First St. Petersburg International Legal Forum opens on Thursday

ST. PETERSBURG, May 19 (Itar-Tass) - The First St. Petersburg
International Legal Forum is opening on Thursday. According to its
concept, the gathering is supposed to become a major legal event of the
year for Russia and Eastern Europe.
The forum is going to draw together lawyers, politicians, businessmen
and scientists from various countries.
The program includes business, scientific and cultural events.
On the first day, the participants will see Aram Khachaturian's ballet
'Spartak' staged by the Mikhailovsky Theatre. The forum's main events will
take place at the Mikhailovsky (Engineering) Palace, the residence of
Russian Emperor Paul I, on May 20.
Thorbjorn Jagland, the general secretary of the Council of Europe,
Akira Kawamura, the president of the International Bar Association,
Chairman of the Russian Constitutional Court Valery Zorkin and other
international experts will take part in the plenary meeting, the forum's
organizers told Itar-Tass.
Roundtable meetings and discussions on urgent legal issues will be
held. The topics will include legal aspects of creation of an
international financial centre, labour legislation reform, counteraction
to corruption and to financing of international terrorism.
A vast sightseeing program will end the forum on May 21.
The St. Petersburg legal forum is supposed to be annual.