Professional moral deformation of lawyers as a threat to public safety: new challenges for the education system

Кырлан М.

doi:10.25136/2409-7543.2024.2.70709

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Reference:

Kirlan M. Professional moral deformation of lawyers as a threat to public safety: new challenges for the education system // Security Issues. 2024. № 2. P. 67-80. DOI: 10.25136/2409-7543.2024.2.70709 EDN: ENOWOA URL: https://en.nbpublish.com/library_read_article.php?id=70709

Professional moral deformation of lawyers as a threat to public safety: new challenges for the education system

Kirlan Marchel

ORCID: 0000-0002-6141-9388

PhD in Law

Associate Professor; Department of Legal Regulation of Economic Activity; Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation

115142, Russia, Moscow, Leningradsky ave., 49

MKyrlan@fa.ru

DOI:

10.25136/2409-7543.2024.2.70709

EDN:

ENOWOA

Received:

12-05-2024

Published:

03-07-2024

Abstract: The subject of this study is the problems of professional moral deformation of lawyers, acting as a threat to public safety. The purpose of the study is to identify the main factors influencing the occurrence and development of this negative phenomenon, and ways to minimize them. In the course of the study, an analysis of points of view regarding the moral character of a lawyer was carried out, and the main positive qualities that he should possess were identified. The high social significance of the legal profession has been established, since in fact its implementation takes place according to the "man-man" model. The analysis of the influence of employers on the professional moral deformation of lawyers was carried out by studying the information field and vacancies of the well-known aggregator "Head Hunter" and revealed the significant impact of the labor market on the negative phenomenon under consideration. The methodology of the research consists in the application of methods of analysis and synthesis, systematization, formal legal, dialectical and other methods. Digital services such as Wordstat were used to implement these methods. The author also used such information sources as Yandex and Head Hunter. The study follows the principles of logic and structuring. The scientific novelty of this study is to highlight the actual problems of professional moral deformation of lawyers as a threat to public safety. Practical recommendations have been accumulated regarding the improvement of the legal education system. In particular, it is recommended that the university conduct mandatory career guidance for applicants, since it is extremely important to determine the motivation of an applicant to enroll in the Law School. It is necessary to introduce the discipline "Fundamentals of professional ethics of a lawyer" into the educational program for the training of lawyers. It was revealed that only 35% of the universities studied have such a discipline. It is also required to approve the professional standard "Lawyer". It seems necessary to improve the Draft Order of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation "On the approval of the professional standard "Lawyer" in terms of the moral and ethical component and psychological stability of lawyers. It is also recommended to introduce psychological trainings at the university level. Leading psychologists have developed various correctional and developmental programs that are aimed at reducing the level of aggression and contribute to the stability of the individual to professional deformations. This list of recommendations is not exhaustive.

Keywords:

public safety, morality, formalism, Nihilism, education, lawyer, graduate student, the labor market, deformation, safety
This article is automatically translated.

Professional moral deformation is characteristic of many currently existing professions. Nevertheless, it is necessary to know about the main factors that influence its emergence and development in order to make strategically important decisions regarding the educational system, which, as I.A. Stetsenko rightly notes ^[14], significantly affects the spread of this phenomenon. It is worth agreeing with A.M. Murtazaliev that deformation, acting as an undesirable quality, can reduce the level of professional suitability, since it affects the final results of human activity ^[8]. The relevance of analyzing the factors of the emergence and development of professional moral deformation of lawyers is becoming more and more obvious every day, as society increasingly enters into contractual relations, encounters the law enforcement and judicial system, local governments, implements acts of law enforcement, etc. – it is difficult even to list the number of "points of contact" of a person with the law. This allows us to speak about the high social significance of the legal profession, since in fact its implementation takes place according to the "man-man" model.

A fairly large number of studies are devoted to the study of the moral character of a lawyer (Table 1), which is due in some cases to the special legal status of persons working in the legal profession. Thus, in federal laws No. 3132-1 dated 26.06.1992 "On the Status of Judges in the Russian Federation", No. 2202-1 dated 17.01.1992 "On the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation", No. 63-FZ dated 31.05.2002 "On Advocacy and Advocacy in the Russian Federation", as well as in ethical codes (for example, the Code of Judicial Ethics (approved The VIII All-Russian Congress of Judges on 12/19/2012), the Code of Professional Ethics of a Lawyer (adopted by the I All-Russian Congress of Lawyers on 01/31/2003)) established the moral and ethical foundations of such socially important professions as a lawyer, investigator, prosecutor, judge.

