The Republican Party of Russia

On December 17, 2005, the RPR held a congress at which the leadership was re-elected, the legal address was changed, and several new regional branches were created. At the end of 2005, RPR asked the Ministry of Justice to amend the Unified State Register of Legal Entities information. In 2006, it replied that it did not recognize the congress as legitimate. ^{[2] [3]} In September 2006, the Tagansky Court of Moscow refused to satisfy the Republican Party’s lawsuit against Rosregistration , which did not recognize the results of the congress in December. According to one of the party’s leaders, Vladimir Ryzhkov , because of the registration service, party accounts were frozen, three regional branches were liquidated, new branches stopped appearing. The court’s decision blocked the party’s ability to vote. ^[4] Ryzhkov connected troubles with the registration service due to the fact that the party "does not run to the Kremlin", and he himself is a member of the opposition coalition "Other Russia" . On March 23, 2007, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation ruled to liquidate the RPR, which became the sixth party to be liquidated by decision of the Supreme Court. In the previous year, the Fed considered the activities of 12 organizations inappropriate to the law “On Political Parties” . ^[five]

In January 2007, RPR co-chair Vladimir Lysenko said that, asserting its right to register, the party "will go to the end." The Republican Party sent two lawsuits to the European Court of Human Rights , because party members do not count on the justice of the judiciary inside Russia, where "there is nowhere to find truth". Ryzhkov also promised a “large-scale trial” in the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and file a third lawsuit in Strasbourg. ^[6]

On April 12, 2011, it became known that the European Court of Human Rights ruled in the case of the Republican Party of Russia ^[7] . The ECHR found that the Russian authorities violated the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms twice. The ECHR issued a press release on this decision ^{[8] [9]} , and the decision was posted on the court’s website ^[10] .

Refusing the RPR, the Russian courts referred to a clause of the law, which entered into force after the party was declared illegitimate of its congress and refused to amend the registry. The Court concludes that by refusing to amend the registry, the authorities went beyond the legitimate aim and intervened in the applicant's internal activities in a manner that could not be considered lawful and necessary in a democratic society. Consequently, there has been a violation of Article 11 of the Convention. ^[eleven]

Considering the issue of liquidation due to non-compliance with the minimum number of requirements and regional representativeness, the Court noted that the minimum number of parties has been established in a number of countries, but the minimum minimum number in Russia is the highest in Europe. The national legislation establishing these requirements has changed several times over the past few years, which, based on international practice, can be perceived as an attempt to manipulate the electoral legislation in favor of the ruling party. According to the ECHR, a measure such as the liquidation of a party can be applied to political parties that use illegal or undemocratic methods, incite violence or pursue policies aimed at destroying democracy. The applicant, an all-Russian political party that never defended regional or separatist interests, one of whose goals was to ensure the unity of the country and the peaceful coexistence of its multinational population, and which was never accused of trying to undermine Russia's territorial integrity, was liquidated only on formal grounds of non-compliance with requirements about the minimum size and regional representativeness. The Court considers that the liquidation of the party was disproportionate to the legitimate aims indicated by the authorities. Consequently, there has been a violation of Article 11 of the Convention. ^[eleven]

Ryzhkov explained: “This court decision is of great importance for Russian society and Russian politics. Following us, several more parties filed lawsuits for illegal deregistration or denial of registration. Now they will win these things. In total, the Kremlin has eliminated in recent years, on the same far-fetched pretexts, more than 30 parties, and has refused to register 6 new ones. The ECHR found that the basic provisions of our legislation on parties and, in part, electoral legislation are not in compliance with Russia's international obligations and European standards. Now all these piles of prohibitive authoritarian legislation, designed to ensure a monopoly on power and restrict the freedom of political life in the country, must be abolished. ” ^[7] “I think that this decision is still difficult to evaluate, but it will be of much greater importance for the further political situation in the country. We are not the only party to sue. In fact, this decision of the ECHR paves the way for the restoration of a number of opposition parties. Secondly, in fact, in this decision of the European Court, all our party legislation was recognized as not complying with the European Charter on Human Rights and not complying with our obligations to the Council of Europe. Actually, now we need to change this legislation. For the first time in history, the European Court found that the basis of the vertical of power created by Putin, this authoritarian political system, that did not comply with European law. It seems to me that now all parties and citizens will rely on our decision in the struggle for their rights. This is a huge defeat for the Kremlin, which over the past 10 years has destroyed democracy and human rights in Russia, political competition, trampled on human dignity. ” ^[12] On the air of Ekho Moskvy radio station, Ryzhkov stated that "perhaps we will raise the question before the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation on the revision of Russian party legislation." ^[13]

