#8 - JRL 7027
RUSSIAN PRIME MINISTER SUMS UP FIRST RESULTS OF JUDICIAL REFORM

MOSCOW, January 21, 2003. /From RIA Novosti correspondent Andrei Malosolov/ -- This year the appropriations for financing the judicial system will be increased by 1/3, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov disclosed.

Starting from October 2003 the wages of judges will be increased by 40%, the Prime Minister said while speaking on Tuesday at the Russian Justice Academy. The number of federal judges will increase by 3,000 people.

"In the nearest future we must take measures to increase the Magistrate Courts and Courts of Jury, which will enable a broader access to justice for our citizens", Kasyanov said.

In his opinion, the present reform of the judicial system, the system of legal proceedings leads to the positive results. The custodial placement is impossible without the court's sanction, the Prime Minister said as naming one of the most important innovations of the judicial reform.

The Cabinet's policy concerning the economic reform increased the number of pecuniary disputes - the number of civil cases last year increased by 5 times since the beginning of the judicial reform, the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister also stressed the necessity to enhance the institution of the administrative courts in order "to decrease the officials' arbitrariness".