Table 1

Research on the moral character of a lawyer

No. p / p	Authors	Description of the approach
1	K.V. Volynets ^[3]	The moral character of a lawyer is manifested in not violating the law, as well as generally accepted moral norms and spiritual maturity.
2	T.I. Volostnova, L.N. Saiganova ^[2]	The moral character of a lawyer is expressed in the level of his legal culture, which is formed precisely within the framework of the educational process.
3	E.S. Kamaletdinov ^[5]	The ideal type of lawyer is a professional who is distinguished by honesty due to the implementation of the principle of justice. In the absence of these qualities, a lawyer at work is a "dangerous person".

Source: compiled by the author based on the analysis of available research.

It is difficult to disagree with the presented points of view, especially in terms of the significant impact of the educational process on the moral character of a lawyer. In conditions of high demands on a lawyer, his moral and ethical qualities, the statement of I.A. Chemerilova and A.V. Semenov is true that there are certain risks to public safety due to the possibility of psychological crises or instability of the legal consciousness of such a socially significant group of people as lawyers in conditions of dynamically transforming political and economic processes ^[15].

In addition, during the training process and subsequently the professional activity of a lawyer, according to the author's survey, almost 90% of graduates change their idea of the profession after five years, which may indicate the shortcomings of both the educational program and existing problems in the labor sphere. This is confirmed by an express analysis of the information field: according to the Vordstat service.Yandex"a popular myth in the legal field among those who are employed, "forget what you were taught", is widely propagandized by the media and requested by young lawyers themselves, obviously, as experts note, "generating fears, insecurity and high adaptability to an aggressive professional environment", which can lead to the loss of the main moral qualities of a lawyer ^[10]. It is noteworthy that the surge in such requests occurs in October – actually 3 months after the end of the school year.

Figure 1

Analysis of queries on the phrase "forget what you were taught, lawyer", July 2022 – January 2024.

Изображение выглядит как График, диаграмма, линия, скат Автоматически созданное описание

Source: according to the Vordstat service.Yandex."

Therefore, we can agree with E.D. Plaksin, N.V. Plaksina and N.S. Efimova, who consider the degree of security of this profession and for the person himself to be insufficient, which should be understood as the person's sense of security and knowledge about its provision in the professional field ^[9].

Thus, the professional moral deformation of a lawyer should be understood as the transformation of his legal consciousness into an antisocial, sometimes deviant form, which is due to the process of obtaining education and later – work.

A fairly large number of studies have been devoted to identifying the causes of this phenomenon among lawyers. For example, A. Z. Yafaeva, A. S. Sattarova, E. A. Egorysheva believe that the personality of a young lawyer can be influenced by the transformation of the role of the law in dynamically changing economic and political conditions, distortion of legal views, the presence of high-profile precedents of violations of the Constitution of the Russian Federation by members of society in relation to basic human rights ^[16]. Accumulating the available research in the field of studying the causes of professional moral deformation from the perspective of public safety, a matrix of risks of their occurrence for the main categories of the legal profession was compiled (Table 2).

Table 2

The matrix of risks of the emergence of factors of professional moral security in the main categories of the legal profession

The most frequently identified manifestations of professional deformation in research	Lawyer, human rights defender	Law enforcement officer, judge	Corporate Lawyer	Lawyer-scientist
Accusatory bias in activity	High risk	High risk	Moderate risk	Moderate risk
Formalism	High risk	High risk	High risk	High risk
Legal nihilism, conscious violation of the law	High risk	High risk	Moderate risk	Moderate risk
Reducing the level of communication culture	High risk	High risk	High risk	High risk
Emotional coldness, cynicism	High risk	High risk	High risk	High risk

Source: compiled by the author based on the analysis of the presented studies.

As can be seen, professions directly related to the protection of human rights are at high risk, which confirms the hypothesis that, with mass participation, the professional moral deformation of a lawyer can have a significant impact on public safety.

