DOCSLIB.ORG

PID) Report No: AB139

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
PID) Report No: AB139 Initial Project Information Document (PID) Report No: AB139 Project Name RUSSIAN FEDERATION -Judicial Reform Support Project Region Europe and Central Asia Region Public Disclosure Authorized Sector Law and justice (100%) Theme Judicial and other dispute resolution mechanisms (P); Legal institutions for a market economy (S); Access to law and justice (S) Project P076826 Borrower(s) GOVERNMENT OF RUSSIAN FEDERATION Implementing Agency(ies) RUSSIAN FOUNDATION FOR LEGAL REFORM (RFLR) Address: 6 Admirala Makarova Street, Second Floor, Moscow 125217, Russia Contact Person: Olga Schwartz Tel: 7 095 150 1472, 150 1116, 150 3269 Fax: 7 095 150 0555 Email: The Judicial Department of the Supreme Court Address: Contact Person: Anatoly Yakovlevich Perepechionov Public Disclosure Authorized Tel: 7 095 281 1240 Fax: 284 8227 Email: Environment Category C (Not Required) Date PID Prepared June 25, 2003 Auth Appr/Negs Date April 22, 2004 Bank Approval Date June 29, 2004 1. Country and Sector Background The Russian system for dispute resolution relies on the courts. Alternative dispute resolution is evolving but still has a very limited application. The court system has two main branches: the courts of general Public Disclosure Authorized jurisdiction and the arbitrazh courts, whose jurisdiction is mainly limited to commercial disputes between firms. Although the courts of general jurisdiction and the arbitrazh courts have their own supreme courts, the Council of Judges, which enjoys significant authority in court management issues, integrates representatives from both branches. The courts of general jurisdiction represent a by far larger part of the Russian court system. They consist of the justices of the peace whose number is planned to reach 10,000, some 2,500 district courts, 89 second instance courts and the Supreme Court. The courts of general jurisdiction have 16,700 judicial positions of which about 8 percent are currently vacant. According to the latest available court statistics, the annual caseload of the courts of general jurisdiction includes 3,916,839 civil, 1,057,000 criminal and 1,879,540 administrative cases. The caseload is quickly growing. The Judicial Department of the Supreme Court of Russia provides administrative support to the courts and has offices in each region. The arbitrazh court system consists of 81 first instance courts, 10 circuit courts and the Supreme Public Disclosure Authorized Arbitrazh Court. They have 2,209 judicial positions. In 2001 745,626 cases were filed in the arbitrazh courts of which 352,146 were civil, 330,583 administrative, 6,973 legal fact and 55,934 insolvency cases. That year 638,287 cases were completed. The Supreme Arbitrazh Court provides administrative support to the arbitrazh courts. 2 PID The Government is strongly committed to strengthening the mechanisms for dispute resolution. Following the creation of a legal framework for an independent and accountable judiciary, the Government is rising to the challenge of strengthening the capacity of the judicial system to administer justice fairly and efficiently. On November 20, 2001 the Cabinet adopted a federal targeted program “Development of the Russian Judicial System” for 2002-2006 (the Program). The Program's goals are: implementation of judicial reform; raising the effectiveness of the Judiciary; and creating a viable legal, organizational and technological infrastructure for the Judiciary. The Program also specifies its main objectives, which are: (i) strengthening the authority of the Judiciary, independence and autonomy of courts and judges and improvement of the legal framework; (ii) strengthening the cadres of the judiciary; and (iii) strengthening the research potential of the Judiciary, creating the system of training and retraining for judges and other court staff. The Program provides for investing about 44.9 billion rubles (some USD 1.5 billion) into the modernization of the Russian court system in five annual installments. The Program emphasizes the importance of the Judiciary’s ability to function efficiently as an independent and autonomous branch of government for strengthening the rule of law and economic development. The program targets the judicial infrastructure, including court premises, which are characterized as so unsatisfactory that they compromise administration of justice. The Program also points to the delays in administering justice and links them to outdated case management processes that do not take advantage of modern information and communication technology. The Program is a framework document, which identifies some systemic issues in the operation of the Judiciary, and presents approaches to addressing them. Although the Program specifies resources for addressing specific issues, it leaves the technical detail up to the implementing agencies that include the Ministry of Economy, the Supreme Court, the Supreme Arbitrazh Court, the Judicial Department and the Ministry of Finance. The issues on which the Program is focused have been echoed by the Bank's diagnostic review of the courts system in Russia. The review was carried out by West European, American and Russian experts. The review identified a number of areas where the processing of cases and organization of the court operations need improvement. In particular, the review revealed: overburdening the judges with tasks that could otherwise be delegated to non-judicial staff; deficiencies in calendaring of court hearings and service of process; dismissal proceedings and default judgements; case allocation criteria; and utilization of information and communication technology. These