Russia's Medvedev orders clean-up of courts

By Oleg Shchedrov

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered a review of the judicial system on Tuesday to stop officials and businessmen interfering in judges' decisions, Russian news agencies reported.

Underlining Medvedev's message, officials said they were seeking the suspension of a senior judge following media reports she had obtained three apartments at below-market rates.

Medvedev, a 42-year-old former corporate lawyer, raised the issue of reform of the judicial system a day after he unveiled a programme to fight the pervasive corruption which many analysts say is curbing Russia's economic growth.

"Our main target is to make sure that courts are independent," Interfax news agency quoted Medvedev as telling a Kremlin meeting with top officials.

"There is a principle under which courts only obey the law. This is the foundation of respect for the courts and faith in fair justice," he added. "This is our basic task."

"A package of measures should be considered to rule out unlawful (court) decisions, which exist and emerge often as a result of various kinds of pressure, phone calls and ... bribes," Medvedev said.

Independent legal experts and lawyers say Russian judges routinely come under outside pressure -- from businessmen offering bribes or from officials -- to hand down judgments which are at odds with the law.

They say judges are too poorly paid and lacking in status to be able to resist the pressure.