Moscow's Ties With Council of Europe Unaffected by Stance on ECHR Yukos Ruling

The Russian Constitutional Court's stance on the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling regarding now-defunct Russian oil firm Yukos does not affect the cooperation between Russia and the Council of Europe (CoE), Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksey Meshkov told Sputnik.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On July 31, 2014, the ECHR ruled that Russia had to pay the former shareholders of Yukos about $2 billion as a compensation for infringing upon their right to a defense in court and to a just trial. On January 19, 2017, the Russian Constitutional Court declared the ECHR decision unconstitutional, but stipulated that some of the shareholders may be paid.

"[The Constitutional Court's stance] has not affected [Russia-Council of Europe] cooperation as every country member of the Council of Europe has its own legislation, own rules," Meshkov said.

The CoE expressed concern over the Russian ruling while the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) urged Moscow to amend constitution in order to ensure compliance with the ECHR decisions.

The ECHR monitors respect for the human rights of 800 million Europeans in the 47 Council of Europe member States that have ratified the European Convention on Human Rights.