deficiencies lead to an excessive number of frustrated hearings, case processing delays and uneven quality of judgements. The Government has implemented a number of practical steps aimed at strengthening the Judiciary as an institution and improving its performance. In 2001, a package of four laws sponsored by the President was adopted. The package included amendments to the laws “On the Status of Judges”, “On the Judicial System”, “On the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation” and a new law “On the Bar and the Lawyer’s Activities”. The highlights of the laws include strengthening the independence and accountability of judges and attorneys through, among other things, reforming the Qualification Commissions through inclusion of non-judicial representatives, setting the time limits for holding the Court Chair’s position, introducing the mechanisms for the execution of the Constitutional Court’s decisions, and setting unified standards for attorney’s qualifications and ethics. Steps have been taken to professionalize the administrative and logistical functions in the courts and to help the judges to concentrate on the tasks that only they can perform. The positions of court 3 PID administrators and judges’ assistance were recently introduced. The scope of the court administrators’ authority is, however, very limited and poorly defined. A new Criminal Procedures Code came into force in July 2002. Among other features, this Code has transferred the authority for arrest from the investigative bodies to the courts and provides opportunities for the court appeal of decisions taken by the investigating bodies. The ongoing nation-wide introduction of trial by jury is raising the quality of trial preparation on both sides of the increasingly adversarial proceedings, and has had a positive spill-over effect on the non-jury trials. The Federal Law “On Arbitration Panels in the RF” (adopted in the summer of 2002), obliges courts to consider alternate dispute resolution as an alternative to court adjudication. In the long run, this measure should contribute to streamlining and institutionalization of alternative dispute resolution. In addition to strengthening the Judiciary, the Government made progress in modernizing other segments of the justice system including the legislative and regulatory drafting mechanisms; improving legal awareness and education; and improving access to legal services. The State Duma has reactivated its work on two draft laws concerned with legislative development mechanisms. The first one “On the Procedure of Enactment and Coming into Force of Federal and Federal Constitutional Laws” and “On Normative Legal Acts”. As of today the legislative development mechanisms are not regulated by any law and are guided exclusively by the internal regulations of the State Duma. The introduction of these two laws is likely to make the procedures for development of laws and implementing regulations of the Executive more transparent and enforceable. These laws will apply to all institutions involved in legislative and regulatory development including the President, the Executive, and the subjects of the Federation. NGOs, including the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RUIE) and the Russian Foundation for the Development of Parliamentarism, have intensified their efforts aimed at compensating for the lack of the regulatory impact assessment capacity within the Government and are providing analytical support to policy development and legislative drafting. They contract out studies, sponsor public discussions and lobby the Government for legislative changes in open fora. While the lack of the regulatory impact assessment capacity within the Government is alarming, the rising role of civil society in shaping public policy is an encouraging sign. Legal education programs in the Russian secondary schools are rapidly expanding. The Government developed
Load more

Recommended publications
  • In Search of the Law Governed State
    THE NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR SOVIET AND EAST EUROPEAN RESEARCH TITLE: IN SEARCH OF THE LAW-GOVERNED STAT E Conference Paper #17 of 1 7 Commentary : The Printed versions of Conference Remarks by Participant s AUTHOR: Berman et al . CONTRACTOR: Lehigh University PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR : Donald D. Barry COUNCIL CONTRACT NUMBER : 805-0 1 DATE : October 199 1 The work leading to this report was supported by funds provided by the National Council for Soviet and East European Research. The analysis and interpretations contained in the report are those of the author. NCSEER NOTE This paper is #17 in the series listed on the following page. The series is the product of a major conferenc e entitled, In Search of the Law-Governed State: Political and Societal Reform Under Gorbachev, which was summarized in a Council Report by that title authored by Donald D . Barry, and distributed by the Council i n October, 1991. The remaining papers were distributed seriatim . This paper was written prior to the attempted coup of August 19, 1991 . The Conference Papers 1. GIANMARIA AJANI, "The Rise and Fall of the Law-Governed Stat e in the Experience of Russian Legal Scholarship . " 2. EUGENE HUSKEY , "From Legal Nihilism to Pravovoe Gosudarstvo : Soviet Legal Development, 1917-1990 . " 3. LOUISE SHELLEY, "Legal Consciousness and the Pravovoe Gosudarstvo . " 4. DIETRICH ANDRE LOEBER, "Regional and National Variations : The Baltic Factor . " 5. JOHN HAZARD, "The Evolution of the Soviet Constitution . " 6. FRANCES FOSTER-SIMONS, "The Soviet Legislature : Gorbachev' s School of Democracy . " 7. GER VAN DEN BERG, "Executive Power and the Concept of Pravovo e Gosudarstvo .