Let's consider these factors through the prism of the requirements imposed on a lawyer by employers. As of the date of the analysis (30.04.2024), 22141 legal vacancies were posted on the well-known job search resource Head Hunter. Based on them, within the framework of this study, an attempt was made (by a simple search) to identify the most striking professional moral deformations actually imposed by employers, and, accordingly, reflected in the legal education system (Table 3)

Table 3

Analysis of vacancies posted by employers for the purpose of requesting competencies from lawyers that may affect the occurrence of a factor of professional moral deformation

The factor of professional deformation	Description	A competence that can influence the occurrence of a factor	The proportion of vacancies with a similar request (in different variations)
Accusatory bias in activity	It is expressed in the feeling that the principal is definitely guilty (committed an offense, will lose the case)	Finding the weaknesses of the case	13%
		Determining the degree of guilt	5%
		Conducting complex cases	7%
Formalism	It is expressed in a stereotypical approach to the implementation of professional functions, the commission of the same type of actions, the lack of creativity in the profession	Strict adherence to procedures	17%
		A formal (formalized) approach	24%
		Filling out documents according to a template	36%
		Strict adherence to the instructions
		Compliance with the regulations
Legal nihilism, conscious violation of the law	Within the legal profession, it manifests itself in a lack of respect for the law, a desire to circumvent the law and violate the rights of third parties, often acting not in the interests of the "principal, the beneficiary"	It goes to the end	12%
		Doesn't say it's impossible	18%
		May suggest how to circumvent the law	7%
		He will come up with a scheme for the implementation of the project	34%
		Will find a way to resolve the issue	41%
Reducing the level of communication culture	Assumes that due to frequent communication with people, the lawyer may not communicate with the principal appropriately	Competent speech (basic skill is indicated)	26%
Reducing the level of communication culture		Respectful communication with customers	8%
Emotional coldness, cynicism	It is expressed in a decrease in empathy and emotional coldness towards the principal	Stress resistance	56%
		The ability to handle more than N cases at the same time	14%
		Multitasking	30%

Source: compiled by the author based on the analysis of available research ^{[1, 4, 11, 13]}.

Thus, the analysis showed that the labor market lays the foundation for the formation of factors of professional moral deformation of a lawyer due to the presence of a request from them to a certain extent not to follow a number of ethical standards or to work in conditions of increased stress and employment. In this regard, one of the directions of legal education should be to ensure the future lawyer's own professional safety. "Personal readiness for safe professional activity is a subjective state of a person who considers himself capable and prepared to perform professional tasks without prejudice to himself, other people and the environment" ^[6].

As mentioned above, not a few studies have been conducted on the problem of moral character. In this regard, it seems advisable to introduce the best practices into the legal education system in terms of the formation of ethical competencies and moral stability of modern lawyers. In particular:

1. Conducting mandatory career guidance work by the university in relation to applicants. It is extremely important to determine the motivation of the applicant to enter the Faculty of Law. Safe types of professional motivation include situational (when a person chooses a university due to the influence of any external or household factors on him), conformist (influence on the choice is carried out by an authoritative group of people for a person) and compensatory (profession is considered as an opportunity to overcome its weaknesses) types. The university should identify criminal (characterized by a desire to use legal knowledge for antisocial actions) and criminalistic (characterized already in a clear violation of public order) ^[7] types of motivation and be able to "work" with them. For example, in particular, to provide an opportunity for an applicant to change his decision on admission to the legal field, to provide him with a psychologist in the field of career guidance, who will try to adjust the type of motivation.

2. Introduction to the educational program for the training of lawyers of the discipline "Fundamentals of professional ethics of a lawyer". The study found that, according to the RAEX Agency, of the top 20 universities teaching law, only 35% of the universities studied have such a discipline. These include MGIMO, HSE, KFU, and Russian University of Economics. Plekhanov , etc . However, we believe that this discipline is necessary for teaching in the first year of study, since it is very important to lay the foundations for the formation of a decent moral image of a future lawyer at the beginning of training.

3. Adoption of the professional standard "Lawyer". Currently, only four professional standards related to the legal profession are published on the website of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation: "Specialist in the field of prevention of corruption offenses", "Specialist in real estate transactions", "Specialist in competition law", "Forensic investigator", while insufficient attention is paid to moral and ethical qualities and their correlation with professional competencies. It seems necessary to improve the Draft Order of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation "On approval of the professional standard "Lawyer"" (prepared by the Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation on 03/27/2020) in terms of the moral and ethical component and psychological stability of lawyers.

