MINISTERS’ DEPUTIES

Information documents

CM/Inf/DH(2023)22

26 September 2023

3rd Strategy paper regarding the means to ensure implementation of judgments of the Court with respect to the Russian Federation

 

 

I.          Introduction

1.         It is recalled that at its 1436^th and 1451^st DH meetings in June and December 2022, the Committee discussed the strategy to be adopted for the examination of Russian cases, based on information notes[1] prepared by the Department for Execution of Judgments (DEJ), and adopted two decisions in this regard.[2]

2.         The situation remains unchanged: since 3 March 2022 the Russian authorities have ceased all communication with the Secretariat and have failed to participate in the Committee of Ministers’ Human Rights meetings (DH). The DEJ has continued to write to the Russian authorities notably to request information on cases, to seek submission of action plans/reports and to forward communications received under Rule 9. Moreover, following the invitation of the Committee, the Secretary General sent letters[3] to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation after each DH meeting, informing the Russian authorities of the decisions and resolutions adopted by the Committee in cases where the Russian Federation is the respondent State, urging the authorities to abide by the judgments of the European Court.

3.         In its decision CM/Del/Dec(2022)1451/A2a adopted in December 2022, the Committee of Ministers, inter alia, requested the Secretariat to actively explore with interested member States all possible strategies to ensure the effective implementation of judgments against the Russian Federation, taking into account the proposals made by delegations.

4.         Having regard to the total lack of communication from the authorities, the recent laws adopted in the Russian Federation which block the execution of judgments,[4] and the fact that the Court continues and will continue to deliver judgments against the Russian Federation, within the limits of its jurisdiction; this present paper aims to propose further strategies for the consideration of the Committee to enable it to continue its function of supervising judgments against the Russian Federation and to ensure, within the limits of the possible, their effective implementation.

II.         Current situation of cases pending execution

5.         There are currently 2,468 cases pending against the Russian Federation under the supervision of the Committee of Ministers, which the Russian Federation is required to implement. The breakdown is as follows:

• Cases under enhanced supervision: 1,483 (of which 62 are leading, disclosing general problems);
• Cases under standard supervision: 933;
• New cases: 52.

6.         As from 16 March 2022, the European Court has delivered judgments and friendly settlement decisions in 471 cases against the Russian Federation. 11 of these cases were classified as leading cases,[5] 403 were classified as repetitive cases, and 14 were strike out decisions based on friendly settlement.[6] The violations considered by the Court relate to a wide range of Convention articles.

7.         Information as regards the payment of just satisfaction was missing in 1,209 cases. As of 5 June 2023, the total outstanding amount stood at over 2.2 billion euros.[7] This includes the sums awarded by the court in the two interstate cases pending execution against the Russian Federation: in the case of Georgia v. Russia (I) the Court awarded EUR 10,000,000, which by 5 June 2023 had accrued interest for non-payment of EUR 1,525,068.49, and in the case of Georgia v. Russia (II), in its just satisfaction judgment of 28 April 2023, the Court awarded just satisfaction in the amount of EUR 129,827,500, to be paid within three months, and thereafter subject to default interest.[8]

III.        Co-operation with other international organisations and civil society

8.         At its last examination of the strategy regarding the supervision of the execution of cases pending against the Russian Federation, the Committee requested the Secretariat to put into effect the proposals set out in the information document CM/Inf/DH(2022)25. The Secretariat was accordingly instructed to enhance its contacts with the relevant United Nations bodies and report back to the Committee in the context of the cases concerned, to increase co-operation with civil society concerning Russian cases, as well as to carry out a full stock-taking of all the pending cases.

United Nations

9.         The Russian Federation remains a member of the United Nations Organisation and a party to a number of UN human rights instruments with their own monitoring mechanisms. The general and individual measures required from the Russian Federation to implement the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in many instances coincide with issues followed up on by the UN monitoring bodies, notably by the UN Human Rights Council (HRC). It is therefore important that the Council of Europe and the relevant UN bodies complement one another to ensure and effective compliance with human rights obligations. Thus, the Reykjavik Summit Declaration (16-17 May 2023), recommitting to the Convention system as the cornerstone of the Council of Europe’s protection of human rights, affirmed the need to make every effort to ensure the execution of the Court’s judgments by the Russian Federation, including thorough the development of synergies with other international organisations, such as the United Nations. Similarly, in April 2023 the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) confirmed its recognition of the key role of the European Court of Human Rights in ensuring effective human rights protection in Europe and noted with interest the efforts to ensure the rapid and effective execution of Court judgments.

10.       To enhance co-operation with the UN bodies, a delegation from the DEJ had a working visit to Geneva on 12-13 June 2023 and held bilateral meetings with Ms Mariana Katzarova, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation. Meetings were also held with staff members from the HRC and Treaty Mechanisms Division, including the Petitions and Urgent Action Section and the Europe and Central Asia Section, and also with staff members of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (UNWGEID).

