An Open World specialized rule of law delegation from Russia further solidified a unique relationship between the judicial bodies of “The Windy City” (Chicago) and “The Venice of the North” (St. Petersburg) with the signing of a sister court agreement on Friday, June 27, 2003.

The agreement concluded a busy weeklong visit to Chicago by the seven-member team of St. Petersburg judicial officials participating in Open World’s specialized rule of law program—a program in which delegates are hosted in the court of a U.S. federal or state judge. For this visit, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Charles P. Kocoras, Northern District of Illinois, hosted the team, and he praised the new level of cooperation between Chicago and St. Petersburg achieved with the signing of the pact.

“The sister court pact signifies an exchange of ideas, experiences and information between the two cities on our civil and criminal justice systems so that each of us are better off now than we were before,” said Judge Kocoras.

The Open World visit follows an October 2002 trip to Chicago by a judicial delegation led by Head of the Council of Judges of the Russian Federation and Supreme Court Justice Yuriy I. Sidorenko. Chief Judge Kocoras participated in the Sidorenko delegation’s local program and urged Open World to organize a follow-up visit to further relations between the judicial bodies of Chicago and St. Petersburg.

“I view the Agreement as a significant step in our relationship,” said Yuriy A. Ryabtsov, Deputy Director General of the Judicial Department under the Russian Federation (RF) Supreme Court for the North West Federal District and a member of the Sidorenko delegation that visited Chicago in late 2002.

Chief Judge Kocoras explained that the Russian visits through Open World are important because of the need to understand other cultures in today’s world. “There is no reason on earth why the U.S. and Russia should be strangers to each other and look at each other with anger and hostility,” he said.

During the visit, Chief Judge Kocoras also developed a deep appreciation for how difficult and courageous it is for policymakers in Russia to overhaul their Criminal Procedure Code.

Mr. Ryabtsov said that jury trials were of particular interest to this delegation, since they were only instituted nationwide in Russia in January of this year. Watching the jury selection for and opening of a criminal trial in Judge James F. Holderman’s courtroom in Chicago was one of highlights of the trip, Mr. Ryabtsov noted. “We are all in this business together,” Chief Judge Kocoras concluded, “to make the system of justice work better—striving to make the world a better place.”

Mr. Ryabtsov expressed similar sentiments when asked to sum up his opinion of his experience in the U.S. “The friendships established with host organizations and people in the United States, allowing us to better understand each other, this I would rank first in goals achieved by the program,” he said. “[Open World] achieves its goal; I think it is a good program.”

In addition to Mr. Ryabtsov, the delegation from St. Petersburg included St. Petersburg Court Judge and Chairperson of the Council of Judges of St. Petersburg Tatyana Gerasimenko; Larisa Betseleva, the Head of the Judicial Department under the RF Supreme Court in St. Petersburg; Nina Bogoslovskaya, Deputy Section Head of the Judicial Department under the RF Supreme Court in St. Petersburg; Svetlana Dorofeyeva, Chair of the Frunze Municipal District Court in St. Petersburg; and Lidiya Smirnova, Section Head of the Judicial Department under the RF Supreme Court in St. Petersburg.

The delegates’ intense schedule of activities included attending presentations by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Probation Office; observing court proceedings and a naturalization ceremony; and participating in roundtables with U.S. judges. Senior Judge George Marovich, who has worked and established close ties with many members of the Russian judiciary over the past decade, also played a key role in hosting the delegates.

Since launching its specialized rule of law program in 2001, the Open World Leadership Center has quickly become one of the premier organizations working with Russian jurists as they implement judicial reforms. In 2002, 42 U.S. judges hosted 213 Russian judges and more than 50 judicial educators, prosecutors, defense attorneys and judicial administrators as part of the Open World specialized rule of law program. Each Open World rule of law delegation is hosted for a week in the court of a prominent U.S. federal or state judge, who plans and participates in the delegates’ intensive agenda.

Published by The PBN Company for the Open World Leadership Center, whose Open World Program has hosted nearly 9,000 citizens from Russia, Lithuania, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan since its inception in 1999. The Center is an independent legislative branch agency that works cooperatively with the U.S. Department of State and other U.S. executive and judicial branch agencies. For additional information, please visit the Open World Leadership Center's website at www.openworld.gov or contact the office at +1 202-707-8943.