Official website of the President of Russia

Transcripts   /

President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev: Colleagues,

I would like to discuss a number of current issues today, and I would like also to discuss the issues raised in the Address to the Federal Assembly I made last week. I listed then what as I see as the biggest issues for improving our legal system, political system, developing the judicial system and fighting corruption. I think that these are all very relevant issues for our country today. Obviously, work on these problems has never stopped, but what I want to do now is give this work new impetus and introduce the necessary legislative initiatives.

I therefore want to discuss these issues with you first, as the heads of our judicial system, so that we can work out a common position on the various nuances of this or that legal position.

Of course, I am also ready to discuss other matters you think relevant at the present moment.

President of the Constitutional Court Valery Zorkin: Dmitry Anatolyevich, the Address was made as we approach the 15th anniversary of the Constitution. I think that given that the Constitution is not a dead text gathering dust somewhere but a living reflection of our life the Address translates the text of the Constitution into modern language that takes into account the specific circumstances of our life today.

I think that what is most important in it is that no matter which area we take – the political system, legislation, the judicial system – the emphasis is on what can make people’s lives, the lives of our citizens, safer and more prosperous and dependable. I think that this humanistic note resounded strongly in the Address. It puts great responsibility on us all to implement the ideas set out in the Address.

Dmitry Medvedev: I agree completely that our main goal is to give everyone in Russia a better quality of life, and to do this we need to make changes to the laws and introduce some new laws – all in the aim of achieving this goal.