Further extension of the competence of a jury trial may become a new step in the improvement of the judicial system. To this conclusion came the participants of the next meeting of the working group of the Presidium of the presidential Council of the Russian Federation for countering corruption in cooperation with civil society, held on September 26.
Report of the Vice-President of the Guild of Russian lawyers, the chief editor of the portal "law" Ruben Markaryan, who raised the issue of expanding the powers of trial by jury by returning to his jurisdiction of corruption crimes, sparked heated debate. He tied him with the urgent prerequisites of involvement in the administration of justice a greater number of citizens, which just contribute to jury trials.
The idea of modernization of the jury in terms of empowerment was accepted positively, the press service of the Federal chamber of lawyers of the Russian Federation. However, according to some opponents, the idea of the spread of this form of judicial proceedings for crimes of corruption requires further study and deep analysis. There is some risk that the verdict of the jury is too subjective. This may be due to some bias from the members of the Board of assessors regarding motivation, life conflicts and the individual defendants, accused of bribery.
According to first Vice-President, FPA of the Russian Federation Evgeny Semenyako, this attitude "can be in conflict with what should provide the court, namely impartial, objective, legal and fair trial."
The meeting of the working group also discussed the issues of improvement of criminal legislation in the field of corruption, legal regulation of activities of public associations and business communities in combating corruption. There was also a need of anti-corruption education and promotion of compliance with anti-corruption standards in society.
Minister of justice Alexander Konovalov said that not enough discussion of the legal and educational means to combat bribery, it is necessary to introduce into the consciousness of the citizens the attitude of intolerance towards corruption.