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NGO SUTYAJNIK: IT'S TIME // 2004 ANNUAL REPORT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

  • Sutyajnik - A Brief Introduction
  • Legal Counselling
  • Representation of Individuals and Organizations in Domestic Courts
  • The Defense of Human Rights in International Forum
  • General projects
  • Sutyajniks teach
  • Sutyajniks are taught
  • Publications
  • In the Media
  • Our Web-site
  • IN CONCLUSION: 2004 IN HIGHLIGHTS
  • Authors
  • This Report in PDF format (121 kb)
  • This Report in Russian
  • The 2003 Report
  • The 2002 Report
  • 4. OUR ACTIVITIES: The Defense of Human Rights in International Forum

     

    International human rights protection has become one of our organization’s top priorities since 2003.

    Sutyajnik received 580 inquiries regarding the use of international mechanisms for the defense of civil rights — 1/3 of all requests for legal assistance. We explain submission rules and admissibility criteria to the individuals and representatives of organizations who turn to us, so as to prevent the submission of clearly inadmissible complaints to international forums. 

    In 2004, the organization prepared and filed 10 applications on behalf of citizens to the European Court of Human Rights, alleging violations of such human rights as the right to a fair trial, freedom from torture and inhumane treatment and punishment, the right to property, and freedom of association. Our organization does not seek to maximize the number of cases.  In preparing applications, we select cases that meet the criteria of admissibility and have the prospect of setting precedent, i. e. affirmatively influencing the making and application of laws in Russia in order to promote their conformity to European standards for the protection of human rights. 

    The Rakevich v. Russia case concerns arbitrary and unlawful detention in psychiatric hospitals. On 28 October 2003, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Ms Rakevich was detained in violation of the procedure prescribed by Russian law, in that the judicial decision ordering her confinement was delivered 39 days after she was detained, instead of the 5 days prescribed by law (violation of Article 5 (1) of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms). The Court also found that under the Law on Psychiatric Treatment and Associated Civil Right Guarantees («the Law»), a detainee did not have a right to initiate a judicial review of detention in violation of Article 5(4) of the European Convention. This year our attorneys have concentrated on implementation of the judgment, lobbying changes in the Law required under the European Court decision.  For more details please refer to www.sutyajnik.ru/eng/news/2004/r_v_r.html  

    The case Sutyazhnik v. Russia concerns the right to a fair trial and the right to association in Russia. The case is significant for Russian NGOs because of a 1995 law that forced all NGOs in Russia to re-register. Written observations on the admissibility and merits of the case were exchanged in April, 2004, and in October 2004, the European Court of Human Rights awarded Sutyajnik’s staff lawyer legal aid, suggesting that the decision on admissibility will be forthcoming soon. For more details, please visit www.sutyajnik.ru/eng/news/2004/sutyajnik_v_russia.html  

    Our attorneys continue to work on the domestic implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights and other international treaties. This year we were able to apply the European Convention in district courts judgments three times. Anton Burkov successfully defended an LLM in International Human Rights Law dissertation The Impact of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms on Russian Law at the University of Essex. The dissertation concerned domestic implementation of the Convention in the Russian Federation. During his dissertation research, Sutyajnik posted the web-site Learning How to Apply the European Convention in Domestic Courts (available at www.sutyajnik.ru/rus/echr/school). The site provides information on (1) all national legislation on the issue, (2) international documents, (3) translated ECtHR case-law (major cases), (4) major judgments against Russia with lawyers’ comments, (5) judgments by Russian courts of different levels and jurisdictions that have invoked the Convention, (6) relevant books and law journal articles on the issue, and (7) online-video-lectures.

     

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    IT'S TIME // 2004 Annual Report

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