Confession of a Russian judge

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

In response, Novikov received accusations that he himself had been part of a corruption system for almost ten years, assigning the land to assistants and acquaintances. Almost all charges were dropped, some of them have been under investigation in Rostov-on-Don for the fifth year. Today Novikov, in his own words, has the unique status of "federal judge without a seat." Judge Novikov told Anna Smirnova about how the Russian judicial system looks from the inside

How did you become a judge?

- I worked as a primary school teacher, then graduated from the law school and in the course of my studies got a job as a bailiff in the Sovetsky District Court of Krasnodar. An acquaintance of my mother helped to do this for a box of champagne. The salaries of bailiffs were small, but along the way I learned that they sometimes received ten times more than judges then. The fact is that in the 90s, 5% of all collected amounts were unsubscribed to performers. But not a single judge will sign a decision to pay you a 5% performance bonus if his interest is not taken into account. This was my first corrupt introduction to the system.

I decided to try to become a judge. The exam passed, the most difficult thing was ahead - coordination with the deputies of the Legislative Assembly, then they also coordinated the federal judges. It was impossible to get it for free, he began to look for ways out to different deputies, agreed with one for a small "thank you". They assigned me to the Ust-Labinsk District Court.

There is a big difference between rural outback and resort Sochi …

- After a while, he showed impudence - he asked to transfer me to Sochi. The chairman replied in surprise: in Sochi only through Novorossiysk, you need to work there for order, otherwise a scandal could come out. Persuaded him, promised to be obedient. I tried to give a small "thank you" in the amount of the cost, probably, of two boxes of chocolates - I would give a big one, I would definitely not translate it, here the naivety confused me. So I ended up in the Khostinsky district of Sochi.

It turns out that the chairman was deceived?

- I was obedient for the time being, until it became dangerous. Imagine a boy from the village of Pashkovsky became a federal judge at an all-Russian resort.

Working in Sochi is a big lottery. Especially now, when everyone suddenly became "patriots" and come to rest in the Krasnodar Territory. Any leader, be it from the Prosecutor General's Office, be it from the Supreme Court or the Presidential Administration, needs to be met, accommodated, amused … The employees of the Sochi apparatus are developing appropriate contacts. It so happened that the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Lebedev, treated me very well. We talked, he held a meeting with the host judges in my office, invited them to birthdays, once introduced them to Putin.

For more than two hours we sat at the same table with the president, he seemed to me a very interesting person. I even raised a toast: you know, I say, the main sign that Russia is a democratic, rule-of-law state is that I am standing here, communicating with you. This was impossible to imagine in Soviet times.

Today, probably, a box of champagne and a box of chocolates would not help

- Thousands of graduates receive legal diplomas in the country. Some of them work in their specialty and have the required experience. But documents are not submitted to competitions for vacancies in courts. Because they know that it is almost impossible to become a judge without money and connections. Everyone needs to pay. First, the examination commission, then the qualification collegium organizing competitions, but in fact, auctions for vacancies in courts, if the judge is a magistrate - to the deputies who approve him. Having passed these barriers - to the employees of the presidential envoy, then in the very administration of the head of state. When I was going to move from Khosta to the chairmen of the Adler District Court of Sochi, the approval in the presidential administration passed through Andrey Polyakov. I come to him for an appointment, he calls the regional court in front of me: do we agree? We agree. Then he declares: you must fulfill a number of conditions. And exposes unbearable conditions, the size of which was incredible. I don’t have such opportunities, can’t at least half? In response: we are not in the bazaar. Or will you pay with land? Do you have time, think

Clear. Let's return to the mechanism of operation of the courts. Suppose there was enough money, the person put on the mantle. Tell us about the mechanism of work of the court? Can a principled judge make a truly independent decision?

- I'll tell you about my first acquittal. When considering the case on charges of robbery, extortion and unlawful imprisonment of a person by four citizens, the chairman of the district court summoned me three times, demanding that all procedural decisions be coordinated with him. Prior to that, he introduced into the general rule to coordinate with him release from custody, refusal to satisfy the petition for choosing a preventive measure, and the appointment of a suspended sentence. I disagreed. After he acquitted the citizens and released them from custody, he was furious: you p … c.

Today there is no real mechanism for influencing a person who interferes in justice and puts pressure on a judge. You tell me - report it to the TFR. But from there, the application will be sent to an ordinary investigator in the same area where the chairman of the court works. Now put yourself in the shoes of the boy investigator who got the job so hard. The chairman of the court will not even deign to appear for an interrogation - he is a master in the area! Add to this the fact that the children of the president of the court, as is often the case in practice, are judges and assistant prosecutors. If the investigator has enough integrity and procedural independence, the same chairman of the court will file a complaint against his actions with his own court. The complaint will be considered by an ordinary "independent" judge, to whom both the characterization and the order on leave and incentives are signed by the same chairman, who, moreover, has full control over the qualification collegium.

I will tell you about how the personnel for our courts are selected using the example of Sochi. Judges and their assistants during my time were the daughter of the regional prosecutor, and later the adviser to the governor, the daughter of the prosecutor general, today the plenipotentiary in the Southern Federal District Ustinov, the wife of the police chief and the city prosecutor, the nephew of the Cossack ataman, the girlfriend of one of the leaders of Gazprom, who boasts that that she was returned to work on Yeltsin's command. The deputy presidents of the court are a certain lady who was once expelled from the Stavropol Territory, but is on friendly terms with the ex-minister of justice, and the son of the chairman of a neighboring district court. His own son is subordinate to a neighbor, such a mutual responsibility.