    [Show full text]
  • Environmental Courts in Russia: to Be Or Not to Be?
    Environmental Courts in Russia: To be or Not to be? ALEKSEY PAVLOVICH ANIsimov* AND ANATOLY YAKOVLEVICH RYzHENKov** Abstract This article presents an analysis of the theory and practice of the establishment of nationalspe- cialized environmental courts. It is suggested that Russia ought to be included in the list of coun- tries that have such courts. The authors consider this issue in the context of a discussion about the necessity for an internationalenvironmental court, as well as offer certain suggestions concerning the structure and the competence of a Russian environmentalcourt. The establishment ofa Russian environmentalcourt is impeded by the government and the legal community's misunderstandingof the importance of the problem. But the establishment of environmental courts in the majority of other countries was preceded by many years of academic discussions. The authors of the article suggest commencing such a discussion. Introduction Politicians, lawyers, economists, and representatives of public authorities worldwide in- creasingly discuss environmental protection issues as a relevant problem. These issues are the subject of hundreds of international documents urging countries and peoples to miti- gate their negative impact on the environment at a national and international level. On top of environmental requirements for various types of activity or protection of natural sites, the international community devotes much attention to environmental jus- tice issues. We will not refer to every relevant document regarding this issue but instead mentioning the following important examples: the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus, Denmark, June 25, 1998)1 and the declaration adopted at The World Summit on * Aleksey Anisimov is Professor of the Chair of Civil Law at Volgograd Institute of Business, Doctor of juridical sciences.
    [Show full text]
  • Freedom of Expression in Russia As It Relates to Criticism of the Government
    Emory International Law Review Volume 27 Issue 2 2013 Freedom of Expression in Russia as it Relates to Criticism of the Government Tatyana Beschastna Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.emory.edu/eilr Recommended Citation Tatyana Beschastna, Freedom of Expression in Russia as it Relates to Criticism of the Government, 27 Emory Int'l L. Rev. 1105 (2013). Available at: https://scholarlycommons.law.emory.edu/eilr/vol27/iss2/10 This Comment is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Emory Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Emory International Law Review by an authorized editor of Emory Law Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. BESCHASTNA GALLEYSPROOFS2 5/1/2014 9:09 AM FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IN RUSSIA AS IT RELATES TO CRITICISM OF THE GOVERNMENT Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. —Martin Luther King Jr. INTRODUCTION Freedom of expression in Russia appears to be slowly eroding, Russian Government promising to protect human rights, including the right to freedom of expression. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the transition from “Old” Russia to “New” Russia were associated with many new hopes and promises.1 One such promise was the establishment of new human rights standards, including the fundamental right to freedom of expression. This promise was made by the ratification of the European Convention on Human Rights (Convention) in May of 1998.2 Previously under the oppressive governments of Stalin and his successors, Soviet Russia enjoyed no freedom of expression.3 Under Mikhail Gorbachev, Russia began a new movement commonly known as “Perestroika,” a Russian word that literally translates to “restructuring.”4 Perestroika ushered in a new era of hope and freedom and was heralded both domestically and internationally as an opportunity to change the oppressive policies of the past and establish new respects for the rights of the individual.5 The collapse of the 1 Mikhail S.