4. Introduction of psychological trainings at the university level. Leading psychologists have developed various correctional and developmental programs that are based on the principles of support, the right to choose, creativity, and self-preservation. They are aimed at reducing the level of aggression and anxiety, which are actually the basis of professional deformation ^[12]. Thanks to seminars, trainings, and game elements, participants of such programs will be able to treat themselves and others with understanding, and find a way out of emerging professional problems. It seems that the introduction of such trainings at the university level will have a beneficial effect on the development of the psychological stability of lawyers.

Of course, this list of recommendations is not exhaustive, but it can lay the foundations for managing the professional moral deformation of a lawyer to ensure the public safety of our country.

References

1. Andreeva, O. A., & Vasilkova, E. A. (2023). Formation of self-identity and identity among students in the process of legal education. Legal education and science, 3, 14-18.
2. Volostnova, T.I. (2022). legal culture in the educational process of law college students. Humanitarian and political-legal studies, 1(16), 16-23.
3. Volynets, K.V. (2014). Reasonableness of the law enforcer. Criminal justice, 1(3), 94-96.
4. Gerzog, T. Yu. (2021). Legal awareness of citizens and the problem of legal information burnout. Current problems of state and law, 5(20), 616-626.
5. Kamaletdinov, E. S. (2013). Moral aspects of a lawyer’s activities: modern dimension. Bulletin of the Bashkir University, 18(1), 217-219.
6. Malko A.V., & Zryachkin A.N. (2021). Defects of legal culture and legal responsibility. Legal culture, 1(44), 22-30.
7. Melnikov, V. M. (2021). Professional deformation of personality in legal activity. Modern science: current problems of theory and practice. Series: Cognition, 3, 60-62.
8. Murtazaliev, A. M. (2021). Problems of legal education and ensuring the quality of training of lawyers in a regional vision. Legal Bulletin of the Dagestan State University, 40(4), 7-16.
9. Plaksin, E. D., Efimova, N. S., & Plaksina, N. V. (2014). Professional deformation of lawyers as a threat to personal safety in the profession. Advances in chemistry and chemical technology, 7(156), 92-95.
10. Pletnikov, V. S. (2023). Problems of the quality of practice-oriented training of lawyers in the conditions of digitalization. Legal science and practice: Bulletin of the Nizhny Novgorod Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, 3(63), 244-247.
11. Puzyrevsky, R.V., & Tkachenko, N.I., & Nevzorova, A.S. (2021). Psychological, social and normative aspects of assertive behavior of a lawyer’s personality. Innovations. The science. Education, 36, 2303-2310.
12. Slanov, O. T. (2024). Somatic legal consciousness: psychological, pedagogical and philosophical and legal aspects. Legal education and science, 1, 26-33.
13. Stankevich, G. V. (2021). Risks and vulnerabilities in the field of education as priority directions of educational policy. Modern science and innovation, 4(36), 222-229.
14. Stetsenko, I. A. (2022). Problems of improving the quality of professional training of lawyers: reflective analysis and prospects. Society: sociology, psychology, pedagogy, 8(100), 252-256.
15. Chemerilova, I. A., & Semenov, A. V. (2022). Application of humanitarian technologies in the process of developing professionally important qualities of future lawyers. Trends in the development of science and education, 84-5, 41-44.
16. Yafaeva, A.Z., Sattarova, A.S., & Egorysheva, E.A. (2021). Professional deformation of a lawyer’s personality: factors of influence and ways to prevent it. International Journal of Humanities and Natural Sciences, 5-3(56), 119-121.

First Peer Review

Peer reviewers' evaluations remain confidential and are not disclosed to the public. Only external reviews, authorized for publication by the article's author(s), are made public. Typically, these final reviews are conducted after the manuscript's revision. Adhering to our double-blind review policy, the reviewer's identity is kept confidential.
The list of publisher reviewers can be found here.

