from investments in magistrates' courts

Yesterday, the Minister of State and Legal Development of the Omsk Region, Alexander Butakov, met with justices of the peace who had been sworn in over the past six months. The reason for the meeting was the completion of the formation of the institution of justices of the peace in the Irtysh region. Mr. Butakov told the invitees about the tasks of this new service and how relations between his department and justices of the peace would be built in 2005. According to the regional minister, there are no plans to increase the number of justices of the peace in the near future. “We are neither economically nor socially ready for this; first we need to ensure the normal operation of the existing 97 court districts,” said Alexander Butakov. The meeting of the justices of the peace with the Minister of State and Legal Development of the Omsk Region, Alexander Butakov, took place in the conference room of the regional government. The invited judges and officials of the regional ministry did not dare to enter the hall for a long time; while waiting for Mr. Butakov, they discussed their problems in the hall. As it turned out, everyone has common troubles: there is not enough office equipment, too much workload on the cases under consideration. As Yuri Lebed, head of the department of organizational and legal activities of the apparatus of justices of the peace of the Ministry of State and Legal Development of the Omsk Region, said, there are now 97 justices of the peace working in the Irtysh region. "This is not enough. Federal judges handle up to 70% of civil cases, up to 30% of criminal cases , and almost 100% of administrative cases. The Federal Law “On Justices of the Peace” established a quota for a judicial precinct from 15 to 30 thousand people per precinct. In the Lyubinsky district of the Omsk region alone we have over 40 thousand people,” said Yuri Lebed. In his opinion, magistrates in the Omsk region work “with terrible overload.” “There is an urgent need to increase the number of justices of the peace, but this is the competence of the federal center, the State Duma. Although both the Supreme Court and the subject of the Federation have the right to introduce a legislative initiative,” added Mr. Lebed.
The judges' thoughts were interrupted by Mr. Butakov appearing in the hall - he invited everyone into the conference room. In his address, Alexander Butakov asked those present to remember the date November 23, 2004 as the day of the end of the formation of the institute of magistrates in the Omsk region (the candidacies of the last three magistrates were approved yesterday by deputies of the legislative assembly of the Omsk region - Kommersant ). The minister asked each of the invited judges to briefly tell their biography.
Having met the justices of the peace, Alexander Butakov told them about the tasks of the new service and how the ministry’s personnel policy would be structured in 2005. “Coming to you, to the magistrate’s court, people must solve their problems quickly and fairly. The government of the Omsk region is counting on you, we are convinced that caring for you and the investments made in you will pay off handsomely,” the official said. According to him, the apparatus of the Ministry of State and Legal Development of the Omsk Region will solve all organizational, material and technical problems of justices of the peace. “My employees are experienced people. Therefore, I would like your relationship to be respectful and correct. The success of the work of the magistrates' courts will depend on your (officials and judges - Kommersant ) interaction. “I don’t tolerate laxness and an unprofessional attitude to the matter,” Mr. Butakov warned and invited the judges to ask questions.
The justices of the peace did not dare to show their curiosity; only after a persistent repeated invitation to the discussion did remarks begin about the lack of office equipment, poor heating in the court buildings and the heavy workload of the judges. “Tell me, is it real for a magistrate to have an assistant?” - asked the magistrate of court district No. 9 of the Kormilovsky district of the Omsk region Alexey Pogrebnyak.
The minister asked the judges not to worry that the issue of technical equipment would be resolved in the near future, but they should not hope for the appearance of assistants. “As for assistants, we have an objection to this regular phenomenon, and the fact that a consultant’s position will appear is a settled issue. Such rates are included in the budget for 2005; these specialists will be engaged in analytical work and comparative law,” said Mr. Butakov. According to him, judges should not count on an increase in the number of judicial districts, which means that the number of justices of the peace will not increase either. “In my opinion, we are not yet ready for expansion. First, it is necessary to ensure the normal functioning of the existing 97 judicial stations. There are discussions about increasing the number of justices of the peace in both the regional and Supreme Courts. 97 plots, 143 or more - this problem has the right to be debatable, discussed, but there is no solution yet. We are neither economically nor socially ready for this; in a year or two, maybe we will increase it,” said Alexander Butakov.
Anna Gadalina

Kommersant (Omsk) No. 220 dated November 24, 2004, p. 12

Regional authorities are waiting for dividends