Lawmakers at the State Duma lower house of the Russian parliament have passed the laws on establishing courts in the Lugansk People’s Republic and the Zaporozhye region.    “The new regions will set up supreme, regional, arbitration, town and district courts,” the parliament reported on its website.   The decision on operation start date will be made by the plenum of the Supreme Court after at least half of all judges have been appointed to their posts in each region. Until that date, cases will be heard by previous courts on the condition that the judges have Russian citizenship.   “Federal judges will be selected on a competitive basis, but those who worked as judges as of the date of the region’s accession to Russia have an advantage. These candidates must have Russian citizenship. If the candidate has no working experience as a judge, they have to take a qualification exam,” the Russian parliament said.   The Lugansk People’s Republic, Donetsk People’s Republic and Zaporozhye and Kherson regions acceded to Russia on September 30, 2022 following the unification referenda.*i*v