New law allows Russia to overturn human rights rulings

MOSCOW

President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday approved a law giving Russia's Constitutional Court the power to overrule international human rights law if it contradicts the constitution.

The law would allow the Russian court to overturn decisions made by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and follows a 2014 decision by the Strasbourg-based court that Russia should pay 1.87 billion euros ($2.09 billion) to shareholders of the defunct Yukos oil company.

In July, the Constitutional Court decided that judgments of the ECHR could not be implemented if they contradict Russia’s constitution. The decision also said the constitution would take priority over international law.

Human Rights Watch noted that the change could have widespread consequences and threaten pending Russian cases at the ECHR.

The group noted that Russia is a signatory to the Vienna Convention, which prohibits countries from invoking domestic law to justify failure to implement a treaty, and the change would “bring much uncertainty and opacity to the domestic legal system” and further hinder Russia’s international relations.