Rule of Law Initiative Programs - Russia

Anti-Corruption

Local businessmen and stakeholders participate in an April 2005 municipal anti-corruption seminar in Pskov.

Given Russia's vast size and complexity, projects that target local and regional corruption issues are often more successful, and individuals at this level are often more open to change, than projects at the national level. The Rule of Law Initiative is implementing seminars in each of Russia's federal districts, targeted to the areas specific needs. Following these seminars, ROLI will gather the information and lessons learned from each of these seminars, and compile a practical manual for officials on how to deal with corruption at the local level. A secondary, but equally important, result of these activities will be the creation of a nation-wide network of anti-corruption actors.

In April 2005, the Rule of Law Initiative and the Public Center for Stable Development in Pskov launched Corruption Prevention at the Municipal Level, a pilot seminar that brought together deputies of the Pskov City Duma and other high-level officials of municipal bodies from several districts of Pskov and Pskov Oblast, private entrepreneurs, MVD officials and several journalists.

In February 2006, the Rule of Law Initiative implemented the second in its series of municipal anti-corruption trainings in the city of Tobolsk, Tumen Region, Ural Federal District, following an assessment of local stakeholder needs. Future anti-corruption trainings for municipal government officials and businessmen will be held in the Siberian Federal District and the Far East Federal District.

For more information, contact our Russia office at office@abamos.ru.

 

Criminal Law Reform Program

Judiciary and Mass Media Training: Federal Judges receive training on media relations skills. From left to right: Justice Razumov, Justice Vitsin, and Justice Snegiurova. December 2002.

The ABA's Criminal Law Reform Program in Russia focuses on combating human trafficking; promoting fair and identical implementation of the criminal procedure code; strengthening the institution of the defense bar; implementing an indigent defense project; and training legal practitioners on jury trials and international human rights standards, with a special focus on pre-trial detention issues. Additionally, the Rule of Law Initiative is conducting regional trainings throughout Russia on effectively dealing with local corruption issues at the regional and municipal levels.

Human Trafficking

Russia remains one of the primary source countries for women trafficked globally for the purpose of sexual exploitation. It also continues to be a major transit and destination country for persons trafficked for sexual and labor exploitation (including sex tourism) from regional and neighboring countries into Russia and on to the Gulf States, Europe and North America.

The ABA's anti-trafficking work in Russia has focused on providing a wide-range of targeted legal-focused assistance. After the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation was amended to include anti-trafficking in persons provisions in fall 2003, the lack of wide-spread knowledge regarding investigative and prosecutorial techniques relevant to trafficking in persons cases became evident. In cooperation with the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD), the Rule of Law Initiative interviewed field investigators and prepared a comprehensive, practical, Russia-specific handbook for prosecutors, criminal investigators and inquiry officers. The handbook will be published and distributed in 2007.

ABA/CEELI participates in working group that drafted and passed a new Criminal Procedure Code. St. Petersburg, Russia. August 2002.

The Rule of Law Initiative has worked with the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and the Russian Ministry of Interior to conduct train-the-trainers seminars for professors of the MVD institutes from across Russia. Additionally, the Rule of Law Initiative has conducted training for investigators and inquiry officers and continues to work with the U.S. Embassy to help the Legislative Committee of the Russian Federation monitor the application of the recent human trafficking amendments to the criminal code.

In the past year, the Rule of Law Initiative published its Human Trafficking NGO Directory with information about all NGOs throughout Russia working on the issue of human trafficking. The directory delineates the types of activities the NGOs undertake and the services they provide. It provides information on resources for victim assistance that are available from NGOs, and serves as a valuable resource to agencies and NGOs that provide referrals to human trafficking victims for services and care.

Support for the Defense Bar

The Criminal Law Reform Program has continued to work closely with the Russian Federation's Federal Chamber of Advocates to facilitate the organizational development of the Chamber in Russia, and thus to improve the administration of justice and the rule of law through its membership. Through regular consultation and technical assistance, the Rule of Law Initiative has assisted the Federal Chamber in establishing an All-Russian Defense Bar Training Center.

Since the start of this program in 2002, more than 600 attorneys throughout Russia have participated in seminars on jury trial skills and advanced jury trial skills. These seminars emphasize practical skills, criminal procedure and applying to the European Court of Human Rights.

Indigent Defense/Access to Justice Project

Russia lacks an efficient or effective system for indigent criminal defense or free legal assistance in civil cases. In many criminal cases, appointed defense counsel have a close personal relationship with local enforcement agencies (who often appoint the attorney for the defendant), which hampers the provision of a vigorous defense. Additionally, a single defendant may have four or five attorneys appointed sequentially in the same case, none of whom ever see the client or appear in court.

