SPILF 2024: Results
‘Law: The Foundation of Global
Balance’ was the main theme of the 12th St. Petersburg International
Legal Forum, held on 26–28 June in the northern capital. The best legal
experts, politicians, and representatives of the business and law enforcement
communities discussed the rule of law. During the course of numerous discussions,
they unequivocally confirmed that in modern conditions, it is the universally
recognized legal norms that remain the solid foundation upon which work to
protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states and human rights
and freedoms must be built.
In his welcoming address to
the participants, organizers, and guests of the Forum, Russian President
Vladimir Putin noted that Russia has consistently upheld the principle of
the rule of law, both in domestic life and in the international arena. <...>
“Russia is the BRICS chair country this year. Along with our partners, we are
committed to developing effective legal regulation that can strengthen food and
energy security and contribute to the protection of the environment and
climate, as well as to the creation of fair rules for global trade and
technological cooperation. We are ready to step up cooperation in these areas
with other countries, above all from the Asia-Pacific region, Africa, and Latin
America,” the Russian head of state emphasized.
In today’s realities, at a
time of large-scale international legislative changes, debating the themes set
out for discussion at the Forum helped to identify areas for improving national
legislation and addressing law enforcement issues, while the recommendations
and ideas proposed and developed at the Forum should serve as a basis for
improving key legal institutions, strengthening the authority of the law, and
developing digital technologies in the fields of law, public
administration, and the economy.
Modern realities dictate the
need for digitalization of legal processes, since, according to Konstantin
Chuychenko, Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation, “the transition
to digitalization is also much-needed in the field of justice: without it,
further steps to improve the effectiveness and accessibility of justice for the
citizens of our countries will be significantly hampered.”
PLENARY SESSION
The plenary session was
attended by Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev and
representatives of the legal systems of four countries: Oscar Manuel Silvera
Martínez, Minister of Justice and Deputy to the National Assembly of People’s
Power of Cuba; Festus Katuna Mbandeka, General Prosecutor of the Republic of
Namibia; Rein Mullerson, Professor Emeritus, School of Governance, Law and
Society, Tallinn University (Republic of Estonia); and Alena Douhan, Special
Rapporteur of the UN Human Rights Council on the Negative Impact of Unilateral
Coercive Measures on the Enjoyment of Human Rights (Republic of Belarus).
In his speech, Dmitry
Medvedev noted that SPILF is becoming a genuine meeting ground for
representatives of the legal community, business, science, and citizens from
Russia and a wide variety of countries, especially from Asia, Africa, and Latin
America. “Today the world has not just become radically different.
Unfortunately, it has, in fact, reached the point of no return, and the legal
system with it. Our common goal is to do everything we can to find a basis for
resolving heated controversies. The strongest basis for that is to realize and
reaffirm the value of international law, which we are obliged to preserve
globally, despite all conflicts and disputes. Despite the lack of mutual
understanding, this must be done,” he said.
BUSINESS PROGRAMME
For the first time, the legal
community was asked to share its views and help shape the Forum’s business
programme. About 1,000 people discussed potential topics for the sessions. As a
result, the Forum programme was structured into nine themes, which included
more than 120 events. Thanks to such a rich agenda and a representative
composition of participants, the Forum has become a significant social event.
Participants discussed
numerous issues, from digitalization to the development of the legal services
market, from alternatives to imprisonment to effective corporate governance, as
well as the protection of property rights of citizens, regulation of legal
relations in the corporate sphere, improvement of legislation in the area of
family and inheritance law, and other topical issues.
The key theme was the international
agenda: international
law in the new reality.
As part of the international
events, Forum participants carried out in-depth analyses of mechanisms for
strengthening cooperation between countries, and proposed a number of
strategies to promote sustainable development and the alignment of interests in
the international arena. In the course of their discussions, experts discussed
how to adapt international law to modern conditions.
According to Anton Kobyakov,
Adviser to the President of the Russian Federation and Executive Secretary of
the SPILF Organizing Committee, “the most important source of the existing
dissonance in the legal sphere on the international scale is the fundamental
contradiction between the continental legal system, codified and built on a
system of laws, and the so-called British legal system, built on a precedent
that suits the judge, whereas the generally accepted continental legal system
is based on the law and the democratic expression of the will of citizens.”
