To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of progress on President Medvedev's commitment to end legal nihilism in the Russian legal system. (246836)

We welcome President Medvedev's focus on the need to strengthen the rule of law in Russia, including his focus on tackling corruption and promoting the independence of the judiciary.

It is a positive sign that President Medvedev signed a package of anti-corruption laws on 25 December 2008. However, the challenges are immense and the test will be in the implementation. We raised our concerns, most recently, at the UK/Russia bilateral human rights talks on 16 January 2009.