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Supreme Court of the Russian Federation


2021 — Supreme Court of the Russian Federation

2021

23rd December

The Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation convened online. The justices have adopted two Plenary Rulings, one concerning the consideration of cases on administrative offences pertaining to violations of labour law norms (Russian version), and the other regarding the application of the Commercial Procedure Code of the Russian Federation in consideration of cases in a first-instance court (Russian version).


14th December

The Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation convened remotely. In particular, it has voted to adopt the previously discussed Plenary Ruling on application of criminal procedure legislation regulating the renewal of proceedings in a criminal case based on new or newly discovered circumstances (Russian version).

It has also been decided to present a draft law to the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation to introduce amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation.

The justices also discussed a draft Plenary Ruling on application of the Commercial Procedure Code of the Russian Federation in consideration of cases in a first-instance court. It has been decided to further edit the draft before voting to adopt it.

 

9th December

The Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation convened via web conference. In particular, a Plenary Ruling regarding consideration of cases on administrative offences pertaining to violations of labour law norms was discussed. It has been decided to further edit the draft before voting to adopt it.


7th December

A seminar regarding the practice of consideration of environmental protection cases took place in the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. Opening the seminar, Chief Justice Vyacheslav Lebedev noted that results of studies conducted in space should be taken into account in order to ensure court protection of nature. To that end, a video link was established with the International Space Station to allow its commander, Anton Shkaplerov, who is also a lawyer, to participate in the seminar. Commander Shkaplerov informed the participants about the environmental studies and observations carried out by the crewmembers and pointed out that the Russian Supreme Court is the only judicial body in the world to engage in communications with a space station. The Chief Justice later informed that a case law review on the corresponding issues will be presented by the Court shortly, and that work on a Ruling of the Plenary Session regarding the application of environmental legislation is in progress. The seminar was also attended by Mikhail Lobov, elected judge of the European Court of Human Rights in respect of the Russian Federation, who presented an international law perspective on environmental protection issues. The full recording of the seminar is available in Russian on the Court’s YouTube channel.


2nd December

The Council of Judges of the Russian Federation held its plenary session via video conference. The event was opened by Chief Justice Vyacheslav Lebedev, who noted that this October marked the 30th anniversary of the first Congress of Judges of the Russian Federation. Since then, over 500 legislative acts have been adopted to improve court structure, judicial proceedings and the status of judges, whereby the Supreme Court has introduced 177 draft laws to the State Duma.

The Chief Justice pointed out that despite the pandemic, this year Russian courts have handled 5 % more cases than during the same period of 2020, an increase by 1,288,000 cases.

During the first nine months of the year, the courts have considered almost 16.8 million civil cases, 3.4 million administrative cases, 1.2 million economic disputes, 6.6 million cases on administrative offences and 567,000 criminal cases (terminating criminal prosecution in 23 % of cases).

The Chief Justice also announced that the Court plans to present new suggestions regarding the improvement of criminal procedure, support of activities of justices of the peace and recovery of tax arrears.


23rd November

The Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation convened online. In particular, discussions were held in respect of a draft Plenary Ruling on application of criminal procedure legislation regulating the renewal of proceedings in a criminal case based on new or newly discovered circumstances. It has been decided to further edit the draft.


28th October

The Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation convened remotely. In particular, it has been decided to amend certain Plenary Rulings of the court regarding criminal cases (Russian version of the amendments).


5th October

The Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation convened via web conference. In particular, it has been decided to present a draft law to the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation to introduce amendments to Federal Law “On Guarantees of Social Protection for Certain Categories of Citizens”.


30th September

The International Legal Forum of the Asia-Pacific Region, organized by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, took place for the 11th time.

Chief Justices and Supreme Court judges from 16 countries attended the Forum, including Russia, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, the DPRK, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Myanmar, Pakistan, the Philippines, Tajikistan, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

Chief Justice Lebedev opened the event by reading out a special address from the President of the Russian Federation, emphasizing that “Russia pays particular attention to developing its Far-East regions, making them more attractive for investments and implementing large-scale social, infrastructural and educational programmes there”.

In his keynote speech, the Chief Justice of the Russian Supreme Court touched upon various issues of legal integration. Since international legal assistance is one of the important factors of such integration, but the current system stipulates lengthy procedures that protract the trials, the Chief Justice has suggested to discuss the creation of an international electronic court cooperation platform for the exchange of corresponding documents in order to ensure more efficient protection of rights.

The full text of the speech of Chief Justice Lebedev is available here, along with the accompanying slides.

Photos from the event can be viewed here.


24th September

The Conference of Chief Justices of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Members was held for the 16th time, this year under the auspices of the Supreme Court of the Kyrgyz Republic.

Chief Justices and judges from the supreme courts of China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan took part in the event, as well as Chief Justices from the observer countries of Belarus, Iran and Mongolia. Russia was represented by Chief Justice Vyacheslav Lebedev.

