18^th CONFERENCE OF CHIEF JUSTICES OF ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

Session 1: Facing criticisms from the outside and engaging with the public

Chief Justice Vyacheslav Lebedev,
the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation

 

Honourable Chief Justice Cheung,

Honourable Chief Justice Bell,

Honourable Chief Justice Zondo,

Distinguished Conference participants, 

The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation pays particular attention to the issues of enhancing public trust to the judiciary, which is ensured by increased transparency and accessibility of justice.

The principle of open nature of trial was enshrined in Part 1 of Article 123 of the Russian Constitution, and during the last 20 years the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation has addressed the issues of its realization 15 times.

An important factor in forming an objective public opinion about the work of the courts is its broad coverage in the media. In Russia, journalists attending a court session have the right to perform written and audio recording of the trial, in particular to post updates on social media in real time, as well as – with the court’s permission – to make photos and videos, perform online streaming.

Holding a court session in camera is allowed only on the grounds stipulated in law, and the Russian Supreme Court has on numerous occasions drawn the attention of the courts to the fact that these grounds are not subject to loose interpretation.

All federal courts have spokespersons among their staff. The spokespersons constantly monitor the media landscape and ensure access of journalists to current court information. Rules for accreditation of members of the press in courts have been adopted.

This year, the courts’ press services have organised more than 700 conferences, briefings and roundtables with participation of federal, regional and local media, while ensuring the journalists’ presence in court sessions.

The Russian court system issues various periodicals with a total annual circulation of over 100,000.

The Code of Judicial Ethics plays a particular role in ensuring the balance between the principles of public nature of trial and independence of judges. The Code states that a judge must not comment on the merits of a case in which a final judicial act has not yet been passed.

The Russian Constitution grants the Supreme Court the right of legislative initiative: it can introduce draft laws directly to the parliament.

In exercising this right, the Supreme Court has introduced 9 draft laws aimed at strengthening confidence in the judiciary. These drafts have received the legislator’s support and became laws.

Among those laws is Federal Law No. 262 of 22 December 2008, “On Ensuring Access to Information about the Activities of Courts”[1]. In accordance with the law, 2,400 websites of federal courts of general jurisdiction, 115 websites of commercial courts and 6,000 websites of justices of the peace have been created.

The websites are accessible for the visually impaired and also have mobile versions.

They offer current information about the progress of cases, the time and place of court sessions, guidance for submission of procedural documents and information about the structure of the court system.

Citizens actively use the opportunities offered by the web resources of Russia’s judiciary.

For example, the information available just on the website of the Russian Supreme Court has already been accessed 15 million times this year, with over 3 million queries coming from users located in other countries.

Court rulings are stored in a free of charge, publicly accessible databank of a State Automated System called “Justice”. The databank features easy-to-use search mechanisms across case categories and courts of different tiers.

SAS “Justice” currently stores over 87 million court acts, while the number of hits within the system has exceeded 50 billion just this year.

Electronic info terminals and information stands placed within court buildings serve as additional sources of court information in Russia.

Moreover, statistical reports about the work of Russia’s court system and the number of persons with criminal records are published online twice a year.

The work of the Scientific-Consultative Council under the Supreme Court serves to strengthen cooperation between the court system and the academia. The list of council members is adopted by the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court.

The Council includes renowned scientists specializing in different areas of law.

The Scientific-Consultative Council elaborates recommendations regarding draft Plenary Rulings of the Supreme Court, as well as in regard of materials resulting from generalization of judicial practice and the draft laws created by the Court.

The court system’s Information Policy Outlook for 2020–2030 stipulates broad use of social media by the courts, with legal news and video materials posted in their accounts.

Bodies of the judiciary likewise adhere to the principle of public nature of proceedings in their work. Websites of councils of judges, qualification boards of judges and examination commissions tasked with conducting judicial qualification examination have been set up and are updated daily.

The selection of candidates for judicial vacancies is performed by qualification boards of judges through an open competition procedure; information about the vacancies is subject to mandatory publication in the media. Such notices indicate the place and time frame for submission of applications, as well as the list of necessary documents.

Legislative activities and application of law by the Supreme Court aimed at increasing the openness of justice result in broad public discussions on issues of improvement of judicial proceedings.

Last year, the media published over 100,000 materials regarding the legislative initiatives and legal standings of the Russian Supreme Court; this number has already exceeded 80,000 during the 9 months of this year.

The strategy of increasing accessibility of justice being implemented in Russia envisions simpler and faster procedures of applying to court, as well as broader opportunities for remote participation in court hearings, which helps engage in community outreach.

During 9 months of this year, more than 4.3 million procedural documents have been submitted to courts, which is 42 % more than over the same period last year.

Citizens have created 2 million personal accounts on the web portal of SAS “Justice” in order to apply to courts.

Over 350,000 court sessions have been held with the use of video conferencing this year, and more than 300,000 with the use of web conferencing.

As the remote submission of procedural documents to courts proved to be a very popular service, it is now officially possible to apply to courts via multi-functional centres of state and municipal services that operate on a one-stop-shop principle.

In addition, more than 19 million SMS notifications regarding the time and place of court sessions were sent to participants of proceedings this year.

New suggestions regarding the broader use of IT in court proceedings appear, in particular those regarding the electronic service of requests, orders, summons and addresses issued by the courts.

The institute of alternative jurisdiction makes justice more accessible by providing the plaintiff with the opportunity to file a statement of claim not only at the location of the defendant, but also at the plaintiff’s own place of residence.

Following a legislative initiative of the Supreme Court, alternative jurisdiction has been introduced in socially significant categories of cases, including those on recovery of alimony, compensation for bodily injury, challenge of decisions, actions and failure to act on the part of public authorities and officials.

The Russian Supreme Court has now elaborated a draft federal law on alternative jurisdiction over the cases regarding protection of pension rights and of rights to other social security payments.

In order to bring justice closer to the citizens residing in distant areas, remote court offices are created outside the permanent locations of courts, acting as their structural units.

200 permanent remote court offices are currently operating in Russia.

In the context of high workload, meeting the reasonable time standard is an important criterion of accessibility of justice, which ensures actual (and not declaratory) restoration of violated rights and lawful interests of citizens and businesses.

Russian procedural legislation stipulates mandatory requirements regarding the time periods of proceedings in courts of all tiers. 99 % of cases have been considered by Russian courts within the stipulated time this year.

Participants of proceedings have the right to file an administrative lawsuit claiming compensation for violation of reasonable time of proceedings or enforcement of a judicial act. Within 9 months of this year, Russian courts have considered 4,200 cases regarding compensation for violation of reasonable time of proceedings, granting compensation in 86 % of cases.

 

Distinguished Conference participants,

I have informed you only about certain measures implemented in the Russian Federation for the purpose of enhancing public trust and confidence in the judiciary.

You have the full version of my report.

I am sure that increasing the standards of openness and accessibility of justice will contribute to the further improvement of judicial proceedings.

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[1] English translation available at: https://vsrf.ru/en/documents/access/