ST. PETERSBURG, May 12. /TASS/. The international justice system that handles trade disputes exists only for show, as it heavily favors some countries and discriminates others, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said at the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum on Friday.

"International economic justice has also grown to be just for show. Freedom and competition are proclaimed on paper, but the reality is that no one and nothing prevents strong and rich countries from protecting their interests by any means, while discriminatory restrictions are applied to other countries," Medvedev said.

He said that as supranational judicial bodies controlled by the West are "steadily moving toward a disgraceful end," the Dispute Settlement Body of the World Trade Organization had the nerve to rule against the US in some foreign-trade cases.

"The US then unceremoniously simply stymied the activities of this legal body by making it impossible to appoint new appeal judges. It passed decisions that affected various countries. And it passed decisions regarding our country, but we treated them loyally, while the Americans put up a blockage," the official said.