MOSCOW, February 20 (RAPSI) – Russia’s Business Rights Commissioner Boris Titov has said at a press-conference that his office is developing amendments to the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure in line with the proposals of the Supreme Court empower jurors to examine economic crimes cases.

Titov expressed hope that putting in place the respective legislative procedure was to take little time, as there were no significant legal barriers. He believed jurors, although not necessarily well versed in complex economic matters, were able to find out the motives behind defendants’ actions proceeding from their personal experience and knowledge of relations between people, the Business Ombudsman said addressing the audience.

Nevertheless, Titov suggested that jurors should not be authorized to try all economic crimes cases. According to him, it would be feasible if the initiative was first implemented in cases over fraud, embezzlement, and abuse of authority.

Earlier, the Supreme Court Chair Vyacheslav Lebedev had proposed to empower jurors to examine economic crimes cases in a statement at a judicial conference.

Taking into account the fact that Russian courts have sufficient experience in examining cases tried by jury, Lebedev noted, it was possible to extend this procedure to the criminal cases over all especially serious crimes and economic crimes on condition the materials thereof contain no state secrets.