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President Vladimir Putin: I know that the Supreme Court’s plenum has reached a number of important decisions. You have also submitted or are in the process of submitting a draft law on information on the courts’ work. These are both interesting matters. Please, go ahead.

Vyacheslav Lebedev: The Supreme Court’s plenum has drawn up several draft resolutions that summarise practice in examining certain types of cases. I would like to draw your attention to the examination of the draft resolution on handing down sentences in criminal cases that is to take place on November 16.

We have analysed the situation and drafted a resolution that recommends courts to sentence minors to terms of imprisonment only in particularly exceptional cases – in cases where there is no possibility of handing down a different sentence. And with respect to women who have broken the law, we recommend that the courts make a detailed examination of all the circumstances surrounding the crime committed and of the character of the person or people who committed the crime.

Furthermore, the resolution draws the attention of the courts to the fact that the legislators and the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation encourage individuals who give themselves up and voluntarily provide investigators or other law enforcement officials with information on the crimes they have committed.

Vladimir Putin: What form will this encouragement take?

Vyacheslav Lebedev: Their sentence can be cut by not more than three quarters of the maximum sentence set by the law for the crime they are accused of. This limit cannot be raised, but we recommend that courts, taking into account the circumstances of each case, provide active encouragement and pass sentences that are perhaps even lower than what the legislation allows for. The courts have this possibility today.

Furthermore, we recommend that courts, as a form of encouragement, considerably mitigate the sentences of people who have cooperated with the investigation and provided information on accomplices in the crime committed and on property obtained through committing crimes.

This is something that needs to be done today and the Supreme Court is already following this policy in its own legal practice in this area. For example, in one case, we supported the court of first instance and said that even in the case of a serious crime, it is possible to hand down a suspended sentence in view of the fact that the accused individuals cooperated actively with the investigation and helped solve not only the crime they were charged with in this particular case, but other crimes as well. I think this is a very good incentive for the future, for solving more crimes and re-educating citizens. After all, if an individual gives himself up and cooperates with the investigation, this is a guarantee that he has already realised what he has done and is a guarantee, too, that he is on course for being able to change his behaviour.

Vladimir Putin: Now let’s talk about information about the work of the courts.

Vyacheslav Lebedev: We introduced a draft law on ensuring the rights of the public and organisations to information on the work of general jurisdiction courts. I think this law is particularly needed today.

The proposals that you supported at the VI Congress of Russia’s Judges, namely, the creation of the automated state electronic information system ‘Justice’, have already been carried out. An enormous amount of work has been completed and a state commission and working expert commission have been established that are now evaluating this work.

The specialists and academics, everyone who worked on the electronic side of the project, say that this system is the first of its kind so far in Russia. It has 20 sub-systems and gives the public the possibility of receiving information on different aspects of the justice system: on judicial practice, the movement of each individual case through the courts, the legislation regulating this or that question, and also information on the judge examining a specific case.

In order to ensure that this wonderful new system works in practice and does not remain just a technical possibility, we decided to underpin it with a federal law. We want to ensure that it is not up to civil servants to decide what information citizens should receive and what they should not, but for this right to information to be a real right, backed by law, and not just a declared right.

We have submitted this draft law but we were somewhat disappointed by the reaction from the Government, which gave the draft law a negative conclusion. This law would not require any great expenditure and could be implemented at first using the funds that we already have at our disposal.

Furthermore, the Government’s criticisms concerned matters of drafting rather than concept. We would like to see the law passed. After all, an open and transparent justice system is one of the best defences against the negative phenomena that we see today and that can happen in the future. We should not hide anything.

Vladimir Putin: Have you discussed this issue at all with the Justice Ministry?

Vyacheslav Lebedev: The Justice Minister and the Prosecutor General both take part in the Supreme Court’s plenum and when we adopted this decision and discussed this issue at the plenum, both of these agencies supported the draft law.

Vladimir Putin: I think we can work on this issue together and come to a solution.