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Russia

Russian Federation

Civil lawFederal semi-presidential republicReviewed· 2026-08-02
Capital
Moscow
Population
144,000,000
Languages
Russian
Currency
RUB
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Russia · Rights

Rights in Russia

What the atlas records on rights in Russia, checked against the primary sources cited below.

Rights

Expelled from the Council of Europe, outside the ECHR since 2022

Reviewed· 2026-08-02

Russia was expelled from the Council of Europe in March 2022 and ceased to be a party to the ECHR on 16 September 2022, so the ECtHR retains jurisdiction only over facts before that date. Domestically the Commissioner for Human Rights and regional commissioners remain.

Key rules

  • The ECtHR may examine applications only in respect of events up to 16 September 2022.
  • Russia legislated in 2022 that ECtHR judgments delivered after 15 March 2022 are not executed.
  • The Commissioner for Human Rights may intervene in proceedings and visit detention facilities.
  • Foreign agent and undesirable organisation laws impose criminal liability on much advocacy work.

Governing law

  • Constitution, Chapter 2 (1993)Rights and freedoms of the person.
  • Federal Constitutional Law on the Commissioner for Human Rights (1997)
  • Federal Law No. 255-FZ on foreign agents (2022)Consolidated foreign agent regime.

In practice

UN treaty body communications remain formally available, but the practical route for most post-2022 claims is documentation for universal jurisdiction and sanctions listings rather than any court with jurisdiction over Russia.

Sources

Rights

The 1993 constitution as amended in 2020, with treaty supremacy curtailed

Reviewed· 2026-08-02

The Constitution of 1993 was substantially amended in 2020, resetting presidential terms and inserting Article 79 wording allowing non-execution of international bodies' decisions found contrary to the constitution. The Constitutional Court retains an individual complaint after exhaustion of remedies.

Key rules

  • Decisions of international bodies may be refused execution if held contrary to the constitution.
  • An individual complaint requires exhaustion of all other domestic remedies since the 2020 reform.
  • The 2020 amendments reset presidential term counting and expanded federal powers over regions.
  • The Constitutional Court was reduced to eleven judges and lost the power to publish dissents.

Governing law

  • Constitution of the Russian Federation (1993)As amended in 2020.
  • Federal Constitutional Law on the Constitutional Court (1994)Amended in 2020.
  • Federal Law on execution of international decisions (2015)

In practice

Since 2020 a complaint is admissible only after cassation is exhausted, which lengthened the route considerably and made the timing of the four-month filing window the main procedural trap.

Sources

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