Numerous questions concerned
the relationship between Russian business and its Asian partners; the volume of
trade and investment between the two has increased by an order of magnitude,
reaching a qualitatively new level. Legal regulation cannot keep up with rapid
changes such as the speed of registration of companies with foreign
participants, migration requirements for staff, mutual settlements under
sanctions, and the complexity and variability of legislation; these problems
were discussed with Russia’s Asian partners.
Sanctions have broken down
ways of doing business, logistics chains, and established business processes in
the area of financing and corporate governance, and established business
relations in general. Domestic companies have therefore begun to open up new
jurisdictions for themselves, facing many challenges: the particular features
of doing business outside the Russian jurisdiction were also discussed at the
internationally themed sessions.
The pace and scale of the
introduction of new sanctions is such that virtually every Russian business is
at risk, so during discussions, experts offered options on how to proactively
master the new rules of the game and identify creative solutions.
No less important was the
discussion of a particular issue faced by business: the choice of arbitration.
With the ‘pivot to the East’, Russian companies have started looking for a
substitute for arbitration courts in London (LCIA) or Paris (ICC), while the
Singapore International Arbitration Court (SIAC) has grown in popularity.
Discussions touched upon one
of the key trends of this year: the bankruptcy of foreign legal entities in
Russia, especially with regard to secondary liability and damages.
The year 2024 will be marked
by Russia’s chairmanship of BRICS, which was also reflected in the
agenda at SPILF. During the discussions, participants emphasized that BRICS
members follow the principles of openness and mutual benefit, taking into
account national interests and the multipolar nature of the world. It is these
factors that should form the basis for the development of international law.
Forum participants also discussed the Russian initiative to establish an
International Investment Arbitration Centre.
As part of the talks,
participants raised the subject of the corrupt nature of the Federal Reserve
System (the Fed) and its role as the main instrument of global financial
capital. Experts believe that the current challenges associated with the Fed’s
dominance include the need to revise the global financial system and identify
alternative mechanisms of global economic governance that would be fairer and
more transparent.
A wide range of issues was
related to the legal defence of the
national interests of the Russian Federation in the context of the
transformation of the world order. The experts stressed that in order to fully
protect Russia’s sovereignty, it is necessary to refine current legislation in
terms of issues related to prosecution for crimes against the peace and
security of humanity, as well as to continue improving legislative regulation
on protection from external influence.
In particular, the Forum
sessions also raised questions about creating a modern model of a multipolar
world relevant to today’s realities, on the basis of international law, the
activities of NPOs, migration policy, the introduction of digital justice,
legal regulation of the use of artificial intelligence in education and
science, and the role of AI in countering extremist and terrorist propaganda.
During the discussion of the
role and place of non-profit organizations in the implementation of Russia’s
foreign policy, new vectors for developing legal regulation of the activity
of NPOs were considered. According to Oleg Sviridenko, Deputy
Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation, given the ever-increasing
external challenges, it is necessary to continue to take appropriate measures
against those organizations through which attempts to destabilize our society
and undermine Russian sovereignty are being made.
In addition to the business
programme events during SPILF, the following events were held:
·
Open
meeting of justice ministers,
attended by representatives of 19 countries. The ministers discussed at length
the improvement and systematization of legislation, boosting access to justice
and the development of dispute resolution mechanisms, the digitalization of
justice, the development of the penal system, and the resocialization and
social adaptation of prisoners.
·
Special
meeting of the Expert Advisory Council of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective
Security Treaty Organization on the theme ‘The Security Umbrella of
Eurasian Integration’. Meeting participants discussed issues pertaining to
legal support for military, biological, information, digital, and electoral
security, and also considered promising areas for the development of CSTO model
legislation and legal aspects of the use of digital and artificial intelligence
technologies in maintaining security.
·
Meeting
of the Interstate Council for Combating Corruption working group, attended by representatives of Armenia, Belarus,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Russia, the CIS Executive Committee, the
secretariats of the Council of Heads of Financial Intelligence Units and the
Coordination Council of Heads of Tax (Financial) Investigation Bodies of the
CIS Member States, and the CIS IPA Council. They discussed work to improve the
model legislation on fighting corruption and issues of international
cooperation.
