Strasbourg does not forget about Moscow – Picture of the Day – Kommersant

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CMCE) has published a report on the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) for 2022. As follows from the document, Russia, which last year withdrew from the Council of Europe and ceased to be a party to the European Convention on Human Rights, retained its leadership in the number of unexecuted decisions of the ECtHR. Moreover, compared to 2021, the number of decisions put under the control of the CMCE has increased dramatically, and only four verdicts were recognized as executed there. According to these calculations, they did not receive confirmation of the full payment of compensation in 729 cases – and, apparently, they will not receive any more: according to Russian laws, payments were made until the end of 2022 and only for decisions that entered into force before March 15 last year.

Even though the Russian Federation stopped be a member of the Council of Europe from March 16, 2022 and a party to the Convention from September 16, 2022, a significant part of the annual report of the CMCE is devoted to it: Strasbourg still insists that Moscow is obliged to fulfill decisions of the ECtHR. And their number is only growing: in 2022, the CMCE received from the ECHR to supervise the execution of 413 cases against the Russian Federation, the document says. This is an absolute record over the past ten years and one and a half times more than it was in 2021 (267 cases), while the amount of compensation awarded increased almost eight times – from €11.9 million to €80.2 million. As of the end of 2022, CMCE controlled 2,352 Russian cases (of which 62 are “leading”, that is, affecting systemic problems), and this is almost 40% of the total number of outstanding decisions.

Among the most significant pending cases, the CMCE notes, in particular, two interstate disputes concerning the conflict between Russia and Georgia.

One of them is connected with the expulsion of Georgian citizens from the Russian Federation in 2006-2007, the second one is connected with the armed conflict between the Russian Federation and Georgia in August 2008. In addition, in the context of the Navalny and Officers v. Russia case, the CMCE has repeatedly expressed serious concern that opposition leader Alexei Navalny remains in custody. Decisions on violations of the Convention in Transnistria also remain under control. Cases of violations in the Russian Federation related to the excessive use of force by the special services, the lack of effective guarantees for the protection of women from domestic violence and the restriction of freedom of assembly were also among the consideration of the committee in 2022.

Only four Russian cases were closed (that is, to report on the execution of the ECtHR decision) last year (last year there were 130 of them). There were also only four cases of full payment of the compensation awarded, while confirmation of payment expected in 791 cases. The CMCE also reports on “innovative strategies” that have made it possible to continue monitoring the implementation of decisions even after Russia cut off all communications with Strasbourg. A key element of these strategies is the expansion of contacts with Russian civil society and other international organizations, the report says. Last year, the CMCE received 13 appeals on Russian affairs from NGOs and continue to explore the possibilities of such communication.

The former federal official attributes the spike in Russian cases to the cessation of dialogue with national authorities. According to him, if until now many decisions were “slowed down” while communication was going on, now this mechanism works only in one direction.

In fact, this only means that the CMCE is in a procedural impasse, the source of Kommersant is sure: by depriving the Russian side of the word, European officials have deprived themselves of the opportunity to conduct a meaningful dialogue and now they can only accumulate negativity.

And the more they accumulate it, the more they will have to “resolve” if it ever becomes the subject of diplomatic bargaining, he concludes.

It is possible that the sharp increase in the number of Russian cases under the control of the CMCE is connected with the clearing of the “rubble” that is now underway in Strasbourg before the expected reduction in the court apparatus, says Kirill Koroteev, head of the international practice of the Agora group. But the number of outstanding cases will only increase, he agrees: about 16,000 more Russian complaints are pending, and the national authorities no longer communicate with Strasbourg. And it cannot be said that they are not aware of this problem – it is no coincidence that in the recently published memorandum of the ECHR for the Council of Europe summit in Reykjavik, the court proposes to develop a mechanism for dealing with decisions made in relation to withdrawn members. Because it becomes clear: decisions that have no effect undermine the authority of the judiciary, the expert concludes.

Anastasia Kornya