Federal Law No. 7-FZ of January 8, 1998, on the judicial department under the supreme court of the Russian Federation

(with the Amendments and Additions of October 27, 2003, November 30, 2004, March 2, 2007, December 25, 2008, June 28, 2009)

Adopted by the State Duma on December 19, 1997
Approved by the Federation Council on December 24, 1997

Chapter I. General Provisions


Article 1. The Judicial Department under the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation
1. The Judicial Department under the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the Judicial Department) is a federal state body providing organisational support to the activity of the Supreme Courts of the Republics, territorial and regional courts, federal city courts, the courts of an autonomous region and autonomous areas, district courts, military and specialized courts (hereinafter referred to as the courts), judicial community bodies, and also financing lay magistrates.
2. Organisational support of the courts' activity in the context of the present Federal Law shall be understood to mean measures of personnel, financial material - and - technical and other nature aimed to provide conditions for the full and independent administration of justice.
3. The support to the activity of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation shall be provided by the administrative machinery of this court.

Article 2.
The Judicial Department System
1. The Judicial Department and also the administrations (sections) of the Judicial Department in the subjects of the Russian Federation and at the institutions, established by it (hereinafter referred to as the bodies and institutions of the Judicial Department), shall form the Judicial Department system.
2. The Judicial Department and the administrations (sections) of the Judicial Department shall act as legal entities, have state seals with their names and bank accounts, including foreign currency accounts.

Article 3. The Legal Basis of the Judicial Department's Activity
The Judicial Department and the bodies and institutions of the Judicial Department shall be guided in their activity by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the federal constitutional laws, the present Federal Law, other federal laws, the decrees of the President of the Russian Federation, the decisions of the Government of the Russian Federation, the orders of the Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, and also the decisions of the judicial community bodies, adopted within the limits of their powers.

Article 4.
Non-intervention in the Administration of Justice
The Judicial Department and the bodies and institutions of the Judicial Department shall promote the courts' greater self-sufficiency and judges' independence and they shall not intervene in the administration of justice.

GARANT system comment
Federal Law No. 143-FZ of November 30, 2004 amended Article 5 of this Federal Law


Article 5. The Financing of the Courts, Bodies of the judicial community and of the Judicial Department
1. The Judicial Department shall finance courts, lay magistrates and the bodies of the judicial community from federal budget resources.
2. The Director-General of the Judicial Department under the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the Director-General of the Judicial Department) shall submit to the Government of the Russian Federation, within the period fixed by the Government of the Russian Federation, proposals on financing the courts, lay magistrates and bodies of the judicial community for the next fiscal year, agreed upon with the Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and with the Council of Judges of the Russian Federation.
The General-Director of the Judicial Department shall be authorized to take part in the discussion by the Government of the Russian Federation of the draft federal budget for the next fiscal year on matters referring to the jurisdiction of the Judicial Department. In the event of disagreements, the Government of the Russian Federation shall append to the draft federal budget proposals on financing the courts, submitted by the Director-General of the Judicial Department, together with its conclusion.
The Director-General of the Judicial Department shall have the right to take part in the discussion of the federal Budget at the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on matters referring to the jurisdiction of the Judicial Department.
3. The Judicial Department shall be financed from the federal budget resources, indicated in it in a separate line.

Chapter II. The Powers, Structure and Organization
of the Judicial Department's Activity

Article 6. The Judicial Department's Powers

GARANT system comment
Federal Law No. 143-FZ of November 30, 2004 amended Item 1 of Article 6 of this Federal Law


1. The Judicial Department
1) shall ensure organisational support to the activity of the Supreme Courts of the Republics, the territorial and regional courts, federal city courts, the courts of autonomous formations, military and specialized courts, the bodies and institutions of the Judicial Department and also of the All-Russia Congress of Judges and the bodies of the community of judges, formed by it;
2) shall manage the bodies and institutions of the Judicial Department;
3) shall prepare draft federal laws and other legal acts on the aspects of its Department;

