VZCZCXRO4301
PP RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHMO #2537/01 2801307
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 071307Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5014
INFO RUEHYG/AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG 3720
RUEHVK/AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK 3366
RUEHLN/AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG 5490
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 002537 
 
AIDAC STATE FOR USAID/E&E 
AIDAC STATE FOR USAID/DCHA 
STATE FOR EUR/ACE, EUR/RUS, DRL 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: EAID KJUS PREL PGOV PHUM SOCI RS
SUBJECT: AmbassadorQs Meeting with Chief Justice Lebedev 
 
Sensitive But Unclassified. Not for Internet Distribution. 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.(SBU) Ambassador Beyrle met with Chief Justice Vyacheslav Lebedev 
of the Russian Federation Supreme Court on September 28. Lebedev 
welcomed continued cooperation between the U.S. and Russian 
judiciaries.  He looked forward to his next visit to the U.S. and to 
the likely visit to Russia in 2011 of U.S. Chief Justice John 
Roberts.  He is acutely aware of the image of the Russian judicial 
system as reflected in USG human rights reports and press reports, 
and argued that this image fails to appreciate major changes which 
have occurred in the Russian judiciary.  End Summary. 
 
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PRAISE FOR RELATIONS BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIESQ JUDICIARIES 
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2.(SBU) Vyacheslav Lebedev, the current Chief Justice of the RF 
Supreme Court and before that the RSFSR Supreme Court since 1989, 
greeted us at the CourtQs gleaming headquarters. Lebedev noted that 
relations between the two countriesQ judiciaries have long been good 
and have remained good notwithstanding fluctuations in international 
relations.  He recalled his first trip to the U.S. in 1989 and said 
that he "loves America," including its jazz music.  He recalled 
wistfully his 2005 trip to the U.S., during which he met with nearly 
all the U.S. Supreme Court Justices, including an ailing Chief 
Justice Rehnquist.  If either the American Bar Association or his 
"colleagues" from the U.S. Supreme Court were to invite him to the 
U.S., he would accept, adding that his Court has money for his 
travel. Lebedev recalled that in the past, there had been even more 
contact between representatives of the two countriesQ judiciaries 
than there was at present. USAID noted that its budget in Russia has 
declined since those days. 
 
3.(SBU) Lebedev referenced the joint invitation extended to U.S. 
Chief Justice John Roberts to visit Russia, signed by himself and 
Chief Justice of the Supreme Arbitrazh Court Anton Ivanov and Chief 
Justice of the Constitutional Court Valeriy Zorkin.  (Chief Justice 
Roberts responded that he would like very much to visit Russia, but 
his schedule does not permit him to do so before the summer of 
2011.)  Lebedev said that they had a good program for his visit in 
mind, which would include the opportunity to visit someplace in 
regional Russia. 
 
4.(SBU) Lebedev noted, without providing much in the way of 
specifics, that some issues had become more complicated than was the 
case in the 1990s.  Then, the overriding desire had been to "make 
the government democratic as quickly as possible, "without much 
concern for making it "administrative" (he made a top to bottom 
gesture, perhaps implicitly referencing todayQs "vertical of 
power"), but the need had indeed arisen for something more practical 
than merely being "democratic." 
 
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CONCERN FOR THE COURTSQ IMAGE 
-------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Lebedev emphasized that he wanted to see "objective 
accounts" of the Russian court system.  It was fine to point out 
inadequacies where those exist, but too many reports reflect an 
unawareness of the changes that have occurred in the court system, 
he said.  He took issue with what he called "the human rights report 
of the U.S. Congress," which he believes is inaccurate in its 
description of the work of the courts.  When the people writing such 
reports show that they are not even aware of such basic facts as the 
changes in relative power of judges and prosecutors, for example, 
such reports lack credibility.  He also took issue with press 
reports which write as if things have not changed, when in fact they 
have changed greatly, "in part due to our cooperation with our U.S. 
colleagues." 
 
6.(SBU) Lebedev said, "You often hear, QThe courts are corrupt.Q" 
He said that if what is meant is that a judge is taking bribes, that 
needs to be stated. But if corruption is a "nizovoye yavlenie" (a 
grass-roots, pervasive phenomenon), then it cannot be the case that 
the legislative and executive branches are "clean" and only the 
judiciary is corrupt.  The important thing for the judiciary, he 
noted, is to act openly and make its decisions available to the 
public. Lebedev referenced the increasing availability of court 
decisions, noting that even if a hearing is closed to the public, as 
when intimate details of a personQs private life are at issue, the 
 
MOSCOW 00002537  002 OF 002 
 
 
decision itself is public. (Note: A potentially important law on 
public access to information about the work of the courts was 
enacted in December 2008 and will require courts, among other 
things, to place certain information on official websites beginning 
July 1, 2010; some courts are ahead of this schedule. End Note.) 
 
7.(SBU) Lebedev was asked about the potential for Russian judges 
travel abroad in light of a 2008 law restricting inter alia judges 
right to receive compensation for travel. (Note: USAIDQs rule of law 
program implementation has faced some difficulty of late, believed 
to be related to some judges interpreting the 2008 law as 
prohibiting them from participating in programs for which their 
participation is underwritten by USG-funded assistance Q and there 
is some speculation that these judges are reacting to signals from 
Lebedev. End note.)  Lebedev responded that his Court has money for 
travel, and that when Russian judges travel abroad they may pay 
their own transportation expenses, but might accept hotel expenses 
from the hosting side; the important thing is that such travel be 
"na paritetnom osnove" (on an equal footing), perhaps a reference to 
a restriction in the law forbidding judges from accepting certain 
types of compensation "solely from foreign governments or 
international organizations." 
 
8.(SBU) In response to our noting that some Russian officials seem 
to be afraid of continued close cooperation with Americans, and 
reminded that the role of NGOs was sometimes depicted very 
negatively in Russia, Lebedev responded that there was nothing for 
anyone to be afraid of.  While some old-fashioned NGOs may still 
take the attitude of "waiting for someone to come for them at four 
oQclock in the morning," that attitude isnQt typical, Lebedev said, 
and NGOs have a role to play in supporting the work of the courts. 
 
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COMMENT: 
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9.(SBU) The Supreme Court has often been regarded as lagging on 
reforms.  Contacts have told post that Lebedev, having headed the 
court for 20 years, hopes nonetheless to be remembered as having 
been an advocate for judicial prerogatives and something of a 
progressive on human rights issues.  He told several stories to 
burnish his credentials along these lines, including recalling how 
he stood up for the right to habeas corpus in the early 1990Qs and 
rebuffed a recent attempt by Finance Minister Kudrin to cut back 
funding for the courts, which, Lebedev claimed, would have 
undermined judicial independence. Lebedev has survived longer than 
most high-ranking government officials, and, it seems to us, would 
like to end his career with positive recognition from his foreign 
peers and the public. We hope that this desire for such a legacy 
will lead him to remove any obstacles to further judge participation 
in USG rule of law programs. Continued USG engagement with Russian 
courts through direct judiciary-to-judiciary contacts, and through 
carefully targeted programs managed by USAID, LES, Open World, and 
the Russian Foundation for Economic Advancement and Rule of Law, can 
capitalize on LebedevQs desire for recognition and help the courts 
continue on their long road of evolution in a positive direction. 
 
BEYRLE