addition, in our work we constantly refer to the Interpol Constitution and the Data Processing Rules (RPD). Due to their constant practice of conducting search cases, our lawyers thoroughly know the work process of Interpol File Control Commission (CCF), the UN Human Rights Committee (HRC), the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
History and jurisdictions
The Legal Status International Collegium was established in 2014 on the initiative of Ales Michalevic, a well-known expert on extradition issues and interaction with Interpol. The Board gradually combined the practice of the Michalevic Law Office with the services of a number of European law firms that also specialized in legal assistance in cases related to cross-border search in the Interpol information system, or had practical experience in issues of protection against extradition. For ten years now, the Board has been successfully developing, continuing to increase its experience in these and related areas, thereby ensuring effective legal protection of its clients in the EU and other jurisdictions.
The main office of the Collegium was originally located in the Czech Republic. We gradually expanded, opening representative offices in other European countries, but during the pandemic we abandoned the idea of regional offices, almost completely switching to a remote format of work. Today, the head company of Legal Status UAB is registered in Lithuania, while the secretariat and most of the back office is located in the Polish representative office. However, the activity area of the Collegium are not limited to these countries, our experts are located in different parts of Europe (Germany, Italy, Sweden, Ukraine), in addition, we have extensive contacts both in the legal community of the European Union and beyond, which allows us to effectively protect and legally accompany clients even in those countries where there are no representatives of ours.
The special focus of our activities is aimed at the CIS countries, therefore, citizens of post-Soviet countries contact us more often. The main part of the extradition processes and cases related to international protection falls on:
- Europe;
- USA;
- Latin and South America;
- West and Southeast Asia;
- Australia and New Zealand.
The clients of the Collegium can use the services of our extradition lawyers in Lithuania, Poland, Spain, Slovenia and Albania, and in most other countries we will help find qualified lawyers with successful practice in extradition proceedings.
Principles and approaches
In its work, the Collegium is guided by the European principles of lawyer ethics, including with regard to the strict confidentiality of information received and respect for professional secrecy. The partners of the Collegium are also guided by their accumulated experience and current legislative trends and law enforcement in the countries where our clients are located. Continuous professional development, publication of scientific articles, participation in conferences and working groups to discuss various issues of international law – all this, along with continuous practice, makes up the daily process of legal activity of the Legal Status International Collegium.
In-depth legal examination of each case, as well as a combination of comprehensive and individual approaches in the work, create the opportunity to solve problems related to international search as effectively as possible. It should be emphasized that the Collegium offers clients exceptionally effective legal solutions, tested in hundreds of cases. And gives realistic forecasts regardless of the complexity of the situation, soberly assessing not only the chances of success, but also the timing of implementation.
Additional information
To learn more about our lawyers and practice examples you can visit the relevant sections of our website.
You can also ask for advice by filling out the application form on our website or reach out to us directly via info@legal-status.eu or messengers at +48571060077.
