Posted on 07/01/2002 4:14:18 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
OSCOW, June 30 — The crumbling yellow-brick building of the Moscow Regional Court is not what one might expect of the main courthouse of Russia's most important region. Chipped tile and peeling linoleum line the hallways. The smell of meat and potatoes cooking in the shabby cafeteria wafts up to the courtrooms.
But on Friday, it was a scene of frantic preparation for what some are calling a revolutionary change in the Russian legal system. Nearly 200 judges from across the Moscow Oblast gathered for a seminar on the Criminal Procedural Code that takes effect on Monday. The only empty seats were in the caged area usually occupied by defendants.
In a four-hour session, top judges of the court gave their colleagues a primer on the new procedures, including pretrial hearings, the increased role of defense lawyers and the rules of evidence. A few looked bored and swatted flies with copies of the code, but most scribbled furiously and many asked questions as the code's articles were dissected.
"Do you understand the volume of work that is falling on us on July 1?" said Tatyana A. Omelchenko, deputy chairman of the regional court, after chiding the handful of judges who admitted that they had not yet read the new code.
Meetings like this were taking place across Russia as judges, prosecutors, lawyers and the police prepared for the new code. At times, judging by some reactions here, it seemed that come Monday, the judicial system might crumble like the courthouse.
Shouts and murmurs of "What a nightmare!" or "I don't understand a thing," interrupted the seminar. One gray-haired, grandmotherly judge sighed and said, "Of course, it's easier for young people to learn all this."
Sergei I. Generalov, chief judge of the Pavlo Posadsk city court, expressed everyone's fears of confusion between the old and new codes when he asked, "What do I do if I receive case documents dated July 27 or 28 on July 1 or 2?"
The answer: "Accept them."
The seminar leaders told judges to prepare for their new role as arbiters of the law rather than as participants in the prosecution of a case. They were warned that violations could result in verdicts' being overturned.
"Now there are two competing sides," said Natalya I. Valikova, one of the regional court's chief judges. Some judges grumbled that with defendants' new rights and the end of indefinite detentions before a trial, criminals will "simply run away."
But Judge Generalov of Pavlovsk Posad was upbeat after the meeting. "I think everything is clear," he said. "But some people are still thinking in the old way."
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