When I traveled to Russia in 2007 and met with court officials there, some courts were experimenting with posting their decisions on the Web. Beginning this week, what was formerly the exception will become the rule, as most Russian court rulings will be published online in their entirety, The Moscow Times reports.

The change is the result of  a law introduced by President Dmitry Medvedev, a lawyer, as part of a campaign against “legal nihilism,” the Times says. Some 5 million rulings should be online by the end of the year, and double that many by the end of next year. They will be published across a network of some 9,000 court websites.

Published cases are required to include the names of all lawyers, prosecutors, defendants and judges, but not witnesses. Excepted from the publication rule are cases dealing with classified information, state security, adoptions, family disputes, sexual abuse, minors, forced psychological treatment and the disabled.

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Bob is a lawyer, veteran legal journalist, and award-winning blogger and podcaster. In 2011, he was named to the inaugural Fastcase 50, honoring “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” Earlier in his career, he was editor-in-chief of several legal publications, including The National Law Journal, and editorial director of ALM’s Litigation Services Division.