The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation

The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation is the supreme judicial body for civil, criminal, administrative and other cases under the jurisdiction of courts of general ju­risdiction, carries out judicial supervision over their activities according to the federal law-envisaged procedural forms and provides clarifications on the issues of court pro­ceedings (Article 126 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation). It heads the judicial system of general jurisdiction, representing a supreme tier of this system. The Supreme Court of Russian Federation has the right of the legislative initiative. It acts as a court of first instance for cases of special importance or special public in­terest when it accepts them for consideration according to the legislation. The law de­termines a category of cases which are included in the sphere of activities of the Su­preme Court of the Russian Federation as a court of first instance. The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation is a cassation instance in relation to the federal courts of general jurisdiction of republics or oblast. It supervises legality, va­lidity and substantiality of sentences and other decisions of courts of lower level. The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation is composed of its Chairman, first deputy and deputies of the Chairman, the justices of the Court and People's as­sessors. The Supreme Court has the following structure: The Plenum of the Supreme Court.

The Plenum of the Supreme Court on the basis of studies and generalization of the judicial practice and judicial statistics, provides its guidance to courts on the issues of proper application of the legislation of the Russian Federation. The Plenum hears reports on the activities of the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, reports by the judicial chambers chairmen. It has the right to present the legislative body with presentations on issues subject to be resolved in the legislative order.