Since October 2005 the DEMOS Centre has been working together with regional partners on a project entitled “The Implementation of the Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in Russia.”

The main focus of the project is to carry out research into the conditions and processes that lead to the implementation of the European Court’s judgments in Russia. The work of the project includes informing lawyers, human rights activists and journalists about the workings of the European Court, and, in particular, about cases relating to Russia and the implementation in Russia of decisions made by the Court.

The project will be carried out over the next eighteen months.

The project is supported by the Ford Foundation.


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Project Outline

The Russian Federation ratified the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in May 1998 and recognized the legal jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights. Citizens of Russia are now able to turn to this international organ if they are unable to find protection of their rights within their own country.

Every year thousands of Russians present their claims to the European Court. By the start of 2006 the Court had passed over 100 judgments regarding Russian cases.

Many of these judgments point to systematic problems in Russian law enforcement policy, and as a result their implantation is of key importance for the development of our legal system. It is important also to note that the judgments of the European Court are binding, as set out in the norms of the Convention. Their implementation therefore plays an important role in Russia’s international prestige.

Upon analysing judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in Russian cases and receiving information from representatives of the Russian Federation at the Court it is clear that many of the recent cases relate to issues that have already been looked at by the Court. This attests to an inability to rectify the shortcomings of our legal systems once they have been identified by the Court.

Without effective change Russian law and existing law enforcement policy will not be able to guarantee the protection of the rights and freedoms of its citizens. In addition, without a specific system for the implementation of the Courts decisions the number of Russian cases at the Court will continue to grow, which in turn could reflect badly on the Russian Federation and the effectiveness of the Court itself.

However, more effective implementation of the European Court’s judgments in Russia is not possible without thorough investigation into the decisions that have already been implemented in Russia and lessons that can be drawn from these experiences. It is also necessary to look at the possibilities for, and obstacles preventing, the introduction of the standards of the European Court into Russian law enforcement, legal and legislative practice.

In order to achieve these aims we will closely examine the mechanism for distributing information about the judgments of the European Court throughout Russia, together with the mechanism for interpreting and implementing the Court’s decisions at a law making and law enforcement level. Awareness of the Court’s judgments and the influence of they have on the work of law makers and enforcers will also be investigated.

The research will be carried out both on a federal and regional level. Our regional partners - members of an expert network of human rights organizations - will play a significant role in the research. We will also attract academic, legal and human rights experts to participate in the research.

The results of the research will provide a basis for the development of recommendations aimed at perfecting the system of implementing the Court’s decisions in Russia. The results will also help to compile recommendations on the optimal role of NGOs in this field.

The research component of the project is supplemented by the provision of information about the Court and work to raise awareness of the Court. To do this we publish regular reviews on the discussion of Russian cases in the European Court. It is also planed to publish and distribute other information as well as to carry out public events.



The project’s expert network

Five regional non governmental organizations with a reputation for effective and professional partnership are working with us on this project.

We attach great significance to the research that is carried out in the regions and constantly strive to strengthen the regional components of our project. The experience and qualifications of our colleagues in the regions is an invaluable contribution to the success of the research project.

Experts with knowledge of the prolonged local conflict in the Chechen Republic and Northern Caucasus are also working with us on this project. Several of them, including Igor Sazhin (from the Human Rights Commission “Memorial”), provide information and expert support to veterans of the conflict; others, including Sergei Andreev (School of Public Politics, Barnaul, Altaiskii Krai), conduct research into the security problems linked to the widening of the conflict beyond the Chechen borders and into the Northern Caucasus Region as a whole. The majority of the partners provide legal support to those who have suffered during the conflict, assist them to defend their rights, and are fully aware of the humanitarian problems in modern day Chechnya. All of the experience collected by our regional partners provides the foundation for the “Veterans of Chechnya” project, which is carried our as part of the research activities of the DEMOS Centre.

Our regional partners include:
1. The Republic of Adigea – Tzvetkov, Oleg Mikhailovich, “The Independent Southern Russian Institute of Social Research”, Maikop

2. The Koma Republic – Sazhin, Igor Valentinovich, The Koma Human Rights Commission “Memorial”, Syktyvkar

3. The Altai Region – Andreev, Sergei Vladimirovich, The School of Public Politics, Altai

4. Nizhnii Novgorod Region – Kalyapin, Igor Aleksandrovich, Committee against Torture, Nizhnii Novgorod

5. Tver Region – Sharipova, Valentina Alekseevna, Tver regional branch of the Russian Historical-Enlightenment, Human Rights and Humanitarian Society, “Memorial”



The Moscow office conducts research in cooperation with the regional experts, who are in turn responsible for the implementation of approved research targets. The general coordination and strategy development is carried out by the project’s Moscow office.

The project has an inter-disciplinary character. The problem of the social and professional adaptation of veterans lies within the fields of sociology, psychology, psychiatry and several other specialist fields. In order to fulfill the aims of the project and to receive balanced results it is necessary to take these varied sciences into account. It would not be an exaggeration to say that without a complex and interdisciplinary examination of the problem of veterans’ rehabilitation, it would not be possible to determine how best to change the system of rehabilitation for the better.

Moscow and regional specialists in the fields of psychology, trauma, the functioning of the modern day police force, media distribution and the legislative process provide expert consultation in order to meet the need for such an interdisciplinary approach to the research. This also helps towards increasing public awareness of the problems connected with veteran’s rehabilitation and the humanitarian problems of the Chechen conflict as a whole. Experts involved in the project include:

• Vintzin, Sergei Efimovich – Professor of the Department of Criminal Law at the Academy of Ministry of Internal Affairs, of the Russian Federation and Deputy Chairman of the President’s Council on Perfecting the Justice System.
• Burkov, Valerii Anatolevich – Chairman of the “Heroes of Russia” Foundation, expert in the legal regulation of social help and rehabilitation for invalids, and one of authors of the law “On the Social Protection of Invalids”
• Khmelnitzkaya, Yekaterina Pavlovna – an independent psychologist
• Pogodina, Tatyana Grigorevna – a practising doctor in the field of neurology and psychiatry, in 1998 carried out research into the medical-psychological rehabilitation of war veterans
• Malahov, Alexandr – a practising doctor, specialist at the Nizhnii Novgorod rehabilitation centre
• Tzvetkova, Natalya – an independent analyst of the mass media.


At every stage of the project the research aims will be precisely defined and problems requiring more in depth investigation will be established. As this happens the circle of experts participating in the project will continue to expand.