The ABA worked closely with the Chamber of Advocates in the Novgorod region to open the first legal aid office in that area in the Moshenskoe district in March of 2005. Both organizations have provided institution building support to this office, and have worked with the regional government to ensure funding for this office. At the close of 2006, this office had become financially sustainable, and provides local citizens with access to legal counsel and representation on criminal and specific civil law issues.

 

Gender Issues

The ABA's Gender Justice Program seeks to improve the social and legal status of women throughout Russia. It focuses on the needs of women, men and families in crisis by educating local NGO's, judges, law enforcement and other governmental entitles on strategies to combat gender discrimination and prejudices; domestic violence; trafficking in persons; and how to achieve gender equality and integrate international and national standards on women's human rights into Russian politics and practices.

CEDAW Training: The results of ABA/CEELI's CEDAW report are reported to women's groups in Karelia, Russia. July 2006.

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

The ABA conducted an extensive analysis of the Russian Federation's compliance with the United Nation Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The Gender Program uses the findings of this project to improve the legal treatment of gender-based discrimination and as a basis for work with NGOs on the use of international mechanisms to advance women's rights within Russia. (Please click here to see CEDAW Assessment for Russia (also available in Russian), conducted and published by the ABA in 2006.)

In 2006, the ABA, in cooperation with partner NGOs, held a series of one and two-day trainings throughout the country on international women's human rights standards using international and regional-based treaties. These trainings addressed available complaint mechanisms for filing gender-based human rights complaints, advocacy strategies and drafting alternative or shadow reports to the UN CEDAW Committee and other relevant monitoring bodies. Participants included NGOs, government officials, prosecutors, Ombudsmen on Human Rights.

Domestic Violence

Justices of the Peace receive training on existing legislative tools to combat domestic violence (DV) and serve DV victims. Khabarovsk, Russia. April 2007.

The Rule of Law Initiative continues to work with government officials, prosecutors, lawyers, police officers, judges, justices of the peace, social and medical workers and NGOs in order to strengthen the legal response to domestic violence cases throughout the Russian Federation. Currently, there is a dearth of NGO services available for the victims of gender based violence. The ABA's 2006 CEDAW Assessment, both domestic violence and trafficking in persons remain a pervasive problem throughout Russia, however, due to a widespread lack of recognition and awareness, an effective response has yet to be enforced. In response, the ABA has implemented a series of targeted trainings that aim to both increase public awareness of these issues, and provide government officials and service providers with the skills, knowledge and resources to respond to these issues.

Legal Aid Skills for Victims of Domestic Violence

The Rule of Law Initiative's Legal Aid Skills for Victim's of Domestic Violence Program trains 'first responders,' such as social workers, psychologists, and employees from NGO Crisis Centers and Governmental Centers for Social Assistance to Family and Children. It provides these individuals with concrete, practical knowledge on aspects of Russian legislation that can be used to protect the rights of victims of domestic violence, as well as information on how to provide competent legal aid and effective advocacy. To date, it has graduated more than 200 trainees, and has published a manual for use in training sessions. In the past year, the ABA has conducted Social Advocates trainings in Moscow, Makhachkala, and Vladivostok. (Please click here to see Gender Justice Program: Know your rights pamphlets (available in Russian only), developed and published by the ABA.)

Vladivostok Office

Young lawyers learn about the workings of the European Court of Human Rights. Vladivostok. May 2006.

The Rule of Law Initiative's Vladivostok office works with local organizations and government agencies to promote adherence to the rule of law, including bar development and legal education development.

Additionally, the Vladivostok office implements a human trafficking program that focuses on strengthening the legal response to trafficking in persons and other forms of gender-based violence throughout Russian Far East (RFE). Providing targeted legal-focused assistance contributes to a more systematic response to trafficking in persons and will increase the overall quality of services for victims in the RFE. The ABA has taken a three-pronged approach: to provide legal training and legal education opportunities, to increase access to legal information and services to victims and to groups that work with victims throughout the region, and to contribute to increased NGO-cooperation and legal awareness in RFE.

For more information, contact our Russia office at office@abamos.ru.

 

Legal Education Reform

Clinical Legal Education

Since 1995, the number of law school clinics in Russia has grown from one to more than 80. While these clinics have provided assistance to indigent Russian citizens, their primary aim has been to give Russian law students an opportunity to develop practical legal skills. In the past, CEELI worked closely to both establish and support the technical and institutional development of these clinics.

Practical Skills Training: participants during a moot court exercise on victim representation. Aug 2004.

The Rule of Law Initiative is currently working with the Moscow State Legal Academy to incorporate interactive clinical methods into regular law courses. The Advocacy Program is also providing support for the implementation of CLE for law professors that provides access to information and tools for implementing interactive methods such as brainstorming, demonstration, providing feedback, role playing, mock trials, Socratic dialog (questions and answers), small group work and other techniques.

The ABA also works closely with the Center for Clinical Legal Education to promote the development and support of the clinical legal education website. The purposes of the project are: to develop the clinical site www.lawclinic.ru as an instrument of informational exchange between legal clinics and clinicians; to promote a consolidated public opinion on the utility of legal clinics, with a focus on the development and adoption of new state teaching standards under the transition to the European system of higher education (Bologna process); to organize a general informational resource for groups of specialized legal clinics; and to use the site as informational resource for the unification of NIS clinicians. Currently, the site has 129 registered clinics.

For more information, contact our Russia office at office@abamos.ru.

 

Legal Profession Development

Legal Profession Reform and Advocacy Program

Practical Skills Training: participants during a moot court exercise on victim representation. Aug 2004.

The ABA Rule of Law Initiative's advocacy program seeks to strengthen the skills of legal professionals, associations and educational institutions across the Russian Federation. Using interactive techniques, the ABA works with Russian attorneys and law students to provide them with the practical skills needed to adapt to the new demands created by Russia's transition to more adversarial principles within their legal system.

 

Public Interest Law

The Rule of Law Initiative works with Public Interest NGOs to develop capacity to advocate for citizens' rights according to the laws of the Russian Federation. The focus has been not only on using litigation as a tool but also on how to lobby, conduct publicity efforts and enlist public support for various advocacy initiatives. Most recently, the ABA provided practical skills trainings to the newly founded Association of NGO lawyers, and a specialized alternative dispute resolution and mediation training to the Association of Labor Lawyers to encourage these organizations' institutional development.

Additionally, the Advocacy Program provides practical skills trainings on applying to the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation to promote greater transparency in the Russian judicial system.

Attorneys are instructed on the appropriate methods for bringing cases to the Constitutional Court. January 2004.

Access to Justice

In conjunction with the ABA's Criminal Law Reform Program, the Advocacy Program worked closely with the Chamber of Advocates in the Novgorod region to open the first legal aid office in that area. Please see the section on criminal law reform programming below for further details.

Bar Association Development

The Rule of Law Initiative works closely with the Federal Chamber of Advocates on planning and strategies for bar development in the country, including promoting an effective CLE system for Russia's attorneys. In July 2004, the Board of the Federal Chamber passed a resolution requiring members of the Federal Chamber to take 72 hours of CLE in a five-year period. Most recently, the ABA has implemented practical skills trainings for young attorneys in the Novgorod region, Moscow city and Moscow Oblast, in conjunction with the relevant regional Chambers. These trainings have had the dual benefit of increasing the Chambers' ability to provide CLE for their members, while providing immediate access to training for lawyers.

Russian American Rule of Law Consortium

The Rule of Law Initiative provides funding and support to the Russian American Rule of Law Consortium (RAROLC), a group of American and Russian legal communities working together to develop legal institutions and the rule of law. Each community is comprised of volunteer legal professionals from an American state partner with professionals from a Russian region. Since 1991, RAROLC has conducted approximately 200 rule of law training events in Russia and the United States serving over 3,000 legal professionals. As a rule, RAROLC attracts experts from the Supreme Court of the RF, the Highest Arbitrazh Court of the RF and the Constitutional Court of the RF, as well as other institutions, such as the Ministry of Justice, the Russian Parliament, the Prosecutor General's Office or Legal Academy, and Russian and American experts.

The current RAROLC partnerships include: Vermont and the Republic of Karelia; Maine and Archangelsk Oblast; Maryland and Leningrad Oblast; Western New York and Novgorod Oblast; New Hampshire and Vologda Oblast; Massachusetts and Tomsk Oblast, and Connecticut and Pskov Oblast; Alaska and Khabarovsk Krai; Oregon and Sakhalin Oblast; and Washington State and Primorskii Krai.

Partnerships hold yearly seminars in the Russian partner's community and many used Open World funding to bring Russians to the U.S. partner's community. The focus of reform efforts for each partnership vary, including juvenile justice, domestic violence, plea bargaining, ethics and legal writing. Each partnership initiates its own programs and topics based on the needs of its particular communities, and each has its own creative approaches to the problems it is addressing. Additional information on this program can be found at www.rarolc.net.

For more information, contact our Russia office at office@abamos.ru.