The subject of the research in the article submitted for review is, as its name implies, the professional moral deformation of lawyers as a threat to public safety. The scientist focused his attention on the study of such in the education system. The stated boundaries of the study are observed by the author. The methodology of the research is not disclosed in the text of the article. The relevance of the research topic chosen by the author is beyond doubt and is justified by him as follows: "Professional moral deformation is characteristic of many currently existing professions. Nevertheless, it is necessary to know about the main factors that influence its emergence and development in order to make strategically important decisions regarding the educational system, which, as I.A. Stetsenko rightly notes [14], significantly affects the spread of this phenomenon. It is worth agreeing with A.M. Murtazaliev that deformation, acting as an undesirable quality, can reduce the level of professional suitability, since it affects the final results of human activity [8]. The relevance of analyzing the factors of the emergence and development of professional moral deformation of lawyers is becoming more and more obvious every day, as society increasingly enters into contractual relations, encounters the law enforcement and judicial system, local governments, implements acts of law enforcement, etc. – it is difficult even to list the number of "points of contact" of a person with the law. This allows us to speak about the high social significance of the legal profession, since in fact its implementation takes place according to the "man-man" model." The scientific novelty of the work is manifested in a number of conclusions of the author: "In addition, during the training process and subsequently the professional activity of a lawyer, according to the author's survey, almost 90% of graduates change their idea of the profession after five years, which may indicate the shortcomings of both the educational program and existing problems in the labor sphere"; "... professions are at high risk, directly related to the protection of human rights, which confirms the hypothesis that, with mass participation, the professional moral deformation of a lawyer can have a significant impact on public safety"; "... the analysis showed that the labor market lays the foundation for the formation of factors of professional moral deformation of a lawyer due to the presence of a request from them to a certain extent not to follow a number of ethical norms or work in conditions of increased stress and employment. In this regard, one of the directions of legal education should be to ensure the future lawyer's own professional safety," etc. Thus, the article makes a certain contribution to the development of domestic legal science and, of course, deserves the attention of potential readers. The scientific style of the research is fully sustained by the author. The structure of the work is quite logical. In the introductory part of the article, the scientist substantiates the relevance of his chosen research topic. In the main part of the work, the author examines the approaches existing in the scientific literature to determining the moral character of a lawyer, analyzes the factors of professional deformation, and suggests measures to eliminate them in the education system. The final part of the article contains conclusions and suggestions based on the results of the study. The content of the article corresponds to its title, but is not without some formal drawbacks. So, the job is called: "Professional moral deformation of lawyers as a threat to public safety: new challenges for the education system" - a comma is superfluous. The author writes: "The moral character of a lawyer is manifested in non-violation of the law, as well as generally accepted moral norms and spiritual maturity" - "non-infringement". The scientist notes: "It is difficult to disagree with the points of view presented, especially in terms of the significant impact of the educational process on the moral character of a lawyer" - "disagree". The author points out: "Accumulating the available research in the field of studying the causes of professional moral deformation from the position of public safety, a matrix of risks of their occurrence was compiled for the main categories of the legal profession (Table 2)" - "As a result of generalization of available research in the field of studying the causes of professional moral deformation from the position of public safety, a matrix of risks of their occurrence was compiled for the main categories of the legal profession (Table 2)". Thus, the article needs careful proofreading - there are spelling, punctuation, and stylistic errors in it (the list of errors given in the review is not exhaustive!). The bibliography of the study is presented by 16 sources (scientific articles). From a formal and factual point of view, this is quite enough - the author managed to reveal the research topic with the necessary depth and completeness. There is an appeal to the opponents, but it is general in nature due to the focus of the study. The scientific discussion is conducted by the author correctly; the provisions of the work are justified to the appropriate extent and illustrated with examples. Conclusions based on the results of the study are available ("... it seems advisable to introduce best practices into the legal education system in terms of the formation of ethical competencies, moral stability of modern lawyers. In particular: 1. Conducting mandatory career guidance work by the university in relation to applicants. It is extremely important to determine the motivation of the applicant to enter the Faculty of Law. Safe types of professional motivation include situational (when a person chooses a university due to the influence of any external or household factors on him), conformist (influence on the choice is carried out by an authoritative group of people for a person) and compensatory (profession is considered as an opportunity to overcome its weaknesses) types. The university should identify criminal (characterized by a desire to use legal knowledge for antisocial actions) and criminalistic (characterized already in a clear violation of public order) [7] types of motivation and be able to "work" with them. For example, in particular, to provide an opportunity for an applicant to change his decision on admission to the legal field, to provide him with a psychologist in the field of career guidance, who will try to adjust the type of motivation. 2. Introduction to the educational program for the training of lawyers of the discipline "Fundamentals of professional ethics of a lawyer". The study found that, according to the RAEX Agency, of the top 20 universities teaching law, only 35% of the universities studied have such a discipline. These include MGIMO, HSE, KFU, and Russian University of Economics. Plekhanov , etc . However, we believe that this discipline is necessary for teaching in the first year of study, since it is very important to lay the foundations for the formation of a decent moral image of a future lawyer at the beginning of training. 3. Adoption of the professional standard "Lawyer". Currently, only four professional standards related to the legal profession are published on the website of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation: "Specialist in the field of prevention of corruption offenses", "Specialist in real estate transactions", "Specialist in competition law", "Forensic investigator", while insufficient attention is paid to moral and ethical qualities and their correlation with professional competencies. It seems necessary to improve the Draft Order of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation "On approval of the professional standard "Lawyer"" (prepared by the Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation on 03/27/2020) in terms of the moral and ethical component and psychological stability of lawyers.
4. Introduction of psychological trainings at the university level. Leading psychologists have developed various correctional and developmental programs that are based on the principles of support, the right to choose, creativity, and self-preservation. They are aimed at reducing the level of aggression and anxiety, which are actually the basis of professional deformation [12]. Thanks to seminars, trainings, and game elements, participants of such programs will be able to treat themselves and others with understanding, and find a way out of emerging professional problems. It seems that the introduction of such trainings at the university level will have a beneficial effect on the development of the psychological stability of lawyers. Of course, this list of recommendations is not exhaustive, but it can lay the foundations for managing the professional moral deformation of a lawyer to ensure the public safety of our country"), they are clear, specific, have the properties of reliability, validity and undoubtedly deserve the attention of the scientific community. The interest of the readership in the article submitted for review can be shown primarily by specialists in the field of theory of state and law, educational law, labor law, provided that it is slightly improved: disclosure of the research methodology and elimination of violations in the design of the work.