·
Meeting
of the CIS Human Rights Commission, in which participants from Belarus, Kyrgyzstan,
Armenia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan discussed the observance of the
rights of foreign labour migrants.
Valery Zorkin, Chairman of the Constitutional Court of the Russian
Federation, gave a lecture entitled The Law and the Challenges of Artificial
Intelligence. In particular, he believes that artificial intelligence
should not be given personal rights, as AI is not a carrier of important
components of personality.
About 700 speakers took part in the sessions of the main
programme (For reference: 500 speakers attended in 2023). Speakers at
SPILF 2024 included legal scholars and the leading lawyers of the country,
discussing various different areas of the law, politicians and heads of state
and international organizations, and representatives of business.
Traditionally, the plenary
session of the International Youth Legal Forum has been held on the
sidelines of SPILF.
PARTICIPANTS
The best legal professionals,
politicians, academics, experts, heads of the largest law firms in Russia and
abroad, and representatives of the law enforcement community visited the city
on the Neva to discuss the most pressing legal issues of our time, and
legislative innovations and initiatives.
Anton
Kobyakov, Adviser to the President of the Russian Federation and Executive
Secretary of the SPILF Organizing Committee, said: “During the three days of
the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum, leaders and experts of the world
legal community held events to develop ways to solve existing problems in the
legal field and to formulate what kind of system of international law there
should be in a multipolar world. And the main conclusion was that the law must
be upheld! As a result, about 5,000 people took part in the Forum, including
4,300 participants and media representatives from 81 countries and territories,
including Russia. On 29 June, the International Youth Legal Forum will
continue its work at St. Petersburg State University, with approximately 700
participants expected. In fact, our legal forum today is the world’s main
expert legal platform, and it represents a high level of trust. It is here that
the definitions that will affect not only and not so much our country, but the
whole world, are formed and refined in discussions. We are on the way to a
multipolar world.”
(For reference: in 2023 there were 3,800
participants from 54 countries and territories)
“It is important that in these difficult times, the
Forum has not shrunk to become an internal Russian event, but has retained its
international status,” emphasized Sergey Stepashin, Chairman,
Association of Lawyers of Russia; Chairman of the Board of Trustees,
Territorial Development Fund.
Guests of the Forum included 19 ministers of
justice of foreign states: Bahrain, Burundi, Djibouti, Zimbabwe, Qatar,
Kyrgyzstan, Cuba, Kuwait, Malawi, Mali, Myanmar, Namibia, the United Arab
Emirates, Abkhazia, Belarus, Tajikistan, Thailand, the Central African Republic
(CAR), South Ossetia, 11 heads of
diplomatic corps; Prosecutors General from Venezuela, Namibia, and
Tajikistan; 15 heads of foreign courts, from Abkhazia (2
representatives), Egypt, Belarus, Benin, Burkina Faso (2 representatives),
Zambia, Morocco, Malaysia, Myanmar, Palestine, Tajikistan, the Central African
Republic (CAR), and South Ossetia.
The Forum was visited by heads of international
organizations and associations: Alexey Dronov, Chairman, Court of the
Eurasian Economic Union; Sergey Pospelov, Executive Secretary of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization; Moussa
Laraba, Secretary General of the Conference of Constitutional Jurisdictions of
Africa; Grigory Ivliev, President, Eurasian Patent Office (EAPO) of the
Eurasian Patent Organization.
Russian officials worked at the Forum venues, including: Valery Zorkin,
Chairman of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation; Valery Fadeev,
Adviser to the President of the Russian Federation; Vladimir Medinsky,
Assistant to the President; Konstantin Chuychenko, Minister of Justice; and
Sergey Kravtsov, Minister of Education. Also Alexander Bastrykin, Chairman,
Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation; heads of federal services
and agencies: Valery Tikhonov, Director of the State Courier Service; Arkady
Gostev, Director, Federal Penitentiary Service (FPS of Russia); Anzor Muzaev,
Head of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science; Dmitry
Aristov, Director, Federal Bailiffs Service – Chief Bailiff of the Russian
Federation; and Alexander Beglov, Governor of St. Petersburg.