    [Show full text]
  • Top 10 Legal Developments in the Real Estate Market in 2018
    Debevoise In Depth Top 10 Legal Developments in the Real Estate Market in 2018 December 20, 2018 The international law firm Debevoise & Plimpton LLP presents a brief overview of the most interesting and significant developments in Russian legal regulation (including legislative initiatives) and court practice in the real estate, construction and infrastructure sectors in 20181. Legislation New Rules for Unauthorized Construction New regulatory rules for unauthorized construction were introduced2, including the following key changes: new definition of unauthorized construction: construction is considered unauthorized only if applicable construction requirements that it does not meet (such as permitted use of the land plot, town-planning and construction parameters, obligation to obtain permits) were in force both as of the commencement date of construction and as of the date when the unauthorized construction is revealed; buildings erected with violations of restrictions on the use of the land plot (for example, areas with special conditions for use of the territory) can be excluded as being unauthorized buildings if the owner of the land plot did not know and could not know about such restrictions; 1 See the link below for a similar review of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP for 2017: https://www.debevoise.com/insights/publications/2017/12/legal-developments-realestate-construction-2017. 2 Federal Law dated August 3, 2018, No. 339-ФЗ On Amendments to Part 1 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and Article 22 of the Federal Law on Enactment
    [Show full text]
  • Select Rulings of the Plenary Session Adopted During the Years 2005-2012
    RULINGS OF THE PLENARY SESSIONS OF THE SUPREME COURT of the Russian Federation Translation of 10 July 2015 Contents Ruling of the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 24 February 2005 No. 3 “On Judicial Practice on Cases of Defence against Defamation of Character of Individuals and of the Business Reputation of Individuals and Legal Entities” ..............................................................3 Ruling of the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 2 July 2009 No. 14“On Certain Issues Arising in the Judicial Practice of the Application of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation” ..............................................................................................................................16 Ruling of the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 15 June 2010 No. 16 “On the Practice of Application by courts of the Law of the Russian Federation ‘On the Media’” ....55 Ruling of the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and of the Plenary Session of the Supreme Commercial Court of the Russian Federation of 23 December 2010 No. 30/64 “On Certain Questions Arising During Consideration of Cases on Awarding Compensation for Violation of the Right to a Trial Within a Reasonable Time or the Right to Enforcement of a Judgment Within a Reasonable Time” ..................................................................................................................85 Ruling of the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 31 March 2011 No. 5 “On Consideration by Courts of Cases on Protection of Electoral Rights and Rights to Participate in a Referendum of Citizens of the Russian Federation” ...........................................................................108 Ruling of the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 7 April 2011 No.
    [Show full text]
  • Towards a Stronger Legal Profession in the Russian Federation
    ISBN 978-92-9037-216-5 Towards a Stronger Legal Profession In the Russian Federation ICJ Mission Report 2015 ICJ Commission Members November 2015 (for an updated list, please visit www.icj.org/commission) Composed of 60 eminent judges and lawyers from all regions of the world, the International Commission of Jurists promotes President: and protects human rights through the Rule of Law, by using Prof. Sir Nigel Rodley, United Kingdom its unique legal expertise to develop and strengthen national and international justice systems. Vice-Presidents: Established in 1952 and active on the fi ve continents, the ICJ Prof. Robert Goldman, United States aims to ensure the progressive development and eff ective Justice Michèle Rivet, Canada implementation of international human rights and international humanitarian law; secure the realization of civil, cultural, economic, Executive Committee: political and social rights; safeguard the separation of powers; Prof. Carlos Ayala, Venezuela and guarantee the independence of the judiciary and legal Justice Azhar Cachalia, South Africa profession. Justice Radmila Dicic, Serbia Prof. Jenny E. Goldschmidt, Netherlands Ms Imrana Jalal, Fiji ® Towards a Stronger Legal Profession in the Russian Federation Ms Hina Jilani, Pakistan © Copyright International Commission of Jurists Executive Committee Alternates: Prof. Andrew Clapham, UK Prof. Marco Sassoli, Switzerland Graphic Design: Eugeny Ten Justice Stefan Trechsel, Switzerland The ICJ permits free reproduction of extracts from any of Other Commission Members: its publications provided that due acknowledgment is given and a copy of the publication carrying the extract is sent to Professor Kyong-Wahn Ahn, Justice Charles Mkandawire, Malawi its headquarters at the following address: Republic of Korea Mr Kathurima M’Inoti, Kenya Justice Adolfo Azcuna, Philippines Justice Yvonne Mokgoro, South Africa International Commission of Jurists Mr Muhannad Al-Hassani, Syria Justice Sanji Monageng, Botswana P.O.
