New Haven Independent

Since 2001, Silbert has annually brought delegations of Russian judges (such as Artem Jakovlev, pictured), attorneys, and justices of the peace to Connecticut.

“There are 165 judges in Pskov,” said Silbert, who speaks fluent Russian, “a region four times as large as Connecticut but with only a quarter of the population, and I think that over the years we have brought about a third of the judiciary to Connecticut.” Pskov is in western Russia near Estonia. Before their reintroduction, jury trials had been discontinued there since the Russian revolution.

On Wednesday morning, Jakovlev and seven other legal officials, along with their translators, were at Connecticut Superior Court to hear how jurors are welcomed and “indoctrinated.” Then they headed off to hear a voir dire, and a murder trial. Behind them were visits to bankruptcy court and ahead of them, in addition to a shopping trip and swimming breaks at the Yale pool, visits to correctional facilities and arraignment court.

It was part of a week of exchange organized through the Russian American Rule of Law Consortium (RAROLC), coordinated by the Open World Program and paid for by USAID and the Library of Congress. The RAROLC has similar partnerships among eight other American states and Russian regions.

Silbert and his colleagues host the Russians in their homes for the week. Silbert said that he’s traveled to Pskov so many times he considers it his other hometown.

Artem Jakovlev, who presides over an arbitrage or largely commercial court in Pskov, had never been to the U.S. before. He is staying with Silbert on this trip.

After witnessing the way the jurors were greeted Wednesday morning, he said through a translator, “I am impressed with the sense of respect built into the entire system. The way citizen participation is excellent.” He said the U.S. Supreme Court and the Connecticut Supreme Court, which they had also visited, were also impressive.

Jakovlev has presided over only one trial, since most of his cases are commercial and settled by judges. “We are only starting,” he said. “We have had jury trials available only since 1993. They’re still very few.”

And they’re also different, as they’ve evolved, said Silbert. Since it’s an exchange, a reporter asked Silbert what he has learned from visiting Russian courts. He thought for a second and said that in Russian jury trials, the decision does not have to be unanimous. “In some instances, after deliberation for three hours, the jurors can vote, and the decision only has to be a majority. Is that right for us? I don’t know, but at some point, for us, in some circumstances maybe something less than unanimous might be considered.”

The Connecticut-Pskov partnership charged up on some very American Dunkin Donuts and coffee and kindly posed for a team photo (above) before they went off to observe a trial, then the correctional center in Cheshire. Judge Silbert said these personal exchanges are warm and positive, but that those adjectives barely capture the significance and benefits to all. It was his impression that the Russians had always been far more perspicacious than Americans about separating their affection for individuals from their attitudes toward the American government. “We began as strangers,” he said, “then we were guests, then we became colleagues, and now we are good friends.”

To learn more about the program, email Silbert here.