On 3 December 2022, the Association of Lawyers of Russia for the fourteenth time held the ceremony of awarding the highest legal award “Lawyer of the Year”, established by Presidential Decree No. 1129 dated 8 October 2009. The event took place at the Zaryadye Concert Hall in Moscow. The ceremony was conducted by a member of the Association’s Presidium Dmitry Pristanskov and actress, TV presenter and film producer Anna Peskova.

Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Association of Lawyers of Russia, delivered a welcoming speech. He noted that right now the need to protect the rights of citizens is particularly acute.

“We are going through a very difficult period of development of our state, associated with the conduct of the Special Military Operation, when thousands of our loved ones are defending our country. Therefore, the issues considered by the Association of Lawyers of Russia should be directly related to the interests of our Motherland. And I am sure that it will be so,” Dmitry Medvedev said.

He stressed that the legal profession is one of the most significant and requires not only extensive, sometimes encyclopedic knowledge, not only brilliant word proficiency but also real human sympathy.

“No one will ever cancel this. This has been the case since the emergence of law. It will always be like this,” Dmitry Medvedev said.

Alexander Zvyagintsev, Honoured Lawyer of the Russian Federation, State Adviser of Justice of the 1st class, Deputy Director of the Institute of State and Law of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Senator for life of the International Association of Prosecutors, Secretary of the Union of Writers of the Russia, Vice President of the Union of Criminalists and Criminologists, became the winner of the award in the nomination “Legal Education”.

The prize was awarded to Alexander Grigoryevich “for his tremendous work in the field of spreading knowledge on law in society, preserving historical truth and promoting ideas of respect for law and the principles of the rule of law.

During the presentation of the award, Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation Konstantin Chuichenko highlighted: “Everything concerning the rights of education should be done not only professionally but also with talent, because this makes it convincing”. He thanked Alexander Grigoryevich for his work and creativity.

Генеральная прокуратура Российской Федерации также поздравила А.Г. Звягинцева с награждением и выразила благодарность за «колоссальный труд», отметив, что подобная формулировка является «уникальной» и наиболее полно отражает масштаб его деятельности.

The Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation also congratulated A. Zvyagintsev on the award and expressed gratitude for the “tremendous work”, noting that such wording is “unique” and most fully reflects the scale of his activities.

The winners of the prestigious award in 2022 also became:

• Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation Alexander Bastrykin (nomination “Human Rights Activities»).
• State Secretary – Deputy Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation Andrey Loginov (nomination “Legislation Development”).
• Vice-Rector for Innovative Scientific and Technological Development at Lomonosov Moscow State University Viktor Vaypan (nomination “For Contribution to Legal Science”).
• Dean of the Faculty of Law at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation Gulnara Ruchkina (nomination “Legal Education and Upbringing”)

Winners of the 2022 special nomination “For the Protection of Social and Labour Rights”:

• State Secretary – Deputy Minister of the Russian Federation for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Disaster Relief Alexey Serko.
• Member of the Board of the Military-Industrial Commission of the Russian Federation Sergey Bulavin.
• President of the Smolensk Regional Notary Chamber Nadezhda Melnikova.

As part of the award ceremony for the winners of the Lawyer of the Year Award, the VI All-Russian Legal dictation has also been launched. It is held from 3 December to 12 on the website of юрдиктант.рф

The dictation start button was pressed by Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev, Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation Alexander Bastrykin, Chairman of the Association of Lawyers of Russia Sergey Stepashin, Chairman of the Association’s Board Vladimir Gruzdev, Chairman of the Committee on State Building and Legislation Pavel Krasheninnikov and others.

In addition, to the Rector of the Kutafin Moscow State Law University (MSAL) Viktor Blazheev and retired Major General of Justice Tamara Belkina were awarded the MSAL Medal “For Merits in Jurisprudence”.

V.A. Musin All-Russian Legal Award “For Contribution to the Development of Energy Law” was awarded to Nikita Zhabin, Head of the Directorate of Regulatory Affairs of the Legal Block of Inter RAO, PJSC, and Mikhail Kleandrov, Judge of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation.

The prize is awarded to those who have made a significant contribution to the formation and strengthening of the rule of law, to the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of citizens, as well as to the development of Russian legal science.

From 2009 to 2021, 13 award ceremonies were held, bringing together a total of more than 10,000 guests. The number of prize winners in all categories over the years has amounted to more than 75 people, among them outstanding scientists, statesmen and public figures.

Photos are presented from the personal archive of A.G. Zvyagintsev

Translat4d by Elizaveta Ovchinnikova

About the same lesson was held on 29 November 1983 at Ivanovichev secondary school number 2. Yuri Nikolaevich Lelyukov told students about a hand grenade and the principle of its operation. Picking up one of the 3 dummies, he showed how to bring the grenade into a fighting position and pulled out a safety pin. Releasing the lever, he heard a characteristic click and saw a small smoke.

The training grant received at the local military registration and enlistment office turned out to be combat. Yuri Nikolaevich had less than 4 seconds left… ⠀

The middle of the day is 13:30, children are still walking outside the window in the courtyard, which means there is no way to get rid of the danger. Yuri Lelyukov reacted with lightning speed: he threw himself into a corner and pressed a grenade to himself. There was an explosion that claimed the life of a real hero, but 26 children who were in the class then remained alive. They received only minor injuries. ⠀

Without a father, 8-year-old Olesya, one-year-old Yura, remained, and his wife Larisa became a widow. ⠀

The courageous teacher then saved not only these children. After this incident, school inspections began equipment in the classes of initial combat training, which helped to find a few more explosive items. They also say that from that moment on, the cases of training grenades began to be drilled through. ⠀

Of course, Yuri Lelyukov was the victim of someone’s negligence. The then leaders did everything possible not to make this event public. But after 2 years, thanks to the publication of an article (in one of the newspapers) entitled «Four Seconds Long in Life» the whole country learned about the heroic deed. After the prosecution, the perpetrators were punished. ⠀

Yuri Nikolaevich was posthumously awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor, and the local council awarded him the title of honorary citizen of the village.

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