At the moment, the system of news feeds is replete with daily reports of what is happening in the relationship of the Russian Federation with the ECHR and the Council of Europe. Every day, opening the Yandex feed, you can see information about what the President of the ECHR says, what they say in the Council of Europe and what position Russia has taken.
For those who don't know what's going on. In June 2019, the X hour will come for the Russian Federation, which has been deprived of the right to vote for the last 2 years in the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe. And in this regard, he does not pay contributions to the Council of Europe, which are provided for by an international treaty.
According to the regulations and international agreement, if within two years a country that is a member of the Council of Europe does not pay contributions, it can be expelled from the Council of Europe.
In fact, for the Russian Federation, this will mean that the legal system in the form of protection of human rights, which is regulated by the European Court for the Russian Federation, will no longer exist. In fact, if the RF leaves the Council of Europe, citizens of the Russian Federation will remain isolated in their legal system without the possibility of accessing any international bodies and organizations.
Certainly, some options will remain, but for the Russians it will be quite problematic to do so. Moreover, the ECHR is a very important judicial body for international cooperation.
So in June these two years, which were given to Russia for the payment of contributions, expire. And in June, questions will be raised: whether Russia pays the dues and whether the vote in the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe of the Russian Federation will be returned and whether it can continue to participate in the work of the assembly itself.
In fact, in our opinion, Russia cannot leave the Council of Europe in any case. Otherwise it will be a huge step backward. Judging by the mood of the judge of the ECHR from the Russian Federation Dmitry Dedov, he does not have very rosy forecasts. However, the ECHR Secretariat has a more positive mood and direction. And he understands that the chairmanship at this time will be Finland, which supports the Russian Federation. The Russian Federation is ready to pay these contributions in exchange for a vote in the parliamentary assembly. If the voice returns, then there will be no problem. Moreover, the President of the ECHR expresses his desire and actively contributes to the fact that the application between Europe and the Russian Federation did take place.
For us, in practice, this means that as long as Russia is in the ECHR system, you can submit your complaints, you can defend your rights provided for by the Convention in this way and you can have your right to just monetary compensation from the standpoint of the ECHR.