In July 2011, Vladimir Ryzhkov announced that he would file a lawsuit with the Supreme Court: “One claim will be filed by me and other leaders of the Republican Party in the Supreme Court of Russia, which closed us four years ago. Due to newly discovered circumstances, this claim will contain one demand - to restore the Republican Party of Russia in the register of legal entities. That is, in fact, this will mean the legal restoration of the party, to the extent that the Republican Party in this case, in case of victory in the Supreme Court, will receive the right to participate in the parliamentary elections in December this year. I prepared the second lawsuit in the Constitutional Court of Russia; it disputes a number of provisions of the law on parties. The fact is that the European Court of Human Rights has recognized a number of fundamental provisions of our law on parties, regional branches, and the internal structure of parties that do not comply with the European Convention on Human Rights. So these two suits are ready for me. ”Ryzhkov said that he was convinced that the party should be restored in accordance with the decision of the European Court, but, according to him, the Minister of Justice Konovalov already commented on this situation and said that“ Yes, yes, they won the European court, yes, the liquidation of the party was illegal. Well, let them re-create the party. ” ^[14]

On September 15, 2011, the decision of the European Court of Human Rights on the Republican Party of Russia (RPR) entered into force. Thus, the ECtHR rejected the complaint of the Russian government to the Grand Chamber of the Court of July 8, 2011. ^[15]

On October 25, 2011, the chairman of the Constitutional Court, Valery Zorkin, stated that Russia was obliged to comply with all decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, including the issue of registering the Republican Party. ^[sixteen]

On December 2, 2011, Vladimir Ryzhkov filed an application with the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation with a request to cancel the previous decision of 2007, oblige the Ministry of Justice to restore the state registration of the Republican Party, and also oblige this department to re-register the regional branches of the party. Vladimir Ryzhkov lamented that, due to the fault of the state, the Republican Party was unable to take part in 2 parliamentary and 2 presidential elections. ^[17]

On January 23, 2012, the Supreme Court upheld Ryzhkov’s application and set aside its decision in March 2007 on the liquidation of the Republican Party of Russia and decided to review the corresponding lawsuit of the Federal Registration Service. During the meeting, in his speech, Ryzhkov noted that the RPR was one of the oldest parties, and the European Court considered it unlawful to liquidate a proven political union on formal grounds: “For Russia, the decision of the European Court of Human Rights in accordance with Article 46 of the European Convention is binding . And the state is obliged to comply with the final decision of the ECHR in cases where the state is a party, as in this case. ” ^{[18] The} politician threatened that if the RPR does not receive a satisfactory decision in the RF Armed Forces, then "we will contact the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, the Department for the Execution of Decisions of the ECHR on the issue of non-enforcement of the decision of the ECHR that has entered into force." According to him, party representatives have proved that citizens of the Russian Federation with sufficient tenacity can seek protection of their rights. ^[nineteen]

In response, the representative of the Ministry of Justice stated that the ECHR's claim relates primarily not to the decision of the Supreme Court, but to Russian law. She emphasized that the execution of the ECHR decision should be made by amending the current Russian legislation, and not by canceling the decision of the Supreme Court adopted in 2007. In her opinion, the Strasbourg court, by its decision, pointed out the need to amend the national legislation, which is being done - President Dmitry Medvedev has already submitted to the State Duma draft amendments to the law, according to which the minimum number of party members will be reduced to 500 people, and the requirement for the number of branches associations in the regions are removed altogether. ^{[1] [18] [20]}

Vladimir Ryzhkov later said: “We are the first party to win a lawsuit in a European court against the Russian government, and this is a very important precedent. We have already sent an official memorandum to the Council of Ministers of the Council of Europe, there is a department for the enforcement of court decisions. We have already notified them that the Ministry of Justice gave a negative opinion on our case, the Ministry of Justice proposes to again reject our application for the restoration of the party. If the Supreme Court does not comply with the decision of the European Court of Human Rights, then we will demand that the Council of Europe consider this case already at the pan-European level, because it will be an open and frank non-fulfillment by the party of the court decision. ” ^[one]

Lawyer Vadim Prokhorov said that “if the decision of the Armed Forces persists and the RPR retains registration,” the party will be one of the entities that can complain about the illegitimacy of the elections of the past four years, because the party members could not take part in them. ^[21]

After canceling the decision to liquidate the party, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, disagreeing with such a decision, sent a complaint, the hearings of which are scheduled for late March. Vladimir Ryzhkov said that he would prosecute the head of the department, Aleksandr Konovalov, in European courts: “I have just received the paper that they sent, and I will immediately demand urgent consideration of this case in the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, because this is a malicious, intentional and scandalous failure to fulfill the <decision > European Court of Human Rights. ” ^[22]

State Duma Chairman Sergei Naryshkin , participating in Mikhail Barshchevsky’s program at the Echo of Moscow before the second reading of amendments to the law on political parties, said that work on draft laws on liberalization had begun before Bolotnaya and Sakharov : “I know this for sure, since in the summer I worked as a manager "the presidential administration and, in the summer of 2011, these bills were discussed, and even then their preparation began." Barshchevsky himself confirmed that “in July and the month of 2011, I, not working in the administration, but working in the government, saw 2 bills. It is true. ” ^[23]

