Anti-corruption in the judicial system
Corruption in the judicial system - one of the most dangerous manifestations of this social evil. Anti-corruption measures are intended to make the decision-making and sentencing mechanism more transparent and to help cleanse the judiciary.
Legal and regulatory framework
For several years now, the Russian government has been paying attention to the manifestation of corruption in the judiciary, the creation of the institute of judicial mediators specializing in “resolving issues” with judges. Practicing lawyers suggest that at least half of the arbitration court judges are involved in corruption schemes, and the shadow market for bribes exceeds several hundred million dollars a year. Measures are being taken to remove bribe judges from work and others, designed to minimize illegal cash flows in the judiciary.
The mechanism for combating corruption in the judicial system is based on international and national regulations, the main ones among them are:
- 2003 UN Convention against Corruption.
- 1999 Strasbourg Criminal Law Convention on Corruption.
- Federal Law "On Combating Corruption".
- Law “On the Judicial Department under the RF Armed Forces”.
- Law "On the Status of Judges".
The listed documents contain a comprehensive set of measures, the implementation of which should minimize corruption risks in the work of the judiciary.
Anti-corruption measures
Judicial corruption is dangerous in itself, but it entails additional risks:
- causing financial harm to the budget, for example, when making decisions on refunding "black" VAT and appealing acts of tax audits;
- devaluation of the reputation of the judicial system;
- reducing the degree of protection of the constitutional rights of citizens;
- growing distrust of citizens in the courts and the state system as a whole.
The measures taken are identical to the actions that are relevant for all government agencies, and boil down to control over revenues and expenditures. Additionally, the judicial authorities have control over the avoidance of conflicts of interest, and much attention is paid to the income of judges and their families. If the judge is brought to justice, he faces confiscation of property. A separate decision designed to eliminate a large volume of corruption crimes was the abolition of the Supreme Arbitration Court and the transfer of its powers to the Supreme Court.
The set of measures taken is designed to cleanse the judicial system from bribery and return citizens to the right to justice.
04/16/2020
