01.02.2008
SVERDLOVSK OBLAST REGIONAL BRANCH OF
THE POLITICAL PARTY
"RUSSIAN LABOUR PARTY"
620072, Yekaterinburg, Sirenevii bulvar, 1-313 t./f. +7(343)355-36-51
EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
RESPONSE TO ADDITIONAL MEMORANDUM of 25 October 2007
of the Representative of the Russian Federation at the European Court
of Human Rights
on the Application no. 43724/05
by SVERDLOVSK OBLAST REGIONAL BRANCH OF THE POLITICAL PARTY "RUSSIAN
LABOUR PARTY" against THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
lodged on 1 November 2005
We hereby confirm the receipt of your letter dated 29 October 2007,
and the accompanying letter from the Representative of the Russian
Federation to the European Court of Human Rights dated 25 October 2007
with comments in relation to just satisfaction and the additional
memorandum of the applicant.
In response to allegations raised in the additional government
memorandum we submit the following:
1. Allegations that Sverdlovsk Oblast Regional Branch of the Political
Party "Russian Labour Party" ["the Regional Branch"] does not "exist"
due to a constructed transfer of authority to the subsequently formed
Sverdlovsk Oblast Regional Branch of the Political Party "Patriots of
Russia" are unfounded:
The Regional Branch confirms that it has neither taken any decision to
re-name nor dissolve the Regional Branch, nor has it elected Mr. Zmeev
Boris Nikolaievich, a communist member of the regional parliament, as
the new head of the Regional Branch.
The illicit and unauthorized attempt to re-name the Regional Branch
was accomplished through the state organ (the Bureau of the Federal
Registration Service in Sverdlovsk Oblast) without any decision of the
common gathering of members of the Regional Branch. Subsequent changes
to the Unified State Register of Legal Persons were merely achieved
pursuant to an unauthorized application by Semigin G. U., the head of
the Political Party "Patriots of Russia," - who is a resident of
Moscow and a member of the State Duma of the Russian Federation.
The Regional Branch confirms that it has no connection with Mr.
Semigin. Mr. Semigin's application was delivered to the Bureau of the
Federal Registration Service in Sverdlovsk Oblast by a Mr. Zmeev B.
N., a communist member of the regional parliament, with a supporting
affidavit from Mr. Semigin. Although Zmeev B. N. is a person living in
Sverdlovsk oblast, he does not have any formal position, authority or
relationship with the Regional Branch.
National courts have persisted in their silent refusals to duly
consider the constitutionality of the actions of the Bureau of the
Federal Registration Service in Sverdlovsk Oblast over two-and-a-half
years. This is set out for fully in detail in the applicant's
memorandum (see part 2). On 3 December 2007 Kirovskii district courts
of Yekaterinburg delivered a decision against the Head of the Regional
Branch Beliaev. S. I. who claimed in the law suit that the Sverdlovsk
Oblast Regional Branch of the Political Party "Patriots of Russia" was
registered illegally. This decision is currently under review before
the cassation instance (court). We hereby enclose supplementary
documentation which completes previous documentation filed with the
ECHR, and draw the Court's attention to the relevant fact that this
supplementary documentation was communicated to us only as national
courts resumed consideration of matters before them only after the
Regional Branch's application to the European Court of Human Rights
was communicated to the government.
