Russian Constitutional Court affirms that children of Soviet repression victims have the right to receive housing in their parents’ cities

Russia’s Constitutional Court has affirmed that rehabilitated victims of political repressions as well as any children born in the Gulag system or in exile have the right to receive housing in the cities where their families lived at the time of the repression.

The court noted that such a right is guaranteed in Russia’s rehabilitation law but that regional legislation does not include enforcement mechanisms that actually allow the affected individuals to receive housing. To rectify that gap, the justices ordered new legislation to be developed. In the meantime, those affected will be granted housing without having to demonstrate financial need or previous residency in the area where their relatives lived.

Three daughters of repressed Moscow residents submitted the complaints that initiated the high court case. The women would like to return to Moscow, but local authorities denied them housing on the grounds that they did not meet the city’s financial need requirements and had not lived in the capital for at least 10 years.