Judicial sovereignty – Picture of the day – Kommersant

The Ministry of Justice summed up the results of work for the past year and decided on the tasks for the future. At the expanded board of the department, Minister of Justice Konstantin Chuichenko announced the start of developing the concept of criminal policy and the revision of Russian laws for compliance with traditional spiritual and moral values. Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, in turn, focused on the use of NGOs in hybrid wars and the need to protect Russian legal sovereignty. In the development of this topic, the chairman of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, suggested thinking about creating our own international court.

The meeting was opened by Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, who said that Russia would continue to advocate for the consistent formation of a multipolar world order. That is, to do everything to ensure the functioning of the system of international law and prevent the distortion of its generally recognized norms. The Ministry of Justice has a special role to play in this, Mr. Medvedev reminded, because one of the key areas is work with the non-profit sector. The use of non-profit organizations (NPOs) in hybrid wars is a favorite method of some countries hostile to Russia, the politician said. He urged “not to be shy” and severely suppress the work of such structures. At the same time, comfortable conditions should be created for conscientious NGOs, Dmitry Medvedev insisted.

Minister of Justice Konstantin Chuichenko assured the audience that work to improve legislation to counter foreign influence would continue.

Also, the department intends to do everything for the maximum convenience of the work of bona fide non-profit organizations: modernize digital services, simplify administrative regulation and improve relevant legislation. Now, Mr. Chuichenko said, the Ministry of Justice is preparing a Concept for Improving the Corporate Governance of NGOs. In addition, it is planned to amend the legislation to allow differentiating approaches to determining the structure, formation procedure, and competence of bodies of non-profit organizations of various types and organizational and legal forms.

The Ministry of Justice also plans to update the conceptual approaches in the field of criminal law policy, as well as the development of the legal profession and judicial representation. According to Konstantin Chuichenko, his department, together with the scientific community, has begun preparing the Concept of Criminal Law Policy. Recall that this is not the first attempt to develop such a document: back in 2012, the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation developed its own version of the concept, and later politicians returned to this idea more than once.

The Ministry of Justice has also already taken up the preparation of a reform of the professional legal aid market – it, in particular, provided for a lawyer’s monopoly on representation in courts, but this project was never fully implemented, and they relied on the development of a system of free legal aid and the creation of state legal bureaus . At the end of last year, the minister recalled, an information system was launched in 10 pilot regions, the main component of which is a single portal of legal education and free legal assistance.

The Ministry of Justice also planned a revision of the legislation for its compliance with traditional spiritual and moral values.

“I want to make a reservation right away – no one is going to get into the private life of citizens, this is a personal matter for everyone. At the same time, we will insist on the protection and approval of the norm as such in the public legal plane,” the minister said.

He clarified that “the norm, if quite simply: this is a family – the union of a man and a woman, where the child has a mother and father.” Accordingly, the existing legislative regulation is to be assessed for compliance with the constitutional priorities in the field of family protection.

Dmitry Medvedev also proposed making legal sovereignty the main subject of discussion at the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum, which is held under the auspices of the Ministry of Justice. The legal community warmly supported the initiative to discuss building effective mechanisms for the administration of international justice. For example, Nikolay Kropachev, Rector of St Petersburg University, expressed hope that the forum would be able to discuss the project to create an international arbitration center for the BRICS countries.

And the chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia, Alexander Bastrykin, insists on the need to establish an alternative international judicial body to bring war criminals to justice. “It’s no secret that Western countries are preparing international judicial bodies to hold Russia accountable,” he said. “We must, together with the Ministry of Justice, and maybe led by the Ministry of Justice, begin similar work. Clearly understand the status of those courts that can be created in response to bring war criminals in Ukraine to international criminal responsibility.” However, according to Alexander Bastrykin, it remains to be seen what countries, if it is an international tribunal, can enter into its composition.

Anastasia Kornya