In early October 2012, the head of the Communist Party’s legal service, State Duma deputy Vadim Soloviev, said that in previous times the decisions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation could not be implemented for years, but it was in the last year and a half that the opposite trend was outlined. According to the parliamentarian, this is due to the fact that "the executive branch intends to keep the Constitutional Court in its constant attention." The goal is to raise the profile of the country's highest court. Its authority needs to be raised because there is an idea to transfer part of the claims of Russians to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. In addition, the deputy from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation recalled that the chairman of the Constitutional Court, Valery Zorkin, has recently come up with an initiative to deal with cases of refusal to register parties precisely in its structure: “Apparently, the Russian authorities were very concerned about the victory of the Republican Party of Vladimir Ryzhkov in a lawsuit against Russia in the ECHR and reaction to this by the European public. ” On July 18, 2012, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation declared certain provisions of the law on the procedure for considering appeals of citizens of the Russian Federation not conforming to the constitution and the Ministry of Justice has already prepared the relevant amendments on the introduction of fines for violation of the rules for working with complaints, as well as on the possibility to file them not only individually, but also from associations of citizens, including social movements and even parties. ^[24]

In May, party registration was reinstated, and in June, a congress was held at which members of PARNAS joined the party and RPR changed its name to RPR-PARNAS.

In August 2012, the Barnaul Election Commission refused to consider RPR-PARNAS the very Republican Party of Russia, whose registration in May the Justice Ministry restored in accordance with the decision of the ECHR and did not certify the list of the RPR-PARNAS party to participate in the upcoming elections to the city duma. ^{[25] [26]} «Комиссия не уверена, что РПР и РПР-Парнас — одна и та же партия, хотя это прямо записано в свидетельстве о регистрации партии, и номер в ЕГРЮЛ [Едином государственном реестре юридических лиц] один и тот же», — написал Рыжков на своей странице в сети Facebook ^[27] . Как он полагает, РПР-ПАРНАС сняли с выборов в этот момент, потому что другого повода позднее могло не найтись. ^[28] Рыжков говорил, что они обжалуют решение в краевом избиркоме, «а там, возможно, пойдем сразу к Чурову в ЦИК». ^[25] Он также заявлял: «Я уже подумываю об очередной жалобе в Европейский суд» ^[29] . Однако, неожиданно вице-спикер Госдумы и секретарь генсовета «Единой России» Сергей Неверов назвал решение об отказе в регистрации списка партии «не совсем объективным». Затем Избирком Барнаула всё же отменил своё ранее принятое решение об отказе заверить список кандидатов и принял новое решение заверить список. Рыжков рассказал, что «при этом на заседании избиркома нас предупредили, что будут очень тщательно проверять все наши документы, то есть цепляться к каждой мелочи, но у нас очень сильные юристы, что и доказала сегодняшняя победа». ^[thirty]

• Укрепление вертикали власти в России
• О политических партиях (федеральный закон)
• Политические партии России
• Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation
• Федеральная регистрационная служба
• Европейский суд по правам человека
• List of ECHR cases concerning existence of political parties

• Верховный Суд Российской Федерации. Производство по гражданскому делу (недоступная ссылка)
• Верховный Суд Российской Федерации. Производство по гражданскому делу (недоступная ссылка)
• CASE OF REPUBLICAN PARTY OF RUSSIA v. RUSSIA (Application no. 12976/07)
  • Пресс-релиз ЕСПЧ (PDF)
  • Перевод постановления суда
• Республиканская партия победила «вертикаль власти»!
• Партийно-политическая система России не соответствует европейским стандартам — полный текст решения ЕСПЧ по иску РПР против действий российских властей
  • ЕВРОПЕЙСКИЙ СУД ПО ПРАВАМ ЧЕЛОВЕКА. ДЕЛО «РЕСПУБЛИКАНСКАЯ ПАРТИЯ РОССИИ ПРОТИВ РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ» (Жалоба № 12976/07). ПОСТАНОВЛЕНИЕ СУДА. г. Страсбург, 12 апреля 2011 г.
• A lawsuit has been filed with the Supreme Court to restore the registration of the Republican Party of Russia
• Supreme Court to Review Republican Party Liquidation Case
• Ryzhkov returned the party
• The fate of the Republican Party of Russia (RPR): will Russia comply with the decision of the ECHR?
• The Ministry of Justice appealed the decision of the Supreme Court on the restoration of the registration of the Republican Party of Vladimir Ryzhkov
• Republican Party Co-Chair: “We have opened the way for Russian parties”
• "Parnas" sued the Ministry of Justice. Statement text
• Why the Republican Party could not be removed from the election