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MINISTERS’ DEPUTIES |
Decisions |
CM/Del/Dec(2021)1411/H46-33 |
16 September 2021 |
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1411th meeting, 14-16 September 2021 (DH)
H46-33 OAO Neftyanaya Kompaniya Yukos v. Russian Federation (Application No. 14902/04) Supervision of the execution of the European Court’s judgments
Reference document |
Decisions
The Deputies
1. recalled that this case concerns different violations under Article 6 and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 concerning tax and enforcement proceedings brought against the applicant oil company, leading to its liquidation in 2007 and that in its just satisfaction judgment the Court awarded EUR 1,866,104,634 in respect of pecuniary damage as well as EUR 300,000 in respect of costs and expenses;
As regards individual measures
2. noting the information concerning the difficulties related to transfer of power of representation of the interests of the Russian Federation at the European Court, expressed nonetheless their profound concern that despite the interim resolution adopted on 1 October 2020, no updated information has been provided regarding the payment of the outstanding just satisfaction;
3. reiterating that the provisions of national law cannot justify a breach of obligations stemming from international treaties which the State has chosen to ratify, insisted upon the unconditional obligation assumed by the Russian Federation under Article 46 of the Convention to abide by the judgments of the European Court;
4. urged the authorities to inform the Committee rapidly of the steps they intend to take, including further legislative changes if necessary, to enable the payment of the outstanding just satisfaction without further delay and to provide the comprehensive plan requested repeatedly by the Committee, including a binding time frame, for distribution of the award of just satisfaction;
As regards general measures
5. welcomed that several of the shortcomings identified by the Court, including the time allowed for the preparation of one’s defence in tax-assessment proceedings, retroactive application of new case-law and the imposition of a fixed 7% enforcement fee have been remedied and that no further general measures are required in this respect;
6. invited the authorities to provide further information on the inflexibility of enforcement actions by bailiffs, in particular as to whether or not a practice has been developed demonstrating the effectiveness of the measures taken and whether this inflexibility may still arise due to requirements of the domestic law; further invited the authorities, given the importance of the existence of effectively functioning domestic remedies, to provide information as to the practical impact of these remedies against acts and omissions of bailiffs; and called on the Russian authorities to continue to monitor the domestic practice and case-law by following up on further/updated decisions or recommendations of higher courts and/or further instructions or circular letters issued by the Federal Bailiffs Service;
7. decided to resume examination of this case at its DH meeting in March 2022 at the latest and urged the authorities to provide the required action plan within the deadline for that meeting.