Speaking at the event, Chief Justice Lebedev addressed several topics, among which were the openness of justice, use of modern technologies by the judiciary, issues of criminal procedure and the principle of exterritoriality in the work of the courts of appeal and cassation.

Photos from the event can be viewed here.

The slides accompanying Chief Justice Lebedev’s presentation can be viewed here: Russian /English.


29th June

The Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation convened via web conference. In particular, it adopted a Plenary Ruling “On Certain Issues of Judicial Practice in Cases on Crimes against the Interests of Service in Commercial and Other Organisations (Articles 201, 201.1, 202, 203 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation” (Russian version). A number of plenary rulings were also amended, in particular Ruling No. 11 of 2016 regarding compensation for violation of right to trial within a reasonable time.


22nd June

The Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation convened remotely.

In particular, three plenary rulings were adopted during the session: “On Application of Norms of Civil Procedural Legislation Regulating Proceedings in a Court of Appeal” (Russian version), “On Application of Norms of Civil Procedural Legislation Regulating Proceedings in a Court of Cassation” (Russian version) and “On Certain Issues of Pre-Trial Settlement of Disputes Considered in Civil and Commercial Judicial Procedure” (Russian version).

 

10th June

The Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation convened online. In particular, a draft plenary ruling on pre-trial settlement of civil and commercial disputes has been discussed. The draft will undergo further edits before a vote is held on its adoption.

 

8th June

The Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation convened via web conference.

It has been decided to introduce a draft law to the State Duma, regulating the issue and wearing of gowns and service clothing for the judges and members of court staff.

The session also considered a draft plenary ruling regarding crimes against the interests of service in commercial and other organizations. It has been decided to further edit the draft.

 

4th June

The dialogue of top courts of Russia and Germany took place for the eighteenth time. The discussions were attended by judges and presidents of the Supreme and Constitutional Courts of the Russian Federation, of the Court of Eurasian Economic Union, and of federal courts of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Deputy Chief Justice – Chairman of the Disciplinary Chamber Sergey Rudakov presented an opening speech, and President of the Council of Judges, Secretary of the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court Victor Momotov made a report addressing the influence of the technological revolution on court proceedings in Russia.

 

26th May

Chief Justice Vyacheslav Lebedev took part in the World Judicial Conference on Environment, co-organised by the UN Environment Programme and the Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China. Representatives of 25 judiciaries joined the online event to discuss the role of the courts in global environmental governance, protection of biodiversity and judicial response to climate change. The Chief Justice presented a brief opening speech and also made a report on adjudication of cases related to environmental protection in Russia.


27th April

The Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation convened online.

In particular, it adopted Plenary Ruling “On Certain Issues Encountered in Judicial Practice in Consideration of Cases regarding  Administrative Offences pertaining to Non-Payment of Funds for the Support of Children or Handicapped Parents” (Russian version). It was also decided to introduce draft laws to the State Duma amending the status of court administrators.

Herewith, a draft plenary ruling was considered regarding the application of civil procedural legislation in a court of cassation. It has been decided to further edit the draft before adopting it.


6th April

The Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation convened via web conference.

In particular, it adopted a Plenary Ruling to introduce a draft law on amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code to the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. The draft law suggests changing the way in which infliction of light harm to the health, battery by a person under administrative punishment and slander are prosecuted. Currently, cases on such crimes can be initiated upon the victim’s application and terminated if the parties reach a settlement. If the law is adopted, it will not be possible to terminate a criminal case based on the parties’ settlement. In particular, this will help protect the rights of victims of domestic violence.

A draft Plenary Ruling was also discussed regarding the application of civil procedural legislation in a court of appeal. It has been decided to further edit the draft before adopting it.


4th March

The Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation convened online. In particular, it adopted Plenary Ruling “On Certain Issues Encountered in Court Application of Antimonopoly Legislation” (Russian version). A draft ruling has also been discussed regarding administrative offences pertaining to non-payment of funds for the support of children or handicapped parents. It has been decided to further edit the ruling before voting to adopt it.

 

18th February

The Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation convened via web conference. In particular, a draft Plenary Ruling was discussed regarding the issues of court application of antimonopoly legislation. It has been decided to further edit the draft.

 

9th February

The annual conference of judges of courts of general jurisdiction and of commercial courts took place in Moscow. The event was aimed at presenting the results of work of the judiciary in 2020 and setting the priorities for 2021.

The event took place via web conference and was attended by almost all the country’s judges, who joined the special broadcast from around 30,000 points all across Russia.

The main session was launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who addressed the participants with an opening speech, praising the quality of justice in Russia during the coronavirus pandemic.

The next to take the floor was Chief Justice Vyacheslav Lebedev, who spoke about the response of the judiciary to the pandemic, presented the judicial statistics (in particular citing that despite the epidemiological situation the courts have considered almost 4 million cases more than during the preceding year) and unveiled the Supreme Court’s plans for the first half of 2021.

Photos of the event are available here:
https://vsrf.ru/press_center/photo_archive/5485/29666

Official site of the
Supreme Court of the Russian Federation


2021 — Supreme Court of the Russian Federation
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