    [Show full text]
  • USCIRF Inventing Extremists
    INVENTING EXTREMISTS The Impact of Russian Anti-Extremism Policies on Freedom of Religion or Belief UNITED STATES COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM Headquarters of St Petersburg and Leningrad Region Branch of Russian Federal Security Service ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA - DECEMBER 16, 2017: Bolshoy Dom [Big House] in Liteyny Avenue, the headquarters of the St Petersburg and Leningrad Region Branch of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). Alexander Demian- chuk/TASS (Photo by Alexander Demianchuk\TASS via Getty Images) INVENTING EXTREMISTS The Impact of Russian Anti-Extremism Policies on Freedom of Religion or Belief By Maria Kravchenko JANUARY 2018 COMMISSIONERS Daniel Mark Chairman Sandra Jolley Vice Chairwoman Kristina Arriaga Thomas J. Reese S.J. Tenzin Dorjee John Ruskay Jackie Wolcott Clifford D. May Erin D. Singshinsuk Executive Director UNITED STATES COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM WHO WE ARE WHAT IS RELIGIOUS FREEDOM The U.S. Commission on International Religious Free- Inherent in religious freedom is the right to believe or dom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal not believe as one’s conscience leads, and live out one’s government commission created by the 1998 Interna- beliefs openly, peacefully, and without fear. Freedom of tional Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) that monitors the religion or belief is an expansive right that includes the universal right to freedom of religion or belief abroad. freedoms of thought, conscience, expression, associa- USCIRF uses international standards to monitor viola- tion, and assembly. While religious freedom is Ameri- tions of religious freedom or belief abroad and makes ca’s first freedom, it also is a core human right interna- policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary tional law and treaty recognize; a necessary component of State, and Congress.
    [Show full text]
  • When Will Russia Abandon Its Secret Chemical Weapons Program?
    When Will Russia Abandon Its Secret Chemical Weapons Program? GALE COLBY * IRENE GOLDMAN While the Russian government has recently been somewhat more open about its nuclear programs and problems created by weapons manufacture, dumping and storage of radioactive waste, and accidents releasing radioactivity, the same cannot be said about its chemical weapons program. Information about the production and destruction of its huge arsenal of poison gas, the secret development of inert compounds that when combined make a deadly “binary” chemical weapon, is shrouded in mystery. Soviet leaders in the past reasoned that if the world did not know about something, it did not exist. But not everything can be kept completely secret in Russia any more. With the introduction of democracy, people began to realize that their history had been fabricated and their knowledge and beliefs were constructed on false premises. A previously unimaginable void was felt by almost everyone, both as the loss of heritage, and the loss of the Soviet empire's status as a great power. It is still difficult for many people to believe in themselves, in their leaders and in their future. Many people still continue to see themselves as pawns in a game played by capricious leaders; no one is improving their options in any tangible way. For those people, the changes that took place are seen as mostly superficial—the renaming of a street, a town or an agency like the KGB. Others saw the collapse of the old world order as an opportunity to re-create themselves from the ground up, to redeem their lives and their sense of purpose.