The sessions were attended by Alexander Konovalov,
Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in
the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation; Garry Minkh,
Presidential Plenipotentiary Representative to the State Duma of the Federal
Assembly of the Russian Federation; and Tatyana Moskalkova, High
Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation.
Participation by representatives of business and legal
organizations exceeded last year’s figures. More than 780 representatives of Russian and foreign
businesses from over 400 companies were among the Forum participants. More than
360 representatives from 230 legal organizations from Russia and foreign
countries were also present.
SPILF 2024 EXHIBITION
An exhibition was organized at
SPILF 2024 in which 19 exhibitors, ministries, agencies, educational
institutions and organizations, took part: the Institute of Legislation and
Comparative Law, the Synergy Corporation, Hongqi, Rosfinmonitoring, the Russian
Legal Information Agency (RAPSI), the Federal Bailiffs Service, the Federal
Chamber of Notaries, the Association of Lawyers of Russia, Insight Capital, the
Federal Penitentiary Service, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian
Federation, Civil Registry Office (ZAGS), St. Petersburg State University, the
Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, the Eurasian Patent
Office, the Anatoly Koni Exhibition, Diktatura Zakona, the Gorodets Publishing
House, and the St. Petersburg University of State Fire Service of Emercom of
Russia.
The exhibitors presented
current projects, and the latest technologies, products and solutions.
For
example, at the stand of the Federal Chamber of Notaries it was possible
to familiarize oneself with the new mobile application ‘notariat.rf’ which
contains convenient options such as how to search for a notary, make an
appointment with one, access all public registers and notary services, check a
document by QR code, and more. The Chamber also presented the ‘office in a
suitcase’, a mobile system facilitating work in remote areas. The exhibition at
the stand ‘Russian notaries: from birch bark manuscripts to ‘teleportation’ of
documents’ demonstrated how during changes of technological modes and epochs,
notarial certification has always fulfilled its task of protecting people’s
rights, their property and their property interests.
The Association of Lawyers
of Russia gave a presentation of monographs and textbooks by professors of
the Kutafin Moscow State Law University (MSAL) at their stand.
A virtual assistant at the Ministry
of Justice of the Russian Federation’s stand advised visitors on legal
issues, held a quiz on legal topics, and helped everyone to take selfies,
sending the photos to the Forum guests by email.
AGREEMENTS
As part of the 12th
St. Petersburg International Legal Forum, 37 agreements, treaties,
programmes and memoranda were signed (For reference: 15 agreements were
signed in 2023):
·
A
treaty between the Russian Federation and the State of Kuwait on the transfer
of persons sentenced to imprisonment;
·
Five
agreements and
memoranda of cooperation between the Ministry of Justice of the Russian
Federation and the Ministries of Justice of: the Republic of Djibouti; the
Republic of Zimbabwe; the Gabonese Republic; the Gabonese Republic in the field
of regulation of non-profit organizations; the Kingdom of Thailand;
·
Three
cooperation
programmes for 2024–2025 between the Ministry of Justice of the Russian
Federation and the Ministries of Justice of: the Republic of Abkhazia; the
Republic of South Ossetia; the Republic of Uzbekistan;
·
Five Cooperation programmes between the Federal Bailiffs
Service of Russia and the Ministries of Justice of the Republic of Abkhazia and
the Republic of South Ossetia; as well as the Compulsory Enforcement Service
(Republic of Armenia), the National Chamber of Public Enforcement Officers of
the Republic of Serbia, and the Legal Execution Department of the Ministry of Justice
of the Kingdom of Thailand;
·
A
cooperation agreement between the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of
the Russian Federation and the Russia-wide non-profit organization, the Federal
Chamber of Lawyers of the Russian Federation;
·
A
cooperation agreement between the Federal Chamber of Notaries, the socially
beneficial foundation, the Centre for Notarial Studies, and St. Petersburg
State University, a federal budgetary educational institution of higher
education;
·
An
agreement on staff training between the Ministry of Justice of Russia and the
Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation;
·
Three agreements between the Roscongress Foundation and the
Synergy Corporation on cooperation with the Association of Lawyers of Russian,
the Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law under the Government of the
Russian Federation and Kutafin Moscow State Law University (MSAL).
