Key takeaways

• On July 14, 2015 the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation issued a ruling on enforcement by the Russian Federation of the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights.
• The provisions of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms are binding on the Russian Federation, which recognizes the jurisdiction of the ECHR; however, this does not override the precedence of the Constitution of the Russian Federation within the Russian legal system.
• The Russian Federation may depart from fulfilment of the obligations imposed on it by an ECHR ruling as a matter of exception if this is the only possible way to avoid violating the fundamental principles and norms of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.
• Such a violation can take place if the ECHR has incorrectly construed the provisions of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in the course of hearing a case and issued a ruling that may not conform to the provisions of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.