EU, Russia in legal meeting of minds

THE EU and Russia have agreed to deepen their cooperation over judicial matters, examining potential joint projects to ensure the independence and effectiveness of both sides' court systems.

Although this road map, which was approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin and European Comm-ission president José Manuel Barroso, is supposedly an equal partnership, the EU will provide more assistance to Russia's judicial reform than it will get back. In this regard, the EU and Russia have agreed to organise professional training for Russian legal practitioners.

The two sides will look at an agreement on judicial cooperation in civil matters and there was a commitment to improve relations between EU legal agency Eurojust and Russia's public prosecutor office. Workshops involving judicial officials from both sides will be also staged.