Second Peer Review

A REVIEW of an article on the topic "Professional moral deformation of lawyers as a threat to public safety: new challenges for the education system". The subject of the study. The article proposed for review is devoted to topical issues of professional moral deformation of lawyers. The author identifies the causes and consequences of professional deformation of lawyers, and also establishes the influence of educational processes on this situation. The specific subject of the study was, first of all, the opinions of scientists, the provisions of legislation, and empirical data. Research methodology. The purpose of the study is not stated directly in the article. At the same time, it can be clearly understood from the title and content of the work. The purpose can be designated as the consideration and resolution of certain problematic aspects of the issue of professional moral deformation of lawyers. Based on the set goals and objectives, the author has chosen the methodological basis of the study. In particular, the author uses a set of general scientific methods of cognition: analysis, synthesis, analogy, deduction, induction, and others. In particular, the methods of analysis and synthesis made it possible to generalize and separate the conclusions of various scientific approaches to the proposed topic, as well as to draw specific conclusions from empirical data. The most important role was played by special legal methods. In particular, the author actively applied the formal legal method, which made it possible to analyze and interpret the norms of current legislation (first of all, the norms of the legislation of the Russian Federation). For example, the following conclusion of the author: "Quite a large number of studies are devoted to the study of the moral character of a lawyer (Table 1), which is due in some cases to the special legal status of persons working in the legal profession. Thus, in federal laws No. 3132-1 dated 06/26/1992 "On the Status of Judges in the Russian Federation", No. 2202-1 dated 01/17/1992 "On the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation", No. 63-FZ dated 05/31/2002 "On Advocacy and Advocacy in the Russian Federation", as well as in ethical codes (for example, the Code of Judicial Ethics (approved The VIII All-Russian Congress of Judges on 12/19/2012), the Code of Professional Ethics of a Lawyer (adopted by the I All-Russian Congress of Lawyers on 01/31/2003)) established the moral and ethical foundations of such socially important professions as a lawyer, investigator, prosecutor, judge." The possibilities of an empirical research method related to the study of empirical data should be positively assessed. In particular, the following author's conclusion should be pointed out: "As can be seen, professions directly related to the protection of human rights are in a high-risk group, which confirms the hypothesis that, with mass participation, the professional moral deformation of a lawyer can have a significant impact on public safety. Let's consider these factors through the prism of the requirements imposed on a lawyer by employers. As of the date of the analysis (30.04.2024), 22141 legal vacancies were posted on the well-known job search resource Head Hunter. Based on them, within the framework of this study, an attempt was made (by a simple search) to identify the most striking professional moral deformations actually imposed by employers, and, accordingly, reflected in the legal education system (Table 3)." Thus, the methodology chosen by the author is fully adequate to the purpose of the study, allows you to study all aspects of the topic in its entirety. Relevance. The relevance of the stated issues is beyond doubt. There are both theoretical and practical aspects of the significance of the proposed topic. From the point of view of theory, the topic of professional moral deformation of lawyers is complex and ambiguous. It is difficult to argue with the author that "Professional moral deformation is characteristic of many currently existing professions. Nevertheless, it is necessary to know about the main factors that influence its emergence and development in order to make strategically important decisions regarding the educational system, which, as I.A. Stetsenko rightly notes [14], significantly affects the spread of this phenomenon. It is worth agreeing with A.M. Murtazaliev that deformation, acting as an undesirable quality, can reduce the level of professional suitability, since it affects the final results of human activity [8]. The relevance of analyzing the factors of the emergence and development of professional moral deformation of lawyers is becoming more and more obvious every day, as society increasingly enters into contractual relations, encounters the law enforcement and judicial system, local governments, implements acts of law