4) shall work out and submit to the Government of the Russian Federation proposals on financing the courts, lay magistrates and bodies of the judicial community, agreed upon with the Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and the Council of Judges;
5) shall study the organisation of the courts' activity and devise proposals for its improvement;
6) shall submit proposals in the established procedure to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on the formation or the abolishment of courts;
7) shall determine the courts' requirements for personnel; ensure the work of selecting and training nominees to judges' posts; interact with the educational institutions engaged in training and improving the qualification of judges and of the personnel of the administrative machinery of the courts;
8) shall ensure the selection and professional training of the personnel of the administrative machinery of the Judicial Department and of the personnel of the bodies and institutions of the Judicial Department;
9) shall work out scientifically substantiated norms of the load on judges and the personnel of the administrative machinery of courts;
10) shall redistribute, by agreement with the Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and taking account of the opinion of the chairman of the Supreme Courts of the Republics, the territorial and regional courts, federal city courts, the courts of the autonomous formations and military and specialized courts the vacated posts of judges in the respective courts;
11) shall maintain statistical and personal recording on the judges and the personnel of the administrative machinery of the courts, and also the personnel of the bodies and institutions of the Judicial Department.
12) shall maintain judicial statistics, organize paperwork and the work of the courts' record-keeping offices; interact with the judicial bodies in drawing up general statistical reports;
13) shall examine complaints and applications within the limits of its jurisdiction;
14) shall take measures for the supply of technical and other materials and for other kinds of support of the activity of the bodies and institutions of the Judicial Department; organize scientific research in the sphere of judicial activity and finance it.
15) shall organize the construction of buildings, and also the repair and equipping of the buildings and premises of courts and the bodies and institutions of the Judicial Department;
16) shall organize the development and introduction of the software necessary for legal procedure and paperwork and also for the informational - and - legal support to judicial activity; carry out the work of systematizing legislation; shall keep a bank of the normative legal acts of the Russian Federation and also the general legal rubricator of the legislation;
17) shall adopt measures, in interaction with the courts, the bodies of the community of judges and law-enforcement bodies, to ensure the indepedence, immunity and security of judges and their family members;
18) shall take steps to ensure the material and social maintenance of judges, including those who have retired, and of the personnel of the administrative machinery of the courts, and also take measures to provide them with well-appointed housing; organize medical services and sanatorium-and-spa treatment for judges, including for those who have retired, their family members and the personnel of the administrative machinery of the courts in accordance with the federal legislation;
19) shall establish and promote contracts with state and other bodies and institutions and organisations, including foreign ones, for the purposes of improving the organisation of the courts' work and the efficiency of the Judicial Department's activity;
20) shall interact with the bar, law-enforcement and other state bodies on the proper support of the courts' activity;
20.1) shall finance the compensation for expenses in cases considered by courts and justices of the peace, which shall be charged to the account of the federal budget;
21) shall implement other measures to ensure support of the activity of courts, bodies of the community of judges and also bodies and institutions of the Judicial Department.
2. The Judicial Department shall have the right within the limits of its jurisdiction:
1) to request in the established procedure from state and other bodies, institutions, organisations and officials the necessary documents and materials and receive these documents and materials from them;
2) to exercise control over the expenditure of budget resources by courts and also by the bodies and institutions of the Judicial Department; to hold audits of their financial and economic activity;
3) to recruit in the established procedure scientific organisations, the personnel of state and other bodies, institutions and organisations, specialists and exports for works in the sphere of drafting laws, expert examination and research and for holding consultations;
4) to submit proposals to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Russian Federation on improvement of the working conditions and the material and social maintenance of judges, the personnel of the administrative machinery of the courts and of the administrative machinery of the Judicial Department, and also of the personnel of the bodies and institutions of the Judicial Department.

Article 7. The Judicial Department Structure

1.
The Judicial Department shall consist of the following subdivisions:
the chief administration of organisational-and-legal support of court activity;
the chief administration of support of military courts' activity;
the chief financial-and-economic administration;
the administration of public service and personnel employment;
the control-and-audit administration;
the managing administration;
the administration of capital construction and maintenance of buildings and structures;
the instructional and educational institutions section;
the staff of the Supreme Qualification Judicial College of the Russian Federation.
2. At the proposal of the Director-General of the Judicial Department, the board of the Judicial Department (hereinafter referred to as the board) may adopt a decision on the formation of other subdivisions in the Judicial Department.

