Support The Moscow Times!

Russian Courts Acquit 0.3% of People at Trials in 2017

Alexander Avilov / Moskva News Agency

Russian courts are continuing to bat a near-perfect in terms of convictions handed out last year.

Courts in the country are notorious for an average acquittal rate of 0.3 percent, partly explained by the criminal justice system’s reluctance to admit mistakes.

The 0.3 percent figure held up in 2017 when only 2,900 of 957,900 people who faced trial were acquitted, Supreme Court chairman Vyacheslav Lebedev said on Tuesday. 

Some 744,000 people were convicted in total last year, Lebedev said at the meeting with the heads of Russian courts in Moscow. 

The remaining 9,000 people were involuntarily committed for psychiatric treatment, the RBC business portal reported Tuesday. 

Courts dropped the cases of another 202,000 people on various procedural grounds before coming to a ruling. Retired judge Sergei Pashin told RBC that the figure does not necessarily reflect on the court as a “merciful” body. 

“When a court stops proceedings due to a statute of limitations, an amnesty, or a settlement between the victim and the accused […] they simply have no other way out,” Pashin told RBC. 

“This is not the will of the court, but the inevitable enforcement of the law,” he said.

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter

Our weekly newsletter contains a hand-picked selection of news, features, analysiss and more from The Moscow Times. You will receive it in your mailbox every Friday. Never miss the latest news from Russia. Preview
Subscribers agree to the Privacy Policy

A Message from The Moscow Times:

Dear readers,

We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."

These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.

By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.

Once
Monthly
Annual
Continue
paiment methods
Not ready to support today?
Remind me later.

Read more