In the service of the law: lawyer Heinrich Padva died

On February 9, Honored Lawyer of Russia Genrikh Padva passed away at the age of 94. Lawyer Maxim Pashkov wrote about this in his Telegram channel. The information was later confirmed by the Moscow City Bar Association. For more information about the life and career of Heinrich Padva— see the Izvestia article.

Youth and education

Henry Padva was born on February 20, 1931 in Moscow in the family of an economist. He had a dream of becoming a lawyer already in high school, so at that time the teenager had no doubts about his future profession.

Lawyer Henry Padva. The year 2005

Photo: TASS/Oleg Naumov

In 1953, Padva graduated from the Moscow Law Institute (now the Faculty of Law of Lomonosov Moscow State University), and in 1961 from the Correspondence Faculty of History at the Kalinin Pedagogical Institute. (now Tver State University).

Career and specialization

Immediately after graduating in 1953, Padva began his career. By assignment, he worked as a lawyer in the Kalinin (now Tver) region: in the village of Pogoreloe Gorodishche, in Torzhok, then in Kalinin (Tver).

In 1971, Henry Padva returned to the capital and joined the Moscow City Bar Association. In 1985, he became a member of its presidium. In 1996, he left it and created his own office, Padva and Partners. In 2004, together with legal consultant Semyon Epstein, he co-founded the Padva & Epstein Law Firm, which specializes in corporate disputes.

In addition, he has been a lawyer at the Moscow City Bar Association since 2002.

Lawyer Henry Padva. The year 2014

Photo: TASS/Ilya Pitalev

Heinrich Padva's specialization was extensive. He provided legal assistance in criminal proceedings; represented clients in arbitration courts, as well as in courts of general jurisdiction in various categories of cases, including protection of honor and dignity, protection of shareholders' rights, inheritance cases; advised clients on issues related to the protection of investments, owners' rights, and much more.

Padva's successful appeals to the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation have become an important part of legal history, including the introduction of a moratorium on the use of the death penalty in Russia. In addition, he was at the origin of the creation of the USSR Bar Association in 1988, later worked in the governing bodies of the International Union of Lawyers, participated in the activities of the Russian Bar Association, as well as in the expert and scientific advisory work of the bar community.

In 2000, he received the title of Honored Lawyer of the Russian Federation. In addition, he was awarded the gold medal named after Plevako.

Who was Padva protecting

Over the years, Padva has accumulated a huge number of famous personalities, public figures, representatives of show business, senior officials and organizations whom he defended. Among them:

— former Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR Anatoly Lukyanov. He was arrested on August 29, 1991, and spent more than a year in the Matrosskaya Tishina detention center along with other defendants in the case of the State Committee for the State of Emergency;

— crime boss Vyacheslav Ivankov, known as "The Jap." Padva defended him in the case of the Fartsovschikov attack, and obtained the dismissal of one of the charges in cassation — illegal possession of firearms.

Other persons protected by Padva also include the families of academician Andrei Sakharov, actor and bard Vladimir Vysotsky, managing Director of the President of the Russian Federation Pavel Borodin, former head of the Board of Directors of the Krasnoyarsk Aluminum Plant Anatoly Bykov, former managing director of the President of the Russian Federation Pavel Borodin, former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, actor Vladislav Galkin and others.

Death and memory

Padva's wife Oksana Mamontova told Izvestia that the cause of death was a stroke.

The Moscow Bar Association reported that the name of Henrikh Padva has symbolized the best traditions of the legal profession for many decades, and his successful appeals to the Constitutional Court of Russia have become an important part of legal history, including the introduction of a moratorium on the death penalty in the country.

"Henrikh Padva became famous for his brilliant judicial defense skills and his work in complex trials, many of which were socially significant. For several generations of lawyers, he was the epitome of the highest legal culture and impeccable adherence to professional ethics," reads the Telegram channel of the Moscow City Bar Association.

Maxim Pashkov noted in his Telegram channel that Henry Padva was an outstanding lawyer, and also thanked him for everything.

Andrey Klishas, Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building, noted that the death of Henrikh Padva was a great loss for the Russian legal community.