Yes, we will not be judged

Russia will refuse to execute the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights if the country does not participate in the choice of judges. This was stated by the State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, RBC reports .

"If we do not participate in the elections of the judges of the ECHR, the court decisions will not apply to us, since there is no legitimacy of the court, based on the fact that we were not allowed to form this court," said Volodin.

At the same time, the State Duma speaker emphasized that Russia does not intend to “clap the door” at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. It is this structure that forms the composition of the ECHR. "We just declared our position, stopped paying contributions and expressed an opinion on the issue related to the formation of structures derived from PACE," said Volodin.

Meanwhile, the speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko in an interview with the Russia 1 television channel said that the deprivation of the Russian delegation in the PAC of Voise Rights signals the need for changes in the organization. According to Matvienko, Russia must remain a member of the Council of Europe, but the country "must hear."

On Monday, Matvienko said that in Moscow they would cease to recognize the decision of the ECHR if Russia does not return all powers in the PACE. If the Russian delegation cannot take part in the elections of judges, "all these persons will not be completely legitimate," the head of the Council noted. The same, added Matvienko, will also relate to the new president of the Assembly if it is chosen without the participation of Russia. Volodin in the commentary of RBC confirmed the position of Matvienko in terms of possible non -recognition of the decision of the ECHR.

In April 2014, in response to the annexation of Crimea, she deprived the Russian delegation of the right of vote , as well as the right to participate in the meetings of its authorized bodies and in monitoring activities before the end of the year. In January 2016, after the next extension of the deadline for these restrictions, Russia refused to participate in the Assembly session .

In June of this year, Moscow suspended the payment of an annual membership fee in PACA until all powers are returned to the Russian delegation.

However, on Wednesday PACE approved a decision that allows Russia to return authority . The draft resolution was prepared by the Italian Michele Nicoletti, who is expected to be the chairman of PACE in 2018-2019. The Ukrainian delegation introduced a number of amendments, but almost all of them were rejected by a majority vote.

In particular, the final text included the provision on the need to "harmonize the rules of participation and representation of member countries in both authorized bodies" - PACE and the office of ministers. This means that the restrictions imposed on Russia in the PACA should be canceled, since the Cabinet of Council of the European Council did not introduce sanctions against Russia.