Judiciary of Russia

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According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the Russian judiciary shall have judicial appeal and judicial review at the level of the Supreme Court. Constitutional Court, Supreme Court, and Supreme Court of Arbitration judges are appointed by the Federation Council of Russia on the recommendation of the president of Russia, whereas other judges for all federal courts are appointed simply by the president.

On May 25, 2001, President Vladimir Putin proposed the Federal Law On Modifications and Additions to the Federal Law On the Status of Judges in the Russian Federation,^[1] passed by the State Duma and on December 15, 2001, finally signed by the president, whereby disciplinary and administrative responsibility of judges was introduced.

The rule of law has made rather limited inroads in the criminal justice since the Soviet time, especially in the deep provinces.^[2] The courts generally follow the non-acquittals policy; in 2004 acquittals constituted only 0.7 percent of all judgments. Judges are dependent on administrators, bidding prosecutorial offices in turn. The work of public prosecutors varies from poor to dismal. Lawyers are mostly court appointed and low paid. There was a rapid deterioration of the situation characterized by abuse of the criminal process, harassment and persecution of defense bar members in politically sensitive cases in recent years. The principles of adversariness and equality of the parties to criminal proceedings are not observed.^[3]

Many acquittals (38.1% in 2006) are overturned by a higher court.^[4]

In 1996, President Boris Yeltsin pronounced a moratorium on the death penalty in Russia, although capital punishment has not yet been abolished by law.