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3. OUR ACTIVITIES:
Representation of Individuals and Organizations in Domestic Courts
Our staff
attorneys represent individuals and organizations in courts of general
jurisdiction in Sverdlovsk Oblast (including the cities of Ekaterinburg, Nizhny
Tagil, Polevskoy, Berezovsky, Revda, and others), and Tyumen and Chelyabinsk
oblasts, as well as in the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the
Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, the Commercial Courts for the
Ural District at all levels, and the Charter Court of Sverdlovsk Oblast.
One of Sutyajnik’s priorities is defending
human rights by bringing domestic legislation into conformity with the
international and constitutional standards.
For example, the case of Z family (Z v.
State Duma) concerns the right of prisoners and their spouses to have children.
Mass media labled the case «My Dad Is In Prison». The fundamental human right of
married couples to procreate is the subject of this important case, currently
under consideration by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation.
In their application to the Constitutional
Court a married couple that has been refused conjugal visits («long visits») is
challenging provisions of the Russian Criminal Executive Code that prohibit
conjugal visits during the initial 10 years of incarceration under a strict
regime. Due to the wife’s medical condition, the extended denial of conjugal
visits with her incarcerated husband will effectively assure that the couple
will never be able to have children.
The couple claims that this prohibition
violates guarantees of the sanctity one’s private and family life guaranteed in
the Russian Federation Constitution (Article 23) and the European Convention for
the Protection of Human Rights (Article 8).
The outcome of this case will have a wide
reaching impact. Prisoners constitute a significant portion of the Russian
population, with 665 Russians in jail per 100,000 population, making Russia the
2d highest per capita prison population in the world (after the USA).
For description of other cases handled by Sutyajnik see the
Russian version of the Report.
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