The Debate over Correlation between the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the European Convention for Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms: is it Possible to Avoid Zugzwang?

In the twentieth year of Russia's accession to the Council of Europe, the most heated debates are held over the correlation between the Russian Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights 1950 (ECHR), the "legal powers" of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation (the CC of the RF) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), the place of judgments and decision of the ECtHR in the legal system of the Russian Federation. The Article substantiates the idea that, within the dualistic model of correlation between international and national law, the supremacy of the Constitution within the framework of the Russian legal system does not eliminate the requirement to honor international obligations. In this context, the failure to perform the obligation to enforce final decisions of the ECtHR (Art. 46 of the ECHR) that the Russian Federation has assumed cannot be justified solely by the reference to the supremacy of the Russian Constitution, because the Russian Constitution enjoys supremacy only within the framework of the Russian legal system. The wrongfulness of the act under international law and, therefore, international responsibility can be excluded only on the legal grounds adopted by the international legal system. The Article considers one of such grounds, namely, the state of necessity. The possibility of reference to this ground in the context of implementation of the procedure of hypothetical failure to enforce certain decisions of the ECtHR was declared in the Resolution of the Constitutional Court of the RF №21-P of 14 July 2015.

Council of Europe, the Constitution of the RF, the Constitutional Court of the RF, the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), correlation, supremacy, wrongfulness under international law, international obligations, necessity

1. Cavallaro J., Erin Brewer S. Reevaluating Regional Human Rights Litigation in the Twenty-First Century: The Case of the Inter-American Court // American Journal of International Law. - 2008. - Vol. 102.

2. Sloane R. D. On the Use and Abuse of Necessity in the Law of State Responsibility // The American Journal of International Law. - Vol. 106. - № 3 (July 2012).