NON-COMPLIANCE WITH COURT VERDICTS, RUSSIAN JUSTICE'S WORST PROBLEM

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MOSCOW, February 10 (RIA Novosti) - Non-compliance with court verdicts is among the worst problems Russian justice is facing, holds Anatoli Kovler of the European Rights Court. Justice Kovler represents Russia there.

Complaints of verdicts shrugged off make up the bulk of Russian applications to the Strasbourg-based European court, he said.

"There are certain drawbacks in the administration of justice. Law courts work quickly enough, but their decisions are shelved for a year or two-even five," Mr. Kovler pointed out in Moscow today.

The European court regards a non-administered court verdict as unfinished judicial proceedings, he emphasized.

Non-compliance with court verdicts which Russian nationals report to Strasbourg usually concern grants and pensions suspended or not paid at all. As far as Justice Kovler knows, the Strasbourg court has made 15 verdicts on complaints against Russia, where non-compliance with verdicts comes in. Another 150 cases or so are waiting for decision.

European court resolutions on grants and pensions unpaid in Russia have exposed another bad problem of Russian justice. "When law courts consider such suits and make a verdict in the plaintiff's favor, they usually shrug off moral damage, for some reason. That's downright violation of citizens' rights."

Many complaints from Russia concern detention and procedural time limits. The European court regards those instances as a major cause for alarm, Mr. Kovler went on.

According to statistics he quoted, a mere 33 to 34 per cent of persons who go through pre-trial detention are convicted in Russia. "That means many people languish in pre-trial prisons for no reason at all-their trespasses are not serious enough to keep them behind the bars."

Nevertheless, Russian legal practice complies with European Rights Court standards. "We are not lagging behind other European countries, as far as court verdicts go," stressed Mr. Kovler.

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