Dear participants of the International Legal Conference!
The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation welcomes and congratulates you with the opening of the international forum on wich actual legal problems in political, economic and social challenges that faces the world community will be discussed.
Occuring globalization processes demand modernization of all spheres of action of state and society, including law modernization. The concept of "modernization" assumes to change something according to modern requirements. What are modern requirements and what should the law and the justice be in the 21 century?
Modern legal requirements are stated in the Constitution of the Russian Federation, according to which human and civil rights and liberties are direct-acting and determine the sense, the maintenance and the application of laws, the activity of legislative and executive power, local self-government and are provided by the justice. Everybody is guaranteed the right to appeal to the interstate bodies for protection of human rights and freedoms if all available internal legal remedies are setlled. The conventional principles and rules of international law and the international gtreaties of the Ryussian Federation are the component of its sytem of law.
Today these requirements are caused by a new economic reality - economy globalization: the customs union of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus is formed. The decision of creation the Eurasian Union of the States by 2015 is accepted.
In the 21 century the law becomes more and more international. It releases from intranational constarint and isolation.
The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation has in due time reacted to the specified tendencies accepting the Plenum Resolution of 10 October 2003 "On application by courts of general jurisdiction of the commonly recognized principles and norms of the international law and the international treaties of the Russian Federation", in which the necessity of the further enhancement of the judicial activity connected with realization of positions of international law in judiciary practice is explained to the courts.
During the globalization of law there is a process of creating a new quality of interaction between the national and international legal standarts, which is needed a continuous improvement. This concerns such areas as environmental protection, the war on terror, international organized crime and distribution of drugs, transparency of justice and improvement of its forms according to the increasing level of society's informization, enhancement of citizens' legal knowledge, standards and quality of legal education.
The process of law modernization requires the improvement of legislation, which could be prima facia achieved by the most irreproachable, open, secured in legislation legal procedures and the broad utilization of public legal examination to analytic work on drafts.
Such modernization will contribute to the supremacy of law and sustainable development of the society.
It is necessary for purpose of further law modernization in the Russian Federation to ensure the realization of full potential, which contains the Cosntitution of the Russian Federation. The lack of some laws which develop the provisions of the Constitution of the Russian Federation continues to negatively affect the development of legal institutions and limits the legal rights and freedoms of man and of the citizen.
Despite the broad discussion on issues relating to the administrative justice, the administrative Proceedings Code of the Russian Federation has not been adopted until now. Meanwhile the Constituion of the Russian Federation stipulates that the administrative proceeding is self-contained and accroding to the Article 118 of the Constituion the judicial power shall be exercised by means of constitutional, civl, administartive, and criminal proceedings. The procedure of the consideration of the administartive clauses shall be independent, clear and understandable, just in such a procedure the citizens would be able to protect their rights in the deal with the state and local government bodies. The Constitution of the Russian Federation provides only such an administrative proceeding.
This question requires the consideration in the interests of improving justice. I am confident that the International Legal Congress will contribute to improve the law institutions. I wish the members of the Congress fruitful work.
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation,
Doctor of Law, Professor
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