Laws to stop the implementation of ECHR rulings have been signed

Russia ceases to comply with the decisions of the Strasbourg Court issued after March 15, 2022.

On June 11, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed laws to amend the Code of Criminal Procedure (CPC) and other legislative acts. They provide for the termination by Russia of the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) adopted after March 15, 2022.

These bills were submitted to the State Duma on May 16 by State Duma deputies Pavel Krasheninnikov and Daniil Bessarabov, as well as senators Andrei Klishas and Vladimir Poletaev. On May 18 they were adopted in the first reading, on June 7 - in the second and third readings, on June 8 the laws were approved by the Federation Council.

Initially, it was proposed to stop implementing the decisions made after March 16, 2022, that is, from the day the Russian Federation was expelled from the Council of Europe , but for the second reading, the date was changed to March 15, when Russia announced its withdrawal from the Council of Europe.

The first law excludes from among the new circumstances under which criminal proceedings are resumed the violation of the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights established by the ECtHR. At the same time, it is separately indicated that the judgments of the ECHR issued after March 15 are not subject to execution in Russia, and for the execution of judgments issued before that date, Russian courts can use the Code of Criminal Procedure in the old version.

In addition, it is clarified that under the new circumstance under which the criminal proceedings are resumed, not only the recognition by the Constitutional Court of Russia of any law as unconstitutional, but also the recognition of any normative act or its separate provision as unconstitutional, as well as their interpretation by the Constitutional Court, can serve, diverging from those used in the verdict, ruling or ruling of the Russian court.

In accordance with the second law, references to the ECtHR are excluded from the laws "On the Prosecutor's Office", "On the Detention of Suspected and Accused of Committing Crimes", "On Compensation for Violation of the Right to Trial within a Reasonable Time or the Right to Execution of a Judicial Act within a Reasonable Time" , as well as from the Criminal Executive Code (PEC), the Code of Administrative Procedure (CAS), the Arbitration Procedure Code (APC), the Civil Procedure Code (CPC). At the same time, it is noted that in order to enforce the decisions of the ECtHR adopted before March 16, the courts can use the old versions of the CAS, APC and CPC.

The law also provides that the rule on the payment of compensation by the Prosecutor General's Office under the decisions of the ECtHR will be canceled only from January 1, 2023; until that moment, compensation payments under the decrees that entered into force before March 15 will be made, but only in rubles and to accounts in Russian banks.

In addition, in the law "On Detention..." the reference to letters from prisoners addressed to the ECtHR is replaced by letters to other "interstate bodies for the protection of human rights and freedoms."

Recall that the ECHR itself ruled on March 23 that the Russian Federation will cease to be a High Contracting Party to the European Convention on Human Rights only from September 16, 2022, and the court will continue to consider all complaints against Russia regarding events that occurred before that date. Moreover, it was assumed that Russia would be obliged to comply with the judgments of the ECtHR adopted in relation to it, issued even after September 16th.

Sources

• A law was signed, according to which in Russia judgments of the ECtHR that came into force after March 15, 2022 are not subject to execution // Website of the President of Russia. 2022. June 11.
• Amendments have been made to the legislation in connection with the recognition of the judgments of the ECtHR that came into force after March 15, 2022 as unenforceable in Russia // Website of the President of Russia. 2022. June 11.