ST. PETERSBURG, May 18 - RAPSI, Vladimir Novikov. The Federal Chamber of Lawyers supports incentives protecting Russian people and companies from unfair activities of foreign judicial systems, the chamber's vice president, Yuri Pilipenko, told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI).

"The Federal Chamber of Lawyers has long drawn attention to the issue of Russia's partial loss of state sovereignty. Many large transactions are subject to foreign law and foreign jurisdictions, leaving Russian courts on the sidewalks," Pilipenko said.

The need to protect people and companies from unfair foreign judicial systems had already been raised by Supreme Commercial Court chairman Anton Ivanov during the Second International Legal Forum in St. Petersburg (SPILF).

Ivanov added that the guarantee should apply to actions by foreign countries, their authorities, officials, foreign legal entities and individuals taking advantage of competing judicial systems.

In particular, if claims are made against a Russian individual in a foreign court, he proposed launching a parallel process in Russia to determine if the dispute meets jurisdiction rules.

If the court concludes that the issue should be considered in Russia, a Russian court would then hear the case on its merits, Ivanov said.

In this regard, the president of the Federal Chamber of Lawyers highlighted two main problem areas, namely, the excessive severity of Russian civil law and its inapplicability to large transactions, and the insufficient authority of Russian courts.