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Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
Rt. Hon Kenneth Clarke QC MP
Boris Yeltsin Presidential library
Introduction
It is a pleasure to be back in St Petersburg and an honour
to be speaking to some of the men and women who will
make up Russia’s future legal elite.
I have not before visited the Boris Yeltsin presidential
library but it as a superb monument to the history of the
Russian state. It brings to mind a story about the former
leader told by my one-time boss, former Prime Minister
John Major.
The two leaders were paying a visit to the Prime Minister’s
official residence, a country house just outside London
called Chequers. After a day and a half of intensive talks,
they walked to a local public house. But the pub was shut.
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Mr Yeltsin's indignant aides hammered on the door
shouting: "Open up - it is the President of Russia". And a
voice inside replied: "Yes - and this is the Kaiser
speaking."
The landlord was eventually persuaded not to venture
further in endangering UK-Russian relations, but it was a
close run thing.
I doubt that that occasion – sometime in the early 90s was the first, or the last time, our two nations have
misunderstood each other.
And the relationship between Britain and Russia continues
to have its ups and downs.
But as the current British Prime Minister, David Cameron,
argued last September in Moscow, we are countries that
share a great deal, and face common challenges.
It’s right that we should acknowledge genuine differences
where they exist, but I believe we are stronger working
together for the common good where possible.
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One area of fundamental important to the common good –
and my theme for today – is the central place of the law in
modern society if we are to flourish.
Backdrop - economic and political crisis
The world is facing real turbulence at the moment. The
global economy is only just emerging from what have
been some of the worst economic storms of my lifetime.
Events in the eurozone over recent days and continuing
weak growth are raising doubts about whether
international policy-makers have really got to grips with
the crisis.
This comes against the backdrop of a remarkable period
of political change in the Middle East, as people frustrated
at the lack of opportunity open to them have risen up and
made their feelings clear.
The question this combination of factors highlights for me
is how do we respond to the common human desire for
progress, opportunity and prosperity, at a time when the
capacity of the world economy to deliver is under threat?
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We need to do more on trade
Expanding wealth and opportunity is partly about trade,
and there is no doubt we should redouble our efforts.
There is a natural fit between Britain and Russia in
matters of commerce because our relative strengths are
complementary. The UK is strong in services, but light on
resources. Russia is strong in resources, but lighter on
services. It’s fitting then that our business links run deep.
The UK is consistently the largest foreign direct investor in
Russia with cumulative investments of almost £30bn whilst
Russian firms account for 13% of all international IPOs on
the London Stock Exchange. The value of exports
between us rose 40% last year.
But the underlying challenge remains rule of law
But I also think we need to look at the deeper challenges
in our societies – the things that are getting in the way of
ordinary people’s aspirations.
I believe that across the globe one important set of factors
retarding growth and frustrating publics is the waste and
uncertainty caused by inadequate justice systems and
weak rule of law.
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In the absence of clear rules, widely understood and
properly enforced, people aren’t secure or free, but are too
often subject to someone else’s arbitrary power. This
matters in itself. But it’s also a cause of unfairness and
inefficiency.
The economic case is that commerce and investment
requires predictability. Investment will only flow
competitively if there is confidence that contracts will be
enforced and that assets are protected; that courts are
impartial; that cases can be resolved quickly.
Some say modernising and opening up undermines
stability and prosperity. But that’s the wrong way round.
Modernisation and protection of human rights – delivering
real freedom of speech, assembly, political association
and so on - is the only true guarantee of stability and
prosperity.
So progress on the rule of law is fundamentally important:
it’s in the interest of everyone, because it is the sure path
to stable, prosperous societies.
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The challenge for rule of law of course is not the absence
of good intentions. It’s how to deliver on them in practice.
The UK experience
Let me share the UK experience.
Britain is proud of its legal heritage. London is known for
its high quality, polyglot commercial sector, with a strong
record of judicial independence and expertise. The open,
globalised services that we offer – from litigation to
emerging fields like arbitration and mediation - play a
fundamental role in oiling the wheels of the economy in
Russia as elsewhere. I hope that some of you will get
first experience of it yourselves as your careers develop.