enforcement, etc. – it is difficult even to list the number of "points of contact" of a person with the law. This allows us to speak about the high social significance of the legal profession, since in fact its implementation takes place according to the "man-man" model." Thus, scientific research in the proposed field should only be welcomed. Scientific novelty. The scientific novelty of the proposed article is beyond doubt. First, it is expressed in the author's specific conclusions. Among them, for example, is the following conclusion: It is necessary "To conduct mandatory career guidance work by the university in relation to applicants. It is extremely important to determine the motivation of the applicant to enter the Faculty of Law. Safe types of professional motivation include situational (when a person chooses a university due to the influence of any external or household factors on him), conformist (influence on the choice is carried out by an authoritative group of people for a person) and compensatory (profession is considered as an opportunity to overcome its weaknesses) types. The university should identify criminal (characterized by a desire to use legal knowledge for antisocial actions) and criminalistic (characterized already in a clear violation of public order) [7] types of motivation and be able to "work" with them. For example, in particular, to provide an opportunity for an applicant to change his decision on admission to the legal field, to provide him with a psychologist in the field of career guidance who will try to adjust the type of motivation." These and other theoretical conclusions can be used in further scientific research. Secondly, the author suggests ideas for improving the current legislation. In particular, "The adoption of the professional standard "Lawyer". Currently, only four professional standards related to the legal profession are published on the website of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation: "Specialist in the field of prevention of corruption offenses", "Specialist in real estate transactions", "Specialist in competition law", "Forensic investigator", while insufficient attention is paid to moral and ethical qualities and their correlation with professional competencies. It seems necessary to improve the Draft Order of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation "On approval of the professional standard "Lawyer" (prepared by the Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation on 03/27/2020) in terms of the moral and ethical component and psychological stability of lawyers." The above conclusion may be relevant and useful for law-making activities. Thus, the materials of the article may be of particular interest to the scientific community in terms of contributing to the development of science. Style, structure, content. The subject of the article corresponds to the specialization of the journal "Security Issues", as it is devoted to legal problems related to legal education. The content of the article fully corresponds to the title, as the author has considered the stated problems, and has generally achieved the set research goal. The quality of the presentation of the study and its results should be recognized as fully positive. The subject, objectives, methodology and main results of the study follow directly from the text of the article. The design of the work generally meets the requirements for this kind of work. No significant violations of these requirements were found. Bibliography.
The quality of the literature used should be highly appreciated. The author actively uses the literature presented by authors from Russia (Andreeva O.A., Vasilkova E.A., Plaksin E.D., Efimova N.S., Plaksina N.V. and others). I would like to note the author's use of a large amount of empirical data, which made it possible to give the study a law enforcement orientation. Thus, the works of the above authors correspond to the research topic, have a sign of sufficiency, and contribute to the disclosure of various aspects of the topic. Appeal to opponents. The author conducted a serious analysis of the current state of the problem under study. All quotes from scientists are accompanied by author's comments. That is, the author shows different points of view on the problem and tries to argue for a more correct one in his opinion. Conclusions, the interest of the readership. The conclusions are fully logical, as they are obtained using a generally accepted methodology. The article may be of interest to the readership in terms of the systematic positions of the author in relation to the stated problems. Based on the above, summing up all the positive and negative sides of the article, "I recommend publishing"

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Professional moral deformation of lawyers as a threat to public safety: new challenges for the education system