Who was Vyacheslav Lebedev? Russian chief justice dies aged 81 days after meeting with Putin

Well-known lawyer Vyacheslav Lebedev, 81, passed away on February 23, 2024. He was struggling with some unknown illness, which eventually led to his demise, as per Yahoo! News. He served as the Chief Justice of the Russian Supreme Court and a judge for the district's people court in Moscow.

The jurist's death was confirmed by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on their official website, where they posted a lengthy statement. The statement reads in part:

"Chief Justice Lebedev was always distinguished by his state-oriented thinking and a sense of higher responsibility for his life's cause – Justice itself. He was a fair, attentive, profound and tactical person, a truly unique personality combining strong character and sensitiveness, insistence on high standard and compassion, wisdom and acumen."

The news of Lebedev's demise comes two weeks after meeting with Vladimir Putin on February 6, 2024. The Sun states that the duo spoke on the inclusion of digital elements in the judicial world and improving the system of legislation and law enforcement.

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Vyacheslav Lebedev has been involved in the world of law since the 70s

Vyacheslav Lebedev gained recognition over the years for his work as a lawyer and judge, as per Kommersant. He was a resident of Moscow and enrolled at the Lomonosov Moscow State University to pursue his graduation in law.

Lebedev received multiple accolades over the years, including the state order For Services to the Fatherland thrice between 1998 and 2013. He even received the Medal of Pyotr Stolypin and the 400th Anniversary Medal of the House of Romanov in 2013.

According to his bio on the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation website, Lebedev joined them as their Chief Justice in 1989. He served at the People's District Court as the judge at Leningradskiy in 1970 and president at Zheleznodorozhniy in 1977.

Vyacheslav Lebedev joined the Ministry of Industrial Construction of the USSR in the human resources department in 1969. He authored books such as Formation and Development of the Judiciary in Russia and Judiciary in Russia: History and Documents.

He has also written many articles related to the judiciary that emphasize improvements to the judicial process along with the working system inside the courts.

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Further details on Vyacheslav Lebedev's meeting with Vladimir Putin

Vyacheslav Lebedev was in the headlines for some time after he met Vladimir Putin earlier this month. The Russian President's official website mentioned the entire conversation where Putin praised Lebedev for his work at the Supreme Court. The latter said the court has focused more on using e-documents since 2023.

Lebedev revealed that video conferences were used in around 500,000 cases yearly, which helped the court eliminate the extra work. Lebedev told Putin that there has been a rise in bankruptcy cases and added:

"We have been working to reduce the number of these cases for quite some time now. There were certain proposals. We insisted on referring these cases to court-appointed receivers, but there was a lot of push-back in this regard, including from businesses."

Vyacheslav mentioned that they have submitted the draft for a law that would remove the pre-trial restrictions for "women with small children." He addressed another draft related to humanizing law enforcement practice and legislation and said:

"It has differentiated the elements of crime and defined criteria for distinguishing business crime from other types of crime because there used to be this uncertainty: occasionally business crimes were qualified as ordinary mundane fraud, which is wrong."

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As of this writing, detailed information on Vyacheslav Lebedev's survivors has yet to be revealed.