The Prosecutor General’s Office paid 4.6 million euros according to the decisions of the ECtHR after the withdrawal of the Russian Federation from the Council of Europe

The Prosecutor General’s Office of Russia executed the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) issued before March 15, paying compensation for 4.65 million euros, informed Head of Department Igor Krasnov in an interview with Izvestia.

“In order to comply with the interests of the Russian Federation, a law was adopted, on the basis of which the Prosecutor General’s Office continued to execute the already issued judgments of the ECtHR, which entered into force until March 15, 2022. Since that moment, 476 applicants have received monetary compensation awarded to them, the total amount exceeded 4.65 million euros,” he said.

Krasnov added that the Russian Constitution establishes broader guarantees of human rights and freedoms in comparison with the European Convention on Human Rights, so the withdrawal of the Russian Federation from the Council of Europe does not entail a derogation of human rights in the country.

Against the backdrop of the start of a special operation in Ukraine, the Council of Europe on February 25, 2022 suspended the representation of Russia in the statutory bodies of the Council of Europe. In this regard, on March 15, the Russian Foreign Ministry handed the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Maria Pejchinovich-Burich a notice of the withdrawal of the Russian Federation from the organization.

On March 16, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe decided to exclude Russia from the organization after 26 years of membership. The Russian authorities stressed that the country itself had withdrawn from the Council of Europe, which also implies withdrawal from the ECtHR.

So, on September 16, the Russian Federation ceased to be a party to the European Convention on Human Rights and withdrew from the jurisdiction of the ECtHR. At the same time, the Foreign Ministry emphasized that the Russian Federation would continue to implement the already adopted decisions of the ECHR, if they did not contradict the Constitution of the Russian Federation. It was explained that the provisions of the main treaty-legal acts of the Council of Europe are included in the Russian legislation.