On December 12, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation Irina Podnosova took part in the meeting of the Council of Chief Justices of Supreme (High) courts of the member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States by web conference.

In her welcoming speech, Irina Podnosova drew attention to the fact that the broad powers granted to the Council and its applied orientation will contribute to the improvement of national judicial systems, the development of coordinated approaches to the harmonization of legislation and judicial practice in its application, and the expansion of mechanisms for mutual legal assistance between judicial bodies.

The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Russia outlined the priority areas of the Council's activities. First of all, it seems relevant to improve the practice of application by courts of the provisions on international legal assistance in various categories of cases, including in the framework of the execution of court orders, as well as the recognition and enforcement of foreign judicial and arbitral decisions.

The second component, the head of Russia's highest court, identified the organization of various kinds of joint events on mutually interesting topics. For convenience and to economize on costs, she suggested using videoconferencing as much as possible. This format of interaction has confirmed its effectiveness and demand.

Irina Podnosova also emphasized the importance of regular submission of materials of generalization of judicial practice and judicial statistics by the participants of the Council. The Supreme Court of Russia is ready to provide rulings of the Plenary Session, reviews of judicial practice and statistical reports on the consideration of various categories of cases by the courts of the Russian Federation.

As the third priority of the Council's work, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Russia emphasized the training and professional development of judges and court staff. More details on this area were given by Vladimir Kulakov, Rector of the Russian State University of Justice, which from 2024 is the Basic organization of the Commonwealth of Independent States in the field of training, requalification and professional development of personnel for the judicial system.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the Council supported the proposal to hold the next meeting in the fourth quarter of 2026 in the city of Minsk.

NOTICE:

The Council of Chief Justices of the Supreme (High) Courts of the CIS Member States (Council) is an interstate body of the Commonwealth of Independent States and was established to elaborate agreed principles and rules of cooperation between courts, its organizational support and assistance in practical implementation in order to enhance interstate legal cooperation in the judicial sphere and expand mechanisms for mutual legal assistance between judicial bodies.

Before the Council was established, judicial cooperation within the CIS was mainly in the field of economic justice within the framework of the Agreement on the Establishment of the Council of Chief Justices of Higher Arbitration, Commercial, Economic and Other Courts Resolving Economic Disputes of October 7, 2002, which has now been terminated due to the establishment of a new interstate body.

The Agreement on the Establishment of the Council of the Chief Justices of the Supreme (High) Courts of the Member States of the Commonwealth of Independent States (Agreement) was signed on October 15, 2021 at the meeting of the Council of the CIS Heads of State and entered into force on November 26, 2022.

The Parties to the Agreement are the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan.