Editing Politics of Russia (section)

==Judicial branch==
{{Main|Judiciary of Russia}}
[[File:Yakovlev Lebedev Zorkin Putin 2003.jpg|thumb|right|President Putin meeting Russia's highest courts heads ([[Veniamin Yakovlev]] of the [[High Court of Arbitration of Russia|High Court of Arbitration]], [[Vyacheslav Lebedev (Chief Justice)|Vyacheslav Lebedev]] of the [[Supreme Court of Russia|Supreme Court]], and [[Valery Zorkin]] of the [[Constitutional Court of Russia|Constitutional Court]]), 2003]]

The [[Judiciary of Russia]] is defined under the [[Constitution of Russia|Constitution]] and [[law of Russia]] with a hierarchical structure with the [[Constitutional Court of Russia|Constitutional Court]], [[Supreme Court of Russia|Supreme Court]], and [[High Court of Arbitration of Russia|High Court of Arbitration]] at the apex. As of 2014, the High Court of Arbitration has merged with the Supreme Court. The [[District courts of Russia|district courts]] are the primary criminal [[trial court]]s, and the [[Regional courts of Russia|regional courts]] are the primary [[appellate court]]s. The judiciary is governed by the [[All-Russian Congress of Judges]] and its [[Council of Judges]], and its management is aided by the Judicial Department of the Supreme Court, the [[Judicial Qualification Collegia of Russia|Judicial Qualification Collegia]], the [[Ministry of Justice (Russia)|Ministry of Justice]], and the various courts' chairpersons. There are many [[officer of the court|officers of the court]], including [[jury trial|jurors]], but the [[Prosecutor General of Russia|Prosecutor General]] remains the most powerful component of the Russian judicial system.

Many judges appointed by the regimes of [[Leonid Brezhnev]] (in office 1964-82) and [[Yuri Andropov]] (in office 1982-84) remained in place in the mid-1990s. Such arbiters were trained in "[[socialist law]]" and had become accustomed to basing their verdicts on telephone calls from local CPSU bosses rather than on the legal merits of cases.

For court infrastructure and financial support, judges must depend on the [[Ministry of Justice (Russia)|Ministry of Justice]], and for housing they must depend on local authorities in the jurisdiction where they sit. In 1995 the average salary for a judge was US$160 per month, substantially less than the earnings associated with more menial positions in [[Russian society]]. These circumstances, combined with irregularities in the appointment process and the continued strong position of the procurators, deprived judges in the lower jurisdictions of independent authority.

[[File:14 Arbitration Court of Appeals.jpg|thumb|An arbitration court of appeals in [[Vologda]]]]
Numerous matters which are dealt with by administrative authority in European countries remain subject to political influence in Russia. The [[Constitutional Court of Russia]] was reconvened in March 1995 following its suspension by President Yeltsin during the [[Russian constitutional crisis of 1993|October 1993 constitutional crisis]]. The 1993 constitution empowers the court to arbitrate disputes between the executive and legislative branches and between Moscow and the regional and local governments. The court also is authorized to rule on violations of [[constitutional right]]s, to examine [[appeal]]s from various bodies, and to participate in [[Impeachment in Russia|impeachment]] proceedings against the president. The July 1994 Law on the Constitutional Court prohibits the court from examining cases on its own initiative and limits the scope of issues the court can hear.

The [[State Duma]] passed a [[Criminal Code of Russia|Criminal Procedure Code]] and other judicial reforms during its 2001 session. These reforms help make the [[Russian judicial system]] more compatible with its Western counterparts and are seen by most as an accomplishment in human rights. The reforms have reintroduced jury trials in certain criminal cases and created a more [[adversarial system]] of criminal trials that protect the rights of defendants more adequately. In 2002, the introduction of the new code led to significant reductions in time spent in detention for new detainees, and the number of suspects placed in pretrial detention declined by 30%. Another significant advance in the new Code is the transfer from the Procuracy to the courts of the authority to issue search and arrest warrants.