Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Lebedev (; 14 August 1943 – 23 February 2024) was a Russian lawyer and jurist who served as the Chief Justice of Russia from 1989 until his death in 2024.

Biography

Lebedev was born on 14 August 1943 in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. He attended the

law faculty A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In North America, academic divisions are sometimes titled colleges, sc ...

of the

Lomonosov Moscow State University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, and six branches. Al ...

, which he graduated in 1968.

Career

Rise in the Communist Party

Lebedev began work in 1969 as a human resources functionary of a department of the Ministry of Industrial Construction of the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. In 1970, he was elected as a Judge of the People's District Court for Leningradskiy District in Moscow, and in 1977 he was appointed Chief Judge of the People's District Court for Zheleznodorozhniy District in Moscow. He became deputy Chief Judge of Moscow City Court in 1984, assuming the position of the court's Chief Judge in 1986. On July 26, 1989, Lebedev was appointed Chairman of the Supreme Court of the

RSFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

. In August 1991, as Chairman of the Supreme Court, he did not support the

State Committee on the State of Emergency State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

(GKChP). In May 1993, Lebedev was part of the working commission tasked with refining the presidential draft of the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

Death

Lebedev died in Moscow on the night of 23 February 2024, at the age of 80. He suffered from cancer, and had recently been admitted to hospital.

Honours

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

: The Order of St. Andrew the First-Called (2023) *

Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" The Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" () is a state decoration of the Russian Federation. It was instituted on 2 March 1994 by Presidential Decree 442. Until the re-establishment of the Order of St. Andrew in 1998, it was the highest order of ...

, 1st class (2018) *

, 2nd class (2003) *

, 3rd class (1998) *

, 4th class (2013) *

Order of Alexander Nevsky The Order of Alexander Nevsky () is an Order (distinction), order of merit of the Russia, Russian Federation named in honour of saint Alexander Nevsky (1220–1263) and bestowed to civil servants for twenty years or more of highly meritorious ser ...

(2012) *

Decoration For Impeccable Service The Decoration "For Impeccable Service" () is a state decoration of the Russian Federation aimed at recognising impeccable civilian or military service to the state beyond the scope of normal long service medals. Award History The Decoration " ...

(2020) *

Honoured Lawyer of Russia Honored Lawyer of the Russian Federation () is an Honorary title in Russia assigned to highly skilled lawyers for personal services: *in the formation of constitutional state and improving the national Russian laws in order to create equal legal c ...

(1993) *

Russian Federation Presidential Certificate of Honour The Russian Federation Presidential Certificate of Honour () is an honorary award bestowed by the President of the Russian Federation to deserving citizens. It was established by Presidential Decree No.487 of 11 April 2008. The statute and regula ...

(2008) *

Chechen Republic Chechnya, officially the Chechen Republic, is a republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The republic forms a part of the North Caucasian Federal District, and share ...

: Order of

Akhmat Kadyrov Akhmat-Khadzhi Abdulkhamidovich Kadyrov (23 August 1951 – 9 May 2004) was a Chechen politician and revolutionary who served as Chief Mufti of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria in the 1990s during and after the First Chechen War. At the outbreak ...

(2011) *

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise The Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise () is a Ukrainian award. It is awarded for distinguished services to the state and people of the Ukrainian nation in the field of state building, strengthening the international prestige of Ukraine, develop ...

(2004) *

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

Order of Friendship The Order of Friendship (, ') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation established by Boris Yeltsin by presidential decree 442 of 2 March 1994 to reward Russian and foreign nationals whose work, deeds and efforts have been aimed at ...

, 1st class (2023) *

, 2nd class (2012) *

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

: Order of St. Sergius of Radonezh, 1st class (2008) *

Russian Imperial Family The House of Romanov (also transliterated as Romanoff; , ) was the reigning imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after Anastasia Romanovna married Ivan the Terrible, the first crowned tsar of all Russia. Ni ...

: Knight of the Imperial Order of the White Eagle (2014) *

: Knight Grand Cordon of the Imperial Order of Saint Anna (2010) *

: Recipient of the 400th Anniversary Medal of the House of Romanov (2013) *

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

: Honorary Doctor of the

Sofia University Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" () is a public university, public research university in Sofia, Bulgaria. It is the oldest institution of higher education in Bulgaria. Founded on 1 October 1888, the edifice of the university was constr ...

(2007) *

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

: Honorary Doctor of the

University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (UST; ), officially the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines or colloquially as ''Ustê'' (), is a Private university, private Catholic school, Catholic researc ...

(2006)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lebedev, Vyacheslav 1943 births 2024 deaths Soviet judges Chief justices of Russia Full Cavaliers of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 5th class Recipients of the Order of Alexander Nevsky (Russian Federation) Lawyers from Moscow 20th-century Russian lawyers 21st-century Russian lawyers Deaths from cancer in Russia Moscow State University alumni Honoured Lawyers of the Russian Federation Scholars of criminal law Russian legal scholars Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery