OREANDA-NEWS. The St Petersburg International Legal Forum was established in 2011 by a presidential directive. During the three years of its existence, the forum has become known as a high-level platform for dialogue between the government, businesspeople, lawyers, judges, economists and the world’s leading research fellows.

Transcript:

Alexander Konovalov (Minister of Justice): Ladies and gentlemen, I’m pleased to welcome you to the opening of the 3rd St Petersburg International Legal Forum.

This year the plenary session of the forum is being held at a unique venue: the new Mariinsky Theatre, which opened just two weeks ago. It was built not far from the site of the first permanent theatre in the city, the Kamenny (Stone) Theatre. It was the inspiration for the famous Mariinsky Theatre, which is known for its renowned performers and an outstanding drama school plus the harmonious combination of conservatism, tradition and the preservation of cultural heritage. It combines tradition with a new, sometimes revolutionary, approach to classical and modern productions.

Experts say that the magnificent acoustics of this hall enable each tone and aspect of a musical piece to be emphasised. Without a doubt this venue has beautiful interiors, wonderful acoustics and is home to brilliant performances from musicians and their instruments. However, none of this would mean anything without the music, which teaches the public about timeless values, people in history, mankind itself and its quest and striving for truth and love. Just like music, justice and the law should (regardless of the excellent skills of lawyers) serve the basic values of law, protect people, their freedom and safety, fight lawlessness and defend justice.

Ladies and gentlemen! We are confident that all participants of the 3rd St Petersburg International Legal Forum and everyone present here share this understanding of the law and its administration. That’s why it is so important to see all forum participants here. For the third time, St Petersburg is providing the platforms for a thoroughly competent and lively discussion by experts, representatives of various fields of legal expertise and law schools on a wide range of legal issues.

Today we expect nearly 60 roundtable discussions on a broad range of issues as part of the forum, from nuclear law to sport law, from regulating relations in the sphere of arts and culture to regulating subsoil use. We hope that the quality of discussions that will be held annually at the International Legal Forum in St Petersburg will provide for its gradual transformation into a specific business incubator for new approaches and new ideas in law enforcement that will be applied in Russia and everywhere beyond.

Ladies and gentlemen, we regard the first two forums that were held in St Petersburg as a good beginning, and now is the time for action. Welcome to St Petersburg! I wish you all success!

Presenter: Ladies and gentlemen, I invite onstage the plenary meeting’s moderator Alexander Vershinin, general director of the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library, DSc in Law, and participants in the plenary meeting of the 3rd St Petersburg International Legal Forum Valery Zorkin, chairman of the Russian Constitutional Court; professor Timothy Endicott, Dean of the Faculty of Law at Oxford University; His Excellency Mr Peter Tomka, President of the International Court of Justice; His Excellency Mr Ivo Opstelten, Minister of Security and Justice of the Netherlands; Mr Michael Reynolds, President of the International Bar Association; and Berik Imashev, Minister of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

I welcome Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

Dmitry Medvedev: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, colleagues. I welcome all those who have arrived in St Petersburg for the 3rd International Legal Forum. I think that the organisers’ idea to make the forum a traditional and necessary event in the schedule of many lawyers has been realised. I am pleased that today my colleagues, leading experts from different countries, who represent different spheres of law and jurisprudence, are here in this room. There are many new faces here too – fortunately this wonderful hall can accommodate all of us – as well as those who attended previous forums. I will repeat that I find this to be evidence of the forum’s popularity. I can also add to what has already been said about the forum’s location, the recently opened stage of the Mariinsky Theatre. You are among the first visitors to this hall and can evaluate its uniqueness and the highest level of acoustics. Anyway I hope that what I am saying can be heard on the other end of the hall, and in the balcony.

It is hard to build such a modern facility and it is even harder to breathe life into its new walls. This resembles the objective Russia faced twenty years ago when the legal framework of our country was being formed and new economy was being established.

This year marks the 20th anniversary since the establishment of the Russian Constitution and the new Russian Parliament. A large number of laws have been passed that have defined Russia’s development in these twenty years. Fundamental documents and codes have been passed, including the Civil Code, which is a major achievement of lawyers who are also present in this hall. I wouldn’t say we have succeeded in everything, but that would have been impossible.