By Roy Mabasa Six Filipino justices from the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals have joined 5,000 delegates from 93 countries in a week-long international forum in Russia that seeks to promote ways to modernize the law, optimize cooperation and work out common approaches to developing law amidst the changing global environment. Those who attended the Ninth St. Petersburg International Legal Forum (SPILF) last week in St. Petersburg, Russia were SC Justices Mariano Del Castillo, Estela Perlas-Bernabe, Rosmari Carandang, Court of Appeals Presiding Justice Romeo Barza, and CA Justices Elihu Ybanez, and Danton Bueser. The SPILF is a major platform for dialogue between jurists, lawyers, government and international organization representatives, economists, and politicians representing main economic and legal systems in the world. This year’s event included working group meetings, lectures and presentations, “talk shows”, off-site conferences, cultural activities, and a plenary session entitled the “Art of Law”. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev delivered the keynote speech during the plenary. The SPILF also conveyed an award, the Private Law Prize, a legal scientific award that recognizes academic works for its innovative character, significance transcending national boundaries, and level of scientific rigor. This year’s awardee was Dr. Jeremias Prassl of the University of Oxford for his book entitled “Humans as Service”. At the conclusion of their participation to the SPILF, the justices held a discussion with representatives of the Philippine Embassy in Moscow that focused on expanding the areas of cooperation between the judicial departments of the Philippines and the Russian Federation.