ECHR rulings handed down after March 16 can't be enforced in Russia - bill

MOSCOW. May 16 (Interfax) - A number of bills specifying the provisions of Russian procedural codes, including the Criminal Procedure Code, have been submitted to the State Duma due to the termination of Russia's membership in the Council of Europe.

"The federal draft laws propose that a deadline be set for the execution of the ECHR [European Court of Human Rights] rulings in Russia, which is based on the date of the decision made by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to end Russia's membership in the Council of Europe, and provide that ECHR rulings handed down after March 16, 2022 are not subject to enforcement in Russia," co-author of the initiatives and head of the State Duma Committee on State Building and Legislation Pavel Krasheninnikov told reporters on Monday.

However, in order to protect the rights of Russian citizens and to ensure that no vacuum is left in the enforcement of judgments, the Prosecutor General's Office may pay compensation to a petitioner under the ECHR rulings handed down before March 16, 2022, until January 1, 2023, Krasheninnikov said.

A number of amendments are also made to certain provisions of Russian procedural legislation concerning the review of judgements handed down by Russian courts based on the ECHR rulings. "The ECHR rulings will no longer be a basis for reviewing decisions made by Russian courts," Krasheninnikov noted.

The draft of the second federal law proposes the removal of provisions from the Russian Criminal Procedure Code stipulating that the ECHR judgments are grounds for invalidating effective court decisions and for resuming criminal proceedings due to new or newly discovered circumstances, the head of the committee said.

There are plans to set up an additional compensatory mechanism for the Russian courts in criminal proceedings, which would expand the grounds for overturning valid judicial decisions and for resuming criminal proceedings in view of new or newly discovered circumstances, Krasheninnikov said.