But our broader system is far from perfect and we’ve been
reforming our system in order to ensure that it works for
the public.
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Human rights
First, on human rights where we came together with other
Member States of the Council of Europe last month,
including Russia, to agree changes to the European
Convention and the European Court in Strasbourg.
Britain is a staunch supporter of the fundamental
freedoms embodied in the European Convention. Indeed,
British lawyers help draft it in the aftermath of World War II
and we’re proud that 40 countries in Europe and beyond
now subscribe to those basic protections.
But that doesn’t mean we’ve always had an easy
relationship with the European Court in Strasbourg, and
we do periodically lose cases.
The media gets hot under the collar when a decision by
the British government is overturned. The press likes to
act as if the UK is being unfairly singled out, or could just
ignore legal judgements.
So I spend much of my time pointing out that being found
in breach by judges is part of the normal process of the
rule of law.
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Even established democracies are prone to the tyranny of
executive power, and a basic set of standards enforced by
a wholly independent judiciary is a vital protection of the
values we hold dear.
In other words, respecting the rule of law and human
rights doesn’t undermine great nations; it is what makes
nations great.
That doesn’t mean everything is perfect in Strasbourg.
We’ve recently made the argument that the Court remains
overloaded and needs reform to ensure it can focus on the
most serious violations.
The Brighton Declaration should result in a Court that
intervenes less frequently where cases are dealt with
properly at national level.
But the quid pro quo of reformed international institutions
is that national governments do their bit to ensure rights
are more strongly respected. We take that seriously in the
UK and remain committed to the highest standards.
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Bribery
A second focus of reform is bribery – an area where, until
recently, we’d fallen behind, with out of date laws.
We’ve remedied this state of affairs by introducing the
Bribery Act - a new regime that brings us into line with the
strongest standards in the world and sends out a clear
signal that it is unacceptable for British-based firms to
bribe.
And, contrary to fears when we introduced it, it is proving
a boon, not a burden to business.
The reason is that firms are – directly or indirectly - often
victims of corruption. Operating in a legal system where
they have a good reason not to pay bribes ultimately
saves them money, protects their reputation and allows
firms to attract ethical investment. It also means
businesses have some redress if competitors aren’t so
honest.
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So, the Act is not just delivering an ethical premium. It is
offering a rejoinder to those who say we have to choose
between fair competition and business success.
Russia’s reforms
On human rights, and on bribery then Britain has been
seeking reform.
Russia of course has its own challenges, and this nation
has also been undertaking improvements – whether via
legislation criminalising foreign bribery, ratification of the
OECD Convention, or the landmark moment of accession
to the World Trade Organisation last December. These
are all positive steps.
Britain welcomes the commitments made by President
Putin and Prime Minister Medvedev to address corruption
and promote judicial independence.
Further progress on these reforms is important to increase
the confidence of British and other investors in Russia.
But there is a much wider significance for Russian society.
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As the future Russian legal elite, it will fall to you – the
people in this room – to ensure that Russian citizens are
able to enjoy their full rights, by which I mean the common
European standards of the Convention.
This includes ensuring that legislation and law
enforcement do not discriminate on the grounds of
ethnicity or sexual identity, and that court systems do not
allow political interference or institutional bias. No small
task in any country, but I believe you will be equal to this
challenge.
Conclusion
As both our nations continue on the journey of reform, the
UK wants to work together in our shared national interest.
Our countries already work together closely commercially,
of course. International legal firms and specialist services
offered out of London are helping Moscow emerge as a
leading financial centre and modernising St Petersburg’s
infrastructure.
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But rule of law needs to extend further and deeper if our
countries are to thrive. I hope we can build on existing
bilateral cooperation and continue towards a stronger
partnership still. For it is only by making progress together
than we can secure the greater prosperity, and freedom,
that our people want. There is little to lose, and much to
gain.
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