11.       The Special Rapporteur (SR) expressed her wish to co-operate closely with the DEJ and the COE. She explained that her mandate requires her to submit a comprehensive report to the HRC at its 54th session and to the UN General Assembly at its 78th session. As an independent expert, since the date of her appointment on 1 May 2023, she is closely monitoring the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation and assessing relevant information she receives from several stakeholders, including Russian civil society and other human rights mechanisms. The SR further expressed her willingness to include a part in her report concerning the failure of the Russian Federation to execute the European Court’s judgments, with related recommendations. The SR also expressed a willingness to come to Strasbourg for an exchange of views with the Committee of Ministers either in a regular meeting or before a DH meeting following the adoption of her report.

12.       During the meeting with the HRC and Treaty Mechanisms division, all participants exchanged views on how best closer co-operation could be achieved.

13.       As regards the Universal Periodic Reporting (UPR) Procedure, Russia will be subject to the 4th cycle of review this year (hearing scheduled for 13 November 2023),[9] and its national report was due to have been submitted on 7 August 2023. At the meeting on 13 November 2023, participants will discuss three reports: the national report, the compilation report and the summary report. They will also follow up on recommendations to be adopted. These recommendations will be adopted on 17 November and the final report will be adopted in March 2024. The deadline for “stakeholders" was 5 April 2023 and the Council of Europe has sent its contribution to the report, raising the difficulties encountered in the implementation of judgments concerning the Russian Federation.

14.       The DEJ delegation also met with the secretariat of the UNWGEID. In this meeting, updated information on Russian cases, particularly concerning the North Caucuses, was shared with the UNWGEID staff. It was agreed to have regular meetings and both parties expressed their willingness to cooperate closely.

Civil Society

15.       In the absence of communication from the authorities, the information provided by NGOs remains a vital resource to enable the Committee to keep up to date with the situation in the Russian Federation,[10] as was observed by the Rapporteur Group on Democracy in its document GR-DEM(2022)9 (§ 12), of which the Committee of Ministers took note in its decision CM/Del/Dec(2022)1442/2.6 of 14 September 2022.

16.       On 14 October 2022 an online exchange was held between staff in the DEJ and a number of Russia-based NGOs,[11] to explore how to maintain and increase cooperation with civil society in relation to the issues raised by Russian cases pending before the Committee. Subsequently, on 7 March 2023 the Committee of Ministers held an exchange of views with three Russian human rights NGOs, namely with the Memorial Human Rights Defence Centre, the Mass Media Defence Centre, and the Stitching Justice Initiative, on issues relevant to the execution of pending cases concerning in particular freedom of assembly (Lashmankin group of cases), freedom of expression online (Vladimir Kharitonov group of cases), and the continuing human rights violations in the North Caucasus region (Khashiyev group of cases). The delegations expressed their support to the speakers and to Russian civil society in general.

17.       The Committee is planning to hold a similar exchange concerning the issues raised by the pending judgments against the Russian Federation concerning the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova, in September 2023. The Committee may wish to hold further similar exchanges on other cases against the Russian Federation before in 2024.

V. Proposed case-processing strategy

DH meetings

18.       Since Russia’s expulsion, through the adoption of decisions and interim resolutions the Committee has continued underlining the obligation on Russia to execute the Court’s judgments. To ensure the credibility of the Convention system, to provide support to applicants and to Russian civil society that tries to function in support of implementation of the Court’s judgments under severe oppression from the authorities, the Committee should continue its close supervision. This process also better informs the monitoring bodies of the UN, in which the Russian Federation is still a member. Accordingly, Notes and draft decisions will continue to be prepared for key cases, generally to be adopted by the Committee without debate.

19.       To facilitate the Committee’s supervision of Russian cases, the Secretariat has carried out a stock-taking of all pending cases, in accordance with the previous strategy paper,^[12] and prepared a document setting out all necessary measures that should be taken by the authorities in all leading cases. All previous decisions of the Committee regarding the required measures are reflected in this document. It is proposed to make this document publicly available and to update it regularly. This list could also be submitted for the consideration of the Committee at the end of each year, when the Committee might wish to adopt a general decision, reminding the Russian authorities their obligations to take measures to remedy the shortcomings listed in this document and to demonstrate the outstanding issues.

            Classification of all cases against the Russian Federation in the enhanced procedure

20.       According to the Working Methods for the DH meetings, the Committee may, at any stage in the supervision process, decide to examine a case under the enhanced procedure following a proposal of a member State or the Secretariat. If a member State does not present an action plan or report within the required deadlines, the Secretariat may propose that the case is triggered up for examination under the enhanced procedure.[13] In the current exceptional situation, where the Russian authorities refuse to communicate with the Committee, and bearing in mind that this circumstance is unlikely to change whilst the domestic legislation Russia enacted blocking the execution of the Court’s judgments remains in force, so that it can be foreseen that no action plans or other information are received within acceptable deadlines, the Committee may wish to consider transferring all cases against the Russian Federation that are currently examined under the standard procedure, to the enhanced procedure.

Moreover, as these exceptional circumstances affect all the pending cases, it is also suggested to classify all new cases under the enhanced procedure for the foreseeable future, as long as the Russian authorities refuse to implement the Court judgments.