Article 8. The Director-General of the Judicial Department
1. The Judicial Department shall be headed by the Director-General of the Judicial Department to be appointed to his post and relieved of his duties by the Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation with the consent of the Council of Judges of the Russian Federation.
2. Material and social maintenance shall be provided to the Director-General of the Judicial Department on the terms established for federal ministers.

3. The Director General of the Judicial Department is not entitled to sit on the managerial bodies, boards of trustees or supervisory boards or other bodies of foreign not-for-profit non-governmental organisations and their structural units operating on the territory of the Russian Federation, unless otherwise envisaged by an international treaty of the Russian Federation or the legislation of the Russian Federation. The Director General of the Judicial Department is not entitled to engage in another paid activity financed exclusively with funds of foreign states, international and foreign organisations, foreign citizens and stateless persons, unless otherwise envisaged by an international treaty of the Russian Federation or the legislation of the Russian Federation.

Article 9
. Deputies of the Director-General of the Judicial Department
1. The Director-General of Judicial Department shall have deputies to be appointed to their posts and relieved of their duties by the Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation at the proposal by the Director-General of the Judicial Department.
2. Deputy Directors General of the Judicial Department are not entitled to sit on the managerial bodies, boards of trustees or supervisory boards or other bodies of foreign not-for-profit non-governmental organisations and their structural units operating on the territory of the Russian Federation, unless otherwise envisaged by an international treaty of the Russian Federation or the legislation of the Russian Federation. Deputy Directors General of the Judicial Department are not entitled to engage in another paid activity financed exclusively with funds of foreign states, international and foreign organisations, foreign citizens and stateless persons, unless otherwise envisaged by an international treaty of the Russian Federation or the legislation of the Russian Federation.

Article 10.
The Powers of the Director-General of the Judicial Department
1. The Director-General of the Judicial Department:
1) shall manage the activity of the Judicial Department and of the bodies and institutions of the Judicial Department;
2) shall represent the courts in the Government of the Russian Federation, federal executive bodies and in the state bodies of the subjects of the Russian Federation for the solution of problems within the jurisdiction of the Judicial Department;
3) shall organize the elaboration of regulations for the subdivisions of the Judicial Department and submit them to the board for approval;
4) shall issue orders and instructions, within the limits of his jurisdiction, obligatory for implementation by the bodies and institutions of the Judicial Department, and exercise control over their implementation. The said orders and instructions, shall be obligatory for implementation by the courts in the part referring to the organisational support to their activity;
5) shall distribute duties among his deputies;
6) shall appoint to their posts the personnel of the administrative machinery of the Judicial Department and heads of the bodies and institutions of the Judicial Department and relieve them of their duties;
7) shall approve the number of personnel and the manning table of the Judicial Department within the limits of the payroll fund; shall approve the number of and the payroll fund of administrative machinery of the said administration (section) upon the proposal of the chief of the Judicial Department's Administration or section;
8) shall prepare an annual account of the Judicial Department's activity to the Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and to the Council of Judges of the Russian Federation and also submit a report to the All-Russia Congress of Judges;

GARANT system comment
See the Subitem in the previous wording


9) shall confer, within the limits of its jurisdiction, class ranks of state civil service of the Russian Federation on the personnel of the administrative machinery of the Judicial Department and on the personnel of the bodies and institutions of the Judicial Department and also on the respective personnel of the administrative machinery of the courts; shall apply for said personnel to be awarded with state decorations and for honorary titles to be conferred on them;
10) shall represent the Judicial Department at state and other bodies, institutions and organisations;
11) shall exercise other powers in accordance with the present Federal Law and other normative legal acts.
2. The Director-General of the Judicial Department shall bear the personal responsibility for the solution of problems, entrusted to the Judicial Department.

Article 11. The Board of the Judicial Department
1. A board shall be formed at the Judicial Department including the Director-General of the Judicial Department (chairman of the board, his deputies who are ex-officio members of the board, and other personnel of the Judicial Department.
The board members, except for those ex-officio members due to their posts, shall be approved by the Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.
2. The Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, his deputies and members of the Council of Judges of the Russian Federation may take part in the board's work.
3. The board shall operate in accordance with the board regulations, approved by the Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation at the proposal of the Director-General of the Judicial Department.
4. The Director-General of the Judicial Department shall issue orders on the basis of the board's decision.

