Minister of Justice Henriksson to visit Russia
The Finnish Minister of Justice Anna-Maja Henriksson will visit Russia on 20-21 November. She will meet with the Russian Minister of Justice Alexander Konovalov in Moscow. The Ministers will sign a programme for cooperation between the Ministries of Justice of Finland and Russia for the years 2013-2014.
In the cooperation programme, the countries agree, for example, on expert meetings to be organised in order to discuss questions related to international legal assistance in civil matters as well as to family law matters between Finland and Russia. In addition, the programme seeks to promote effective enforcement of court decisions by organising meetings between the authorities responsible for the enforcement. Cooperation in the enforcement of penalties will be continued.
The agreement on cooperation between the Finnish and Russian Ministries of Justice has been concluded in 1998. Thereafter, the Ministries have regularly agreed on programmes that aim to enhance the cooperation in the judicial field.
During her visit, Minister Henriksson will also discuss the launching of cooperation between the Finnish and Russian central authorities in custody and child matters, required for the application of the Hague Convention on Child Abduction and, in future, of the Hague Convention on Protection of Children. The Hague Convention on International Child Abduction will begin to be applied between Finland and Russia at the beginning of the next year. Russia has also acceded to the so-called Hague Convention on Protection of Children, which will enter into force for Russia at the beginning of June 2013.
In Moscow, Henriksson will also open a seminar on child custody matters, which is organised by the University of Helsinki. A book titled "Child custody disputes in Finland and Russia" (available only in Finnish), containing articles by experts in the field, will be released in the seminar.
In addition, the Minister of Justice Henriksson and the Russian Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika will sign a two-year cooperation programme on international legal assistance in criminal matters and cooperation between the prosecutors.
In addition, Henriksson will open an event where a cooperation agreement on the investigation of aviation accidents between Finland and Russia will be signed. Veli-Pekka Nurmi, Director of the Safety Investigation Authority, signs the agreement on behalf of Finland.
During her visit, the Minister will also meet with representatives of NGOs and other experts.
Further information:
Robin Harms, Special Adviser to the Minister, tel. 02951 50176
Marina Venäläinen, Ministerial Adviser, tel. 02951 50236
E-mail: [email protected]