24 February 2024

2024-02-24 Memory Eternal! Chief Justice of the Russian Supreme Court Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Lebedev

The Chancellery of the Head of the Russian Imperial House, H.I.H. The Grand Duchess Maria of Russia, was deeply saddened to learn of the death on February 23, 2024, of Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Lebedev, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, Doctor of Law, Professor, and Knight of the Imperial Orders of St. Anna, First Class, and of the White Eagle. He was 81 years old.

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Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Lebedev was born in Moscow on August 14, 1943. His first job was in 1960 as a labourer at the Moscow Reinforced Precast Concrete Pipe Factory, where he worked until 1969.

In 1968, he graduated from the Evening Division of the Department of Legal Studies at Moscow State University, and in 1970 he began working as a full-time attorney.

In 1984, he was appointed Deputy Presiding Judge of the Moscow City Court, and in 1986, he was promoted to Presiding Judge.

On July 26, 1989, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, V. M. Lebedev was appointed Presiding Judge of the Supreme Court of the RSFSR, and was later confirmed in this position at a formal session of the Supreme Court of the RSFSR. He was appointed (and reappointed) to the position of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation in 1999, 2007 and 2012. In 2014, he was named Chief Justice of the merged Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, and in 2019 he was reappointed to the same post for a term of 6 years.

He earned his Candidate’s degree in Law in 1993 and his Doctorate in law in 2000. Beginning in 2001, he also held the position of Professor of Law.

Having reviewed and studied the historical materials and legal arguments presented to the Supreme Court by the Head of the Russian Imperial House, H.I.H. The Grand Duchess Maria of Russia, the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, chaired by V. M. Lebedev, overturned on October 1, 2008, the prior illegal decisions of the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation and lower Courts, and issued notices of rehabilitation for the Holy Royal Passion-Bearer Emperor Nicholas II and members of his family, who were now declared to have been victims of political repression. This ruling in favour of rehabilitation was in full accordance with the Russian Federal Law “On the Rehabilitation of Victims of Political Repression.” After this just and appropriate ruling by the Court, the rehabilitation of other executed members of the Russian Imperial House and their faithful servants soon followed. (See: https://imperialhouse.ru/en/interest/rehabilitation.html).

In recognition of V. M. Lebedev’s many years of substantial and sustained efforts as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to strengthen the rule of law in Russia, on October 1, 2010, the Head of the Russian Imperial House, H.I.H. The Grand Duchess Maria of Russia, awarded him the Imperial Order of St. Anna, First Class. In accordance with the current laws of the Russian Federation, on October 20, 2010, the Supreme Qualification Collegium of Judges of the Russian Federation reviewed the legality of awarding Imperial Honours to a Chief Justice under current statutes, and issued a finding, according to which it “gave permission for the awarding of the Imperial Order of St. Anna, First Class, to Chief Justice V. M. Lebedev and allowed him to accept and wear the insignia of the Order of St. Anna from the Russian Imperial House of Romanoff.” This ruling is yet more evidence that the present government of Russia respects all periods of the thousand-year history of Russia, as well as its ancient and historical institutions, which maintain the nation’s continuity with the past and ensure an unbreakable connection with its glorious history—in particular, the Russian Imperial House and its dynastic Orders. Subsequently, Grand Duchess Maria of Russia awarded V. M. Lebedev the Imperial and Royal Order of the White Eagle (in 2014) and the Imperial hereditary medals “In memory of the 400th anniversary of the House of Romanoff, 1613-2013”; and the Imperial Hereditary Medal “Anniversary of the Nation’s Triumph, 1613-2013,” issued at the time of the 400^th anniversary of the Romanoff dynasty.

The Head of the House of Romanoff first met the Chief Justice on February 18, 2011, during her visit to the Supreme Court (https://imperialhouse.ru/en/allnews-en/news/2716.html). They met again at the Supreme Court, on July 22, 2014 (https://imperialhouse.ru/en/allnews-en/news/4126.html).

The Grand Duchess Maria of Russia, her son and heir, Tsesarevich and Grand Duke George of Russia, and his spouse, Princess Victoria Romanovna, are deeply saddened by the passing of Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Lebedev, and extend their deepest condolences to his family, friends, and colleagues.

May the Lord grand eternal rest to the newly-reposed servant of God Vyacheslav in His Kingdom.