Vladimir Putin signs law allowing Russian Federation to ignore global human rights rulings

The legislation passed by parliament earlier this month gives Russia’s Constitutional Court the authority to reject foreign rulings if they contradict the constitution the reports said.

President Vladimir Putin has signed a law allowing Russia’s Constitutional Court to overturn any rulings worldwide human rights courts may impose upon the country if it deems them unconstitutional.

Russian Federation still technically will have that duty, so the new law will bring “much doubt and opacity to the domestic legal system, further hinder Russia’s relationships with its worldwide partners, and delay justice even further for human rights victims”, HRW said.

The Russian Constitutional Court announced: “The European Convention on Human Rights and the legal positions taken by the [European Court] based on [the convention], can not undermine [Russia’s] Constitution, which takes priority”.

The Russian Constitutional Court stated that, such a conflicting situation would rarely or not arise at all. But there’s one issue, as Human Rights Watch (HRW) points out. It gathered momentum after a ECHR ruling in 2014 which ordered Moscow to pay ‎€1.9bn (£1.38bn $2.09bn) in compensation to shareholders of defunct oil company, Yukos. The legislation follows a $2 billion judgment by the European Court of Human Rights.

The law allows Russia’s president and government to submit inquiries to the Constitutional Court on the possibility of enforcing verdicts by interstate courts like the ECHR.

“Grim day for Russia: Putin signs law to let Moscow bin global human rights rulings”. “The Council of Europe will only be able to assess Russia’s compliance with its obligations when and if a specific case arises”, Jagland said.

“I don’t see any problem there, I think that people are worrying for nothing”, he told Putin on December 14″.