Legal Aid For The Poor In Russia: The Challenge Of Implementation

Moscow, October 6-7, 2009 - Institute of Law and Public Policy, in cooperation with the Ministry of Regional Development of the Russian Federation and the Russian Law Academy of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, organized  the national conference on “Legal Aid For The Poor In Russia: The Challenge Of Implementation”, as part of its first implementation efforts within the project “Strengthening Access to Justice for the Poor and Socially Vulnerable Groups in the Russian Federation”.

The project “Strengthening Access to Justice for the Poor and Socially Vulnerable Groups in the Russian Federation” (2008-2012) is funded by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development – widely known as the World Bank – through the Japan Social Development Fund (JSDF), which was provided by the Government of Japan to the World Bank for its administration.

The Conference brought together representatives of the federal and regional governmental authorities, including the State Duma, Administration of the President of the Russian Federation, Government of the Russian Federation, Ombudsmen Office of the Russian Federation and the courts, as well as representatives of professional community, such the Russian Lawyers’ Association, Bar Association, Notary Chamber, human rights centers and universities will also participate.

In the course of the Conference participants discussed the problems, which were hindering the establishment of an effective legal aid system for the poor in Russia, including:

• Legislative and implementation problems of the legal aid
• Existing and perspective ways to provide legal aid
• Issues of the courts’ attitudes towards the poor
• Juvenile justice in the system of general work with the poor.

During the Conference representatives of the public institutions and the civil society organizations had an opportunity to exchange views, and to familiarize themselves with the already achieved progress in implementation of the project “Strengthening Access to Justice for the Poor and Socially Vulnerable Groups in the Russian Federation”.