The supplementary documentation provided herein includes:
- Decision of Sverdlovsk oblast court of 6 March 2007 delivered on the
cassation brought by Head of the Sverdlovsk Oblast Regional Branch of
the Political Party "Russian Labour Party" Beliaev S. I. on the
decision of 3 November 2006 by the Kirovskii District Court of
Yekaterinburg on the return to S. I. Beliaev of the application on
recognition as unlawful of the decision of the Chief Bureau of the
Federal Registration Service of the Ministry of Justice in Sverdlovsk
Oblast on making changes in the incorporation documents of the
Regional Branch of the Political Party "Patriots of Russia;"
- Decision of Kirovskii district court of 19 September 2007 on
discontinuation of the proceedings on the case of the Head of the
Sverdlovsk Oblast Regional Branch of the Political Party "Russian
Labour Party" Beliaev S. I. against the Bureau of the Federal
Registration Service in Sverdlovsk Oblast;
- Decision of Sverdlovsk oblast court of 30 October 2007 on quashing
of decision of Kirovskii district court of 19 September 2007 on
discontinuation of the proceedings on the case of Head of the
Sverdlovsk Oblast Regional Branch of the Political Party "Russian
Labour Party" Beliaev S. I. against the Bureau of the Federal
Registration Service in Sverdlovsk Oblast;
- Judgment of Kirovskii district court of 3 December 2007 (full
judgment) on the case of the Head of the Sverdlovsk Oblast Regional
Branch of the Political Party "Russian Labour Party" Beliaev S. I.
against the Bureau of the Federal Registration Service in Sverdlovsk
Oblast;
Thus, only after its application to the European Court of Human
Rights, was the Sverdlovsk Oblast Regional Branch of the Political
Party "Russian Labour Party" re-registered as the regional branch of
the political party with different name without any prior or due
authorization. Under Article 9.2 of the Charter of the Political Party
"Russian Labour Party," a regional branch is created by decision of
the common gathering of the Party, and a decision of the gathering of
corresponding regional branch of the Party.
There was neither a decision of the Political Party "Russian Labour
Party" nor a decision of the Regional Branch on the change of the name
of the Regional Branch. Therefore, the Russian government's attempts
to obfuscate the matter before the European Court of Human Rights by
alleging that the Regional Branch simply "does not exist" because of
an alleged voluntarily transfer of authority to the Political Party
"Patriots of Russia" are without foundation.
The Party which applied to the European Court of Human Rights, in
order to preserve and protect the very right of freedom of
association, was re-registered in the state by other persons. The
silence of national courts in failing to duly considering the legality
of re-registration of the party in a timely manner - altogether had
the effect of preventing the European Court of Human Rights from fully
appreciating evidence as to the full scope of the violation(s) of the
right to freedom of association attempted through a name change of the
Sverdlovsk Oblast Regional Branch of the Political Party "Russian
Labour Party," and its unauthorized re-registration.
The Regional Branch applied to the European Court of Human Rights on 1
November 2005. The state registration of the name change of the
"Russian Labour Party" to the "Patriots of Russia" was only
accomplished on 30 January 2006. Taking this temporal component into
account, state complicity in illegal and illicit (even under the
Russian legislation) attempts to effectuate a name and change of the
directorship of the Regional Branch, which has made this every
application to the European Court of Human Rights, becomes altogether
apparent.
We re-iterate that only after communication of the present application
to this Honourable Court, has the government subsequently made
available to the applicant documents which can now, in turn, be duly
submitted to the European Court of Human Rights for consideration to
spell out the full scope of the violations at issue in the present
matter.
2. The Government submits that the Sverdlovsk Oblast Regional Branch
of the Political Party "Patriots of Russia" "does not claim the
violation of the alleged rights."
The European Court of Human Rights may now take judicial notice that
the Representative of the Russian Federation before the Court, has now
adopted in toto, the position of the Sverdlovsk Oblast Regional Branch
of the Political Party "Patriots of Russia" that the Political Party
"Patriots of Russia" does not claim any violation of the Convention.
The full adoption of the position of the representative of a political
party, the Political Party "Patriots of Russia," by the Representative
of the Russian Federation before this Court, fully confirms the
applicant's version of events as to complicity as between the
Political Party "Patriots of Russia" and State agents in their
orchestrated illicit attempts to change of the name of the Sverdlovsk
Oblast Regional Branch of the Political Party "Russian Labour Party"
and usurp its powers without colour of right.
3. The authorities assert that the demand to submit personal
applications is lawful for the purpose of conducting control of the
activities of the Regional Branch.
