ECtHR and the Russian Constitutional Court: duet or duel?

Abstract

Is there a genuine political willingness in Russia to develop its legal practice and way of thinking regarding human rights? Does Strasbourg law have a real impact on and has it changed anything in actual state practice? Has Russia’s participation in the Strasbourg system been a success or a failure? The real situation can be adequately reflected via ECHR implementation in the domestic legal system, especially through judicial practice, as it constitutes the real legal status of human rights. The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation (Russian CC) plays the leading role here: through its rulings, it can affect the basic elements of the legal system – legislation and legal practices. In addition, the constitutional and European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) jurisdictions are very close, since the Convention plays the role of a sort of constitution for human rights in Europe. Therefore, the vision of human rights in Russia and related state practice appear mainly in the dialogue between the ECtHR and the Russian CC. Thus, the previous questions are mostly, or at least to a large extent, to be answered through the perspective of these courts’ interrelations. This chapter is based on a wide synthesis and generalization of Russian CC practice over the last twenty years and the overall perception of Strasbourg law in Russia. This empiricism, in such a context, casts additional light on the impact of ECtHR rulings on human rights protection in Russia and development of a dialogue between the two courts. Is this dialogue coordinated and concerted, as in a duet, or similar to a gunfight, as in a duel?