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European countries show special interest in St Pete Legal Forum

The guest conferences under the auspices of St. Petersburg International Legal Forum will also take place in the Netherlands and Italy

LONDON, January 29 (Itar-Tass) – European countries, mainly post-Soviet and Eastern European states, most actively participate in St. Petersburg International Legal Forum, the chairman of the Russian Supreme Court of Arbitration, Anton Ivanov, said in an interview with Itar-Tass on Monday.

He arrived in London to take part in a guest conference under the auspices of St. Petersburg International Legal Forum.

“Traditionally European countries and countries on the post-Soviet space are rather active. Over the past years we’ve seen the so-called countries of New Europe, which began to take an active part in this forum,” he said. “Different international legal associations, international lawyers unions are also very active.”

Speaking about the guest conferences that took place in 2011 and 2012, Ivanov noted that those were very high level events attended by ministers of the U.S. Department of Justice and the UK Ministry of Justice, representatives of supreme courts from many European countries.

One of the most important results of such conferences is “that foreign layers, politicians and public figures study Russia’s judicial and legal systems,” Ivanov said.

“Undoubtedly, this helps not only to improve knowledge about us, but what is most important, to understand our problems and how our legal system works. This also helps to mutually recognize court verdicts,” he said.

Aside from Anton Ivanov the guest conference in the British capital will bring together Russian Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov, the head of the working group on the creation of the international financial centre in Russia, Alexander Voloshin, the head of the UK Financial Conduct Authority, John Griffith-Jones, senior officials of legal departments of large international and Russian companies, partners of leading Russian and British law firms.

The guest conferences under the auspices of St. Petersburg International Legal Forum will also take place in the Netherlands and Italy to step up bilateral cooperation in this sphere and to prepare for the forum in St. Petersburg due on May 15-18.

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