Yes, with such a composition it would be interesting to listen to informal conversations. Are the sizes of cars and houses measured?

- You would listen to conversations in offices and "smoking rooms". One judge complains with concern that the "bastard chairman" does not give a single money case, so he is stranded for two weeks. Another also complains: as I look into my wife's eyes, I won't even carry $ 200 home today! The way out is to go to the ATM, withdraw from the card the salary that has been accumulated as unnecessary for several months. At the same time, the chairman grumbles that the people have become greedy, the last visitor offered concrete instead of money. It's good that he started a construction site, but why does he need this concrete?

Judges are very fond of cases of crimes provided for by Articles 228 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (drugs) and 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (fraud). There is already a wide field for activity - the limits of judicial discretion vary from a fine and 2 months to 8 years in a penal colony. The defendants and their relatives, desiring a softer sentence, bring generous rewards to Themis.

An experienced judge usually brings a young colleague up to date, warning about the rules of the game: only cases that have not been sold at the stage of investigation or approval of an indictment reach the court. Therefore, now the prosecutor's office and the investigation will interfere with making money on this case. It is necessary to share with the prosecutor and the chairman of the court so that the former does not make a protest (presentation), and the latter ensures that any judgment or decision remains in force at the stage of appeal.

Opponents claim that you awarded the land in Krasnaya Polyana, including to your assistants. The same Silk, who testifies against you today

- The person who is called my assistant, Shelkova, worked as a representative of the governor of the Krasnodar Territory in Sochi on investment and business activities. I urged him to give up the land, but he explained: he called Voloshin, now he is the chairman of the Moscow Regional Court, and says - let's re-register the land at the seaport in the center of Sochi with your organization of another person. And the seaport in Sochi is the very center, like the Kremlin in Moscow. For whom will we issue? On Eduard Kagosyan. This is a criminal authority known under the nickname "Karas", who had the crust of an assistant judge of a regional court, and then, as investigator Yurin told me, an assistant to a judge of the Supreme Court. "Karas" had a luxurious car park, hotels, he met and accommodated distinguished guests. By the way, it was Kagosyan who drove Alexei Pimanov around the city when he was filming the first program about me. He settled the criminal authority of the host of "Man and the Law" in the sanatorium "Rodina".

So, when I turned to the FSB, it turned out that they knew almost all the information, but no measures were taken. Apparently, they collect "on the table". The FSB promised me protection if I openly talk about all the facts, but the next day I was arrested in Moscow and taken to Krasnodar.

By the way, how are the relations between judges and security officers developing?

- My relationship developed as follows. After the arrest, the head of the investigative department of the regional FSB, Alexander Chernov, hit me in the face with a sheaf of documents and shouted an explanation: “You fool, you forgot that right is the will of the ruling class, which you do not belong to, which is the will of the ruling class, which has become law! The judges lived normally, they pinched the people a little, and you decided to stop them. Now blame yourself! " I cannot speak for the entire structure of the security service, but in the Krasnodar Territory, many KGB officers, it seems to me, are still sure that it is the 1920s, and Dzerzhinsky is not dead, he just went on vacation. And the judges are completely dependent on these "fiery fighters".

Here is a real dialogue of an ordinary judge summoned to the carpet to the chairman of the district court:

- You, asshole, why didn't you arrest those two who were brought by the FSB !?

- So there was nothing …

- Fool, do not bother people to earn money. You will call tomorrow, apologize and ask to be brought back. You will plant as much as asked.

- There is!

Such ministers will be carried in their arms, glorified at meetings, such will be admitted to the secrets of behind-the-scenes justice. They will be called "Honored Lawyers" of the region and the country. They, together with the Chekists "doing their own business", will enjoy life on the bones of ordinary Russians.

And how to change the state of affairs? In general, is it real?

- I have considered several proposals that can make the courts more open and accountable to society. Under the president, it is necessary to create a centralized examination commission to test the qualifications of candidates for judges and judges. There should be no judges in it, so that the negotiated candidates do not have access to justice. Further, a disciplinary commission should be created under the President of Russia, which will check the validity of complaints from citizens and authorities about the observance of professional discipline by judges and other requirements of the law. Such a commission should be able to raise the issue of terminating the powers of a judge before the president. Today it turns out that the president personally appoints a judge, and “dismisses” any objectionable chairman of the court, who completely manages the qualification collegium. The uniformity of judicial practice must be ensured through the binding of precedent (possibly from the level of decisions of the second or third instance) so that, other things being equal, there can be no different decisions.

It is very important to deprive the chairmen of the courts of administrative power over the judges - they distribute cases, determine the time of leave, duty schedules, and characterize judges. All this gives rise to the character of serfdom of the judge before the leadership and creates incredible opportunities for the chairman of the court to influence the judge in any case.

The latter, finally, I am convinced of the need to abolish the immunity of judges. If we assure society that the legal mechanisms in force protect every citizen, why should judges be afraid? The fear of falling into the millstones of the security forces and being rejected by yesterday's colleagues is the main evidence of the system's illness.