·
A
cooperation agreement between the Roscongress Foundation and the All-Russian
State University of Justice (RLA of the Ministry of Justice of Russia);
·
A
cooperation agreement between the Lugansk Academy of the Investigative
Committee of the Russian Federation and the Donbas State University of Justice
of the Ministry of Justice of Russia, and others.
EXPERT AND ANALYTICAL SUPPORT
The Roscongress Foundation’s
Information and Analytical System has continued to develop its Summary service,
enabling you to receive brief analytical summaries of the discussions with a
description of the key conclusions, problems, and solutions voiced during
discussions. A total of 34 analytical summaries were issued as a result of
SPILF 2024.
This is a translation of
material that was mainly originally generated in Russian using artificial
intelligence.
The report, Results of the St.
Petersburg International Legal Forum 2024, will be prepared based on the
outcomes of the Forum.
Approximately 50 experts were
involved in the expert and analytical support of the Forum. They included
representatives of leading Russian universities and research institutions,
including the St. Petersburg State University of Economics, St. Petersburg
State University, and Lomonosov Moscow State University.
ON THE SIDELINES OF SPILF
Alongside the Forum, guests
and participants were able to visit the exhibition ‘Defence of the Russian
State: History and Modernity’. Its main purpose was to show how throughout
its history, Russia has faced attempts to violate its sovereignty. For the
first time, dozens of historical documents, photographs, unique footage and
videos portraying foreign attempts to interfere in Russia’s internal affairs
from the Time of Troubles to the present day have been collected and displayed
on one platform.
CULTURAL PROGRAMME
Forum guests and participants
were offered an extensive cultural programme as part of the St. Petersburg
Seasons Festival of Culture, which included visits to museums, theatres, the
architectural monuments of St. Petersburg, and various other events.
Guests of the Forum were also
shown an exhibition called Paths of Justice: On the 180th anniversary of
Anatoly Kony’s birth. It is located inside an early 20th century
Transcaucasus railway luggage car in the Museum of Russian Railways in St.
Petersburg, which meant visitors can immerse themselves in the atmosphere of
the time. Visitors could also see photographic materials, rare documents and
the personal belongings of the outstanding Russian lawyer Anatoly Kony.
In addition, a Gala
Reception to mark the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum was held on
behalf of Konstantin Chuychenko, the Minister of Justice of the Russian
Federation, and Alexander Beglov, the Governor of St. Petersburg. It was
attended by over 4,000 people. The event’s musical programme featured the
Tavrichesky International Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Mikhail
Golikov, Artistic Director and Chief Conductor, and the Moscow Jazz Orchestra
under the baton of Igor Butman, People’s Artist of Russia.
The St. Isaac’s Cathedral
Youth Choir also performed at the Forum with the support of the Roscongress
Foundation and the Right Outdoor Media Group.
SPORTS PROGRAMME
More than 450 SPILF participants played chess,
draughts, and Go at the Mind Sports Lounge. Representatives from China, Italy,
Myanmar, Turkmenistan, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia took part in tournaments,
masterclasses, and simultaneous play sessions. The winner of the SPILF Chess
Cup was Professor Konstantin Krakovsky of the Russian Presidential Academy of
National Economy and Public Administration. The SPILF Go Cup was won by German
Zakharov, Partner at the Alrud law firm. A draughts tournament was also held.
Sergey Ivanov, international grandmaster and
senior coach of the Russian junior chess team, held a simultaneous exhibition,
and a similar draughts session was held by Andrey Napreenkov, European Veterans
Champion.
The SPILF sports programme was organized by RC
Sport, the sports platform of the Roscongress Foundation. The tournaments were
organized with the support of the St. Petersburg Chess Federation and the
Zvezda Go Club.
ORGANIZERS and PARTNERS
The Forum was organized by the
Roscongress Foundation with the support of the Ministry of Justice of the
Russian Federation, as well as strategic partner Rosseti, strategic scientific
partner the Kurchatov Institute National Research Centre, communication partner
MAER Media Holding, and official partners Gazprom and MegaFon. The official car
of the Forum was Hongqi.