GARANT system comment
See the Article in the previous wording


Article 12.
Personnel of the Judicial Department
Personnel of the apparatus of the Judicial Department and personnel of the bodies and institutions of the Judicial Department shall be federal state civil servants. The rights and duties of the said personnel and also the procedure for them to undergo federal state civil service shall be established by federal laws and other normative legal acts on federal state civil service.

Chapter III. The Powers, Structure and Organization of the Activity
of Administrations (Sections) of the Judicial Department in the Subjects of the Russian Federation

Article 13
. The Administration (Section) of the Judicial Department in a Subject of the Russian Federation
1. The administration (section) of the Judicial Department in the subject of the Russian Federation shall act as a Judicial Department body.
2. The administration (section) of the Judicial Department shall be subordinate to the Director-General of the Judicial Department and accountable to the Council Judges of a subject of the Russian Federation.

GARANT system comment
Federal Law No. 143-FZ of November 30, 2004 amended Article 14 of this Federal Law


Article 14. The Powers of the Administration (Section) of the Judicial Department
1. The administration (section) of the Judicial Department shall provide organisational support for to the activity of district courts, bodies of the community of judges of a subject of the Russian Federation and also finance lay magistrates. The administration (section) of the Judicial Department shall, within the limits of its jurisdiction,:
1) select nominees to the posts of judges in compliance with the requirements of the Law of the Russian Federation on the Status of Judges in the Russian Federation;
2) organize and provide support to the examination commission's work at the qualification exams for the post of judge;
3) study the organisational system of the district courts' activity and take steps for its improvement;
4) keep judicial statistics, organize paperwork and the work of the courts' record-keeping offices;
5) finance the district courts and the bodies of the judicial community in a subject of the Russian Federation; exercise control over their expenditure of budget resources and hold audits of their financial-and-economic activity;
5.1) shall finance the compensation for expenses in cases considered by justices of the peace, which shall be charged to the account of the federal budget;
6) ensure the supply to the district courts of software, necessary for judicial procedures and paperwork, and also for the informational and legal support of the court's activity;
7) supply materials, office equipment and transport vehicles to district courts; organize the construction of buildings, and also the repair and equipping of district court buildings and premises;
8) applies, by agreement with the chairmen of the respective courts' for the personnel of the administrative machinery to be awarded with state decorations and for honorary titles to be conferred on them;
9) adopt measures for the interaction with courts, bodies of the community of judges and law-enforcement bodies in ensuring the independence, immunity and security of judges and also their family members' security;
10) organize the material and social maintenance of the district court judges, including those who have retired, of the personnel of the administrative machinery of district courts and also take steps for providing them with well-appointed housing; organize the provision of medical services and sanatorium-and-spa treatment for district court judges, including those who have retired, their family members and the personnel of the administrative machinery of district courts and bodies of the community of judges of a subject of the Russian Federation;
11) take other measures to ensure the activity of the district courts and the bodies of the judicial community in a subject of the Russian Federation.

Article 15. The Chief of the Administration (Section) of the Judicial Department
1. The administration (section) of the Judicial Department shall be headed by the chief who shall be appointed to his post and relieved of his duties by the Director-General of the Judicial Department by agreement with the chairman of the Supreme Court of the Republic, of the territorial, regional court, the federal city court, the court of the autonomous formation, the council of judges of a subject of the Russian Federation.
2. The chief of the administration (Section) of the Judicial Department shall have deputies to be appointed to their posts and relieved of their duties on his recommendation by the Director-General of the Judicial Department.

Article 16. The Powers of the Chief of the Administration (Section) of the Judicial Department
1. The chief of the administration (section) of the Judicial Department shall within the limits of his jurisdiction:
1) manage the administration's (section's) activity;
2) issue orders, obligatory for implementation by the personnel of the administration (section) and exercise control their implementation. The said orders shall be obligatory for implementation by district courts in the part referring to the organisational support of their activity;
3) approve the administration's (section's) manning table within the limits of the fixed number of the personnel and of the payroll fund;
4) appoint to their posts and relieve of their duties personnel of the administration (section) and district court administrators;
5) redistribute, by agreement with the chairman of the Supreme Court of the Republic, territorial, regional court, the federal city court of the autonomous formation and taking account of the opinion of the chairman of district courts, the vacant posts of judges in district courts;
6) prepare an account annually of the administration's (section's) activity to the council of judges of a subject of the Russian Federation;