Under Article 3 of the Federal Law "On Personal Data" personal data is
"any information in regard to a physical person defined under this
information (subject of personal data) including its last name; first
name; patronymic name; year, month, and place of birth; address;
family; social and material status; education; occupation; income;
other information." Operators, who have access to personal data, could
be only persons defined by law.
There exists no provision of the Federal Law "On Personal Data" which
would have established transfer of personal data in the form of
original personal applications on the membership in the Party to the
Federal Registration Service of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian
Federation.
Provision of Sub-clause "a" of Part 1 of Article 38 of the Federal Law
"On Political Parties" established only an obligation to submit
documents which confirm number of members of the Regional Branch.
These documents according to the applicant's view, and the initial
opinion of the authorities of the Russian Federation (at the moment of
Registration of the Regional Branch), are protocols of common
gatherings on the acceptance of applicants to the membership of the
Party. At the moment of the following examination of the activity of
the Regional Branch the Bureau of the Federal Registration Service in
Sverdlovsk oblast interpreted the provision of Article 38 as an
obligation of the Regional Branch to submit original personal
applications.
The wording of Article 38 which allows to interpret freely its
provision does not correspond to the Conventional guarantee of
sufficient precision of legal provisions. In a recent case on Article
11 of the Convention, the ECHR reiterated that "a norm cannot be
regarded as a "law" unless it is formulated with sufficient precision
to enable the citizen - if need be, with appropriate advice - to
foresee, to a degree that is reasonable in the circumstances, the
consequences which a given action may entail [...]." (Parti
nationaliste basque - Organisation rgionale d'Iparralde v. France,
no. 71251/01, Judgment of 07/06/2007 at S: 40.)
As it follows from the facts of the present case, the provision of
Sub-clause "a" of Part 1 of Article 38 of the Federal Law "On
Political Parties" does not provide authorities with the unfettered
right to demand the submission of original personal applications on
the membership to the Party. The law established the right "to
acquaintance with documents of political parties and their regional
branches, which confirm existence of regional branches and number of
membership of a political party." The law is also silent as to
original personal applications, and cannot be reasonably construed
otherwise.
The whole of which is respectful submitted.
The Head of the Sverdlovsk Oblast
Regional Branch of the Political Party
"Russian Labour Party" S. I. Beliaev
1 February 2008
Appendices:
1. Decision of Sverdlovsk oblast court of 6 March 2007 delivered on
the cassation brought by Head of the Sverdlovsk Oblast Regional
Branch of the Political Party "Russian Labour Party" Beliaev S. I.
on the decision of 3 November 2006 by the Kirovskii District Court
of Yekaterinburg on the return to S. I. Beliaev of the application
on recognition as unlawful of the decision of the Chief Bureau of
the Federal Registration Service of the Ministry of Justice in
Sverdlovsk Oblast on making changes in the incorporation documents
of the Regional Branch of the Political Party "Patriots of
Russia;"
2. Decision of Kirovskii district court of 19 September 2007 on
discontinuation of the proceedings on the case of the Head of the
Sverdlovsk Oblast Regional Branch of the Political Party "Russian
Labour Party" Beliaev S. I. against the Bureau of the Federal
Registration Service in Sverdlovsk Oblast;
3. Decision of Sverdlovsk oblast court of 30 October 2007 on quashing
of decision of Kirovskii district court of 19 September 2007 on
discontinuation of the proceedings on the case of Head of the
Sverdlovsk Oblast Regional Branch of the Political Party "Russian
Labour Party" Beliaev S. I. against the Bureau of the Federal
Registration Service in Sverdlovsk Oblast;
4. Judgment of Kirovskii district court of 3 December 2007 (full
judgment) on the case of the Head of the Sverdlovsk Oblast
Regional Branch of the Political Party "Russian Labour Party"
Beliaev S. I. against the Bureau of the Federal Registration
Service in Sverdlovsk Oblast.
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