Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, speaking at the 7th National Congress of Judges, called for the use of alternatives to imprisonment as criminal punishment and for proposals to “humanize” the law. “A huge number of people in our country are sentenced to prison terms.

We know full well what impact this has on general conditions and how difficult it is to readapt these people to society once more. I therefore support the views expressed here on the need to decriminalize a number of acts that do not pose any great danger to public safety, and also to make wider use of alternative forms of sentences,” the president said.

The president’s suggestions largely echoed the ones he made in his address to the Federal Assembly last month, such as faster hearing of cases and implementation of court decisions and compensation to citizens whose right to access to the courts has been denied. In addition, Medvedev made some new suggestions. He proposed creating laws defining the status and procedure for the formation of examination commissions for judges in order to improve the quality and reputation of the judicial corps and to make judges more independent of outside influences.

Chairman of the Russian Supreme Court Vyacheslav Lebedev responded that he was prepared to make improvements to legislation in the nearest future. He noted that, in many cases, such as tax and financial disputes, a solution could be reached before the case goes to court. He also suggested lowering the severity of a number of crimes and thus lowering the length of prison terms associated with them.

Next year, the Russian State Duma will consider a package of amendments to downgrade the severity a number of crimes and change their punishments from imprisonment to fines. A member of the Duma commented to Kommersant that there is a high level of awareness of the need for these reforms.

Source >  Kommersant | dec 03

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