GARANT system comment
See the Subitem in the previous wording

7) confer class ranks of state civil service of the Russian Federation on the personnel of the administration (section) and also on the respective personnel of the courts' administrative machinery;
8) interact with the state bodies of a subject of the Russian Federation and the local self-government bodies on matters referring to the administration's (section's) jurisdiction;
9) exercise other powers in accordance with the present Federal Law and other normative legal acts.
2. The chief of the department (section) of the Judicial Department shall bear personal responsibility for the solution of problems entrusted to the administration (section) of the Judicial Department.

Article 17.
The Court Administrator
1. The organisational support of the activity of the Supreme Court of a Republic, a territorial, regional court, federal city court and of the court of an autonomous formation shall be provided by the administrator of the respective court.
2. The administrator of the Supreme Court of a republic, a territorial, regional court, federal city court and of the court of an autonomous formation shall exercise his powers under the supervision of the respective subdivisions of the Judicial Department and in interaction with them, and the district court administrator - under the supervision of the administration (section) of the Judicial Department and in interaction with it.

Article 18. The Court Administrator Appointed to His Post and Relieved of His Duties
1.The administrator of the Supreme Court of a republic, a territorial, regional court and of the court of the administrative formation shall be appointed to his post and relieved of his duties by the chief of the chief administration of organisational - and - legal support of courts' activity at the proposal of the chairman of the respective court, and the district court administrator - by the chief of the administration (section) of the Judicial Department at the proposal of the district court chairman.
2. The court administrator shall be subordinate to the chairman of the respective court and execute his orders.

Article 19. The Court Administrator's Powers
The court administrator shall:
1) take steps to ensure organisational support of the court's activity, preparations for, and holding of, court sittings;
2) interact with the bar, law-enforcement and other state bodies on aspects of support of the court's activity;
3) take steps to provide proper material and living conditions for judges and the personnel of the administrative machinery of the court and also for the provision of medical services and sanatorium-and-spa treatment for them;
4) supply normative legal acts, legal literature, educational aids and reference - and - information materials to judges and the personnel of the court's administrative machinery.
5) provide software support for the court's activity; organize keeping of judicial statistics, paperwork and archive work;
6) organize the system of protection of buildings, premises and other property of the court in non-working hours; ensure uninterrupted operation of the court's transport vehicles and communication means and of household services;
7) organize the construction of buildings, and also the repair and equipping of court buildings and premises;
8) work out a draft estimate of costs of the court, approved by the chairman of the court, and present it to the respective subdivision of the Judicial Department or to the administration (section) of the Judicial Department;
9) implement other measures for the support to the court's activity.

Chapter IV. Concluding Provisions

Article 20.
The Entry into Force of the Present Federal Law
The present Federal Law shall take effect from the day of its official publication.

Article 21. Transitional Provisions
1. To instruct the Government of the Russian Federation, within one month from the day of the official publication of the present Federal Law:
to finance measures aimed to reform the procedure for the organisational support of the courts' activity;
to determine the procedure for the transfer of the buildings, premises and other property, associated with the support of the activity of the federal courts of general jurisdiction from the balance of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation to the balance of the Judicial Department and to assign to the latter the right of operative management of said property.
2. Abrogated.

GARANT system comment
See the text of Item 2 of Article 21


3. The RSFSR Law of July 8, 1981 on the Judicial System of the RSFSR with the subsequent amendments and addenda (Vedomosty Verkhovnogo Soveta RSFSR, No. 28, 1981, item 976; Vedomosti Syezda Narodnykh Deputatov Rossiyskoy Federatsii i Verkhovnogo Soveta Rossiyskoy Federatsii, No. 27, 1992, Item 1560; No. 30, item 1794; No. 33, 1993, item 1313; Sobranie Zakonodatelstva Rossiyskoy Federatsii, No. 32, 1994, item 3300) shall be applied in the part not conflicting with the present Federal Law.

President of the Russian Federation                                                                     Boris Yeltsin

Moscow, the Kremlin
January 8, 1998
No. 7-FZ