    [Show full text]
  • Securing Justice: the Disciplinary System for Judges in the Russian Federation
    Securing justice: The disciplinary system for judges in the Russian Federation Report of an ICJ mission Securing justice: The disciplinary system for judges in the Russian Federation Report of an ICJ mission Securing justice: The disciplinary system for judges in the Russian Federation Report of an ICJ Mission © Copyright International Commission of Jurists The ICJ permits free reproduction of extracts from any of its publications provided that due acknowledgment is given and a copy of the publication carrying the extract is sent to its headquarters at the following address: International Commission of Jurists P.O. Box 91, 33, Rue des Bains, Geneva, Switzerland E-mail: [email protected] www.icj.org December 2012 ISBN: 978-92-9037-167-6 Composed of 60 eminent judges and lawyers from all regions of the world, the International Commission of Jurists promotes and protects human rights through the Rule of Law, by using its unique legal expertise to develop and strengthen national and international justice systems. Established in 1952 and active on the five continents, the ICJ aims to ensure the progressive development and effective implementation of international human rights and international humanitarian law; secure the realization of civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights; safeguard the separation of powers; and guarantee the independence of the judiciary and legal profession. 2 I. INTRODUCTION........................................................................................... 5 The International Commission of Jurists’
    [Show full text]
  • Supreme Court of Russia Decides to Liquidate “For Human Rights” Movement
    6 November 2019 Russia: Supreme Court of Russia decides to liquidate “For Human Rights” movement On 1 November 2019, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation ruled in favour of the Russian Ministry of Justice’ request to liquidate the “For Human Rights” movement. Early in October 2019, the Ministry of Justice filed a lawsuit against the movement for “multiple constitutional violations”. “For Human Rights” is a Russian human rights movement founded by human rights defender Lev Ponomarev which provides free legal, social and humanitarian assistance to victims of human rights violations. On 8 October 2019, the Ministry of Justice filed a lawsuit at the Supreme Court of Russia requesting the liquidation of “For Human Rights”. The Ministry made the request on the basis that there were “administrative irregularities” that conflicted with the “foreign agents” law, resulting in “multiple constitutional violations”. In addition, the movement’s charter was argued not to comply with the 2014 amendments to the Civil Code. Representatives of the “For Human Rights” movement requested an extension to amend their charter, arguing that the it was approved before the amendments came into force. The Ministry of Justice did not respond to their request. In February 2019, “For Human Rights” was placed on the government’s register of "foreign agents" for the second time. The movement had already been placed on the register in 2014, but was removed a year later. In the last two months, “For Human Rights” has been fined five times for not stating its "foreign agent" status in publications on its website, on Facebook and in the media, therefore violating the "foreign agents" law.
    [Show full text]
  • Transnational Injustices National Security Transfers and International
    ISBN 978-92-9037-253-0 Transnational Injustices National Security Transfers and International Law Transnational Injustices Transnational Law and International National Security Transfers ICJ Commission Members September 2017 (for an updated list, please visit www.icj.org/commission) Composed of 60 eminent judges and lawyers from all regions of the world, the International Commission of Jurists promotes Acting President: and protects human rights through the Rule of Law, by using Prof. Robert Goldman, United States its unique legal expertise to develop and strengthen national and international justice systems. Vice-President: Established in 1952 and active on the fi ve continents, the ICJ Justice Michèle Rivet, Canada aims to ensure the progressive development and eff ective implementation of international human rights and international Executive Committee: humanitarian law; secure the realization of civil, cultural, economic, Prof. Carlos Ayala, Venezuela political and social rights; safeguard the separation of powers; Justice Azhar Cachalia, South Africa and guarantee the independence of the judiciary and legal Prof. Andrew Clapham, UK profession. Ms Imrana Jalal, Fiji Ms Hina Jilani, Pakistan Justice Radmila Dragicevic-Dicic, Serbia ® Transnational Injustices: National Security Transfers and Mr Belisário dos Santos Júnior, Brazil International Law Other Commission Members: © Copyright International Commission of Jurists Prof. Kyong-Wahn Ahn, Republic of Korea Justice José Antonio Martín Pallín, Spain Justice Adolfo Azcuna, Philippines
    [Show full text]
  • World Factbook of Criminal Justice Systems
    WORLD FACTBOOK OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEMS Russia Ilya V. Nikiforov This country report is one of many prepared for the World Factbook of Criminal Justice Systems under Grant No. 90-BJ-CX-0002 from the Bureau of Justice Statistics to the State University of New York at Albany. The project director for the World Factbook of Criminal Justice was Graeme R. Newman, but responsibility for the accuracy of the information contained in each report is that of the individual author. The contents of these reports do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Bureau of Justice Statistics or the U.S. Department of Justice. GENERAL OVERVIEW i. Political System. Russia is a federative state. The sources of law in Russia include the Russian constitution, Federal constitutional law, Federal laws, and laws of subjects of federation. Administrative bodies issue the acts that must comply with the laws. The Constitution has the preeminent force and Federal laws cannot contradict Federal constitutional law. Although court decisions are not officially accepted as the sources of law in Russia, the explanatory rulings of the Supreme Court of Russia usually not only clarify the application of existing law but also create new legal rules. Lower courts usually comply in their practice with the Supreme Court rulings. The penitentiary system and the law-enforcement bodies of Russia are headed by the Ministry of Internal affairs. 2. Legal System. Russia is a federative state. According to Section 71 of the Constitution of Russia, criminal and criminal-procedure law are under the exclusive jurisdiction of Federal bodies.
    [Show full text]