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4. OUR ACTIVITIES:
The Defense of Human Rights in International Forum
International human rights protection
has become one of our organization’s top priorities since 2003.
Sutyajnik received 580 inquiries
regarding the use of international mechanisms for the defense of civil rights —
1/3 of all requests for legal assistance. We explain submission rules and
admissibility criteria to the individuals and representatives of organizations
who turn to us, so as to prevent the submission of clearly inadmissible
complaints to international forums.
In 2004, the organization prepared and
filed 10 applications on behalf of citizens to the European Court of Human
Rights, alleging violations of such human rights as the right to a fair trial,
freedom from torture and inhumane treatment and punishment, the right to
property, and freedom of association. Our organization does not seek to maximize
the number of cases. In preparing applications, we select cases that meet the
criteria of admissibility and have the prospect of setting precedent, i. e.
affirmatively influencing the making and application of laws in Russia in order
to promote their conformity to European standards for the protection of human
rights.
The Rakevich v. Russia case
concerns arbitrary and unlawful detention in psychiatric hospitals. On 28
October 2003, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Ms Rakevich was
detained in violation of the procedure prescribed by Russian law, in that the
judicial decision ordering her confinement was delivered 39 days after she was
detained, instead of the 5 days prescribed by law (violation of Article 5 (1) of
the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental
Freedoms). The Court also found that under the Law on Psychiatric Treatment and
Associated Civil Right Guarantees («the Law»), a detainee did not have a right
to initiate a judicial review of detention in violation of Article 5(4) of the
European Convention. This year our attorneys have concentrated on implementation
of the judgment, lobbying changes in the Law required under the European Court
decision. For more details please refer to
www.sutyajnik.ru/eng/news/2004/r_v_r.html
The case Sutyazhnik v. Russia
concerns the right to a fair trial and the right to association in Russia. The
case is significant for Russian NGOs because of a 1995 law that forced all NGOs
in Russia to re-register. Written observations on the admissibility and merits
of the case were exchanged in April, 2004, and in October 2004, the European
Court of Human Rights awarded Sutyajnik’s staff lawyer legal aid, suggesting
that the decision on admissibility will be forthcoming soon. For more details,
please visit
www.sutyajnik.ru/eng/news/2004/sutyajnik_v_russia.html
Our attorneys continue to
work on the domestic implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights
and other international treaties. This year we were able to apply the European
Convention in district courts judgments three times. Anton Burkov successfully
defended an LLM in International Human Rights Law dissertation The Impact of
the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental
Freedoms on Russian Law at the University of Essex. The dissertation
concerned domestic implementation of the Convention in the Russian Federation.
During his dissertation research, Sutyajnik posted the web-site Learning How
to Apply the European Convention in Domestic Courts (available at
www.sutyajnik.ru/rus/echr/school).
The site provides information on (1) all national legislation on the issue, (2)
international documents, (3) translated ECtHR case-law (major cases), (4) major
judgments against Russia with lawyers’ comments, (5) judgments by Russian courts
of different levels and jurisdictions that have invoked the Convention, (6)
relevant books and law journal articles on the issue, and (7)
online-video-lectures. |
