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9 E. Eur. Const. Rev. 92 (2000)
The Nikitin Case through the Eyes of the Acquitting Judge

handle is hein.journals/eeurcr9 and id is 322 raw text is: The Nikitin Case Through the Eyes of the Acquitting Judge Interview by Viktor Tereshkin for the EECR soul-wrenching marathon that stretched out over five long years, the Alexander Nikitin trial came to an end in the Russian Supreme Court on September 13, 2000. The case represents the first acquittal since October 1917 of a person who, accused of treason and betraying state secrets, had been arrested by the security services and thrown in jail. This cause cdl&bre will doubtless inspire books and films. Any such dramatization will have to assign a pivotal role to Saint Petersburg city-court judge Sergei Golets, who, on December 29, 1999, found the pris- oner of conscience Nikitin innocent. In the courtroom, from a distance, he looked much older. But, up close, he turns out to be good- looking and young-only 41. He has worked as a jurist for 20 years, 5 of them as a procuratorial investi- gator. Having served in the military, he has been a judge for 15 years and was a member of the Party. EECR: You have a great deal of experience as a judge. How does the Nikitin case compare with others over which you have presided? Judge Golets: It was my most difficult case, in terms of its character and the need to delve into specialist literature. Before reaching a decision, the lay assessors and I read about 1,500 normative acts, some classified, others not. Luckily, the court administration relieved us of other work so we were able to spend a month and a half preparing for the case. Usually, Russian judges do not have so much time. I would like to note that both of my lay assessors are extraordinarily responsible and qualified people. One is a submarine captain of the first rank in the reserves; the other spent many years building and testing equipment on nuclear submarines. This was a coincidence-they are my only lay assessors. But neither had any trouble following the trial and the evidence. The decision we took on December 29 was unique, one of a kind. It was the first case in which I had to analyze and apply constitutional norms. I'd also like to note that, because of supporting legislation passed by the Duma, which echoes constitutional language, a judge can now apply both national and international norms. Russia has taken upon itself the obligation, when national laws fall short of human- rights norms, to uphold the norms of international law, specifically those of the European Convention on Human Rights. This is exactly what we had to do in this case, and it caused the procurator to protest. The procuracy objected that our reasoning analyzed and applied constitutional norms. The most important mistake made by the inves- tigators, in my opinion, was that they stubbornly ignored the defense's assertions that one must pay attention not merely to questions of fact but also to questions of law. The defense lawyers argued that it was imperative to examine carefully the legal basis of the charges and not to stop at the opinions of experts from the general staff of the Ministry of Defense- who, after all, are not lawyers. But the prosecution did not want to listen. Otherwise, the case might never have gone to trial and could have been settled by a judicial ruling on the law, perhaps by appeal to the Constitutional Court. 92 EAST EUROPEAN CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW

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