MOSCOW, November 5 (RAPSI) – A Governmental Commission has backed a bill developed by Russia’s Supreme Court, which envisages that the terms in office of justices of the peace should be indefinite; currently, a package of these amendments is being readied for the second reading in the State Duma.

The first tenure is to make three years, next ones, on the condition that a justice of the peace has passed a reassignment procedure, his or her term of office is to be indefinite. The age limit for justices of the peace tenures is to be set at 70 years, as Chairman of the Association of Russian Lawyers Vladimir Gruzdev told RAPSI.

In spite of the fact that justices of the peace are included in the system of general jurisdiction courts, their status corresponds to that of judges of the subjects of the Russian Federation, Gruzdev reminded.

Justice of the peace courts are formed by regional authorities; justices of the peace hear 80% of all cases submitted to general jurisdiction courts, so the role these courts play is of great importance for the society. The necessity to renew tenures could be used as a lever of influence over justices of the peace, therefore, it has been proposed to subject them to the same rules, as those applicable to the judges of federal courts, for whom the tenure is limited only by the age limit, the Chairman of the Association of Russian Lawyers observed.

Gruzdev stressed that yet in 2017 the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) recommended Russia to improve stability of tenures of justices of the peace.