European Court of Human Rights: review of the Chamber judgment of 14 June 2022 in the case of Ecodefence and Others v. Russia (applications nos. 9988/13 and 60 others)

In its judgment in Ecodefence and Others v. Russia (applications nos. 9988/13 and 60 others) the European Court of Human Rights examined the complaints of 73 Russian non-governmental organisations and their directors about application of Russia’s law on foreign agents against them. The Court’s judgment examined the law’s terms “political activity” and “foreign funding” and concluded that their definition in the law was vague and their interpretation by executive and judicial authorities was unpredictable, thus violating the quality of law requirement. The Court criticised the creation of a separate category of “foreign agent” NGOs and subjecting them to excessive reporting requirements, noting that the Russian authorities failed to demonstrate that the general law on non-governmental organisations was inadequate for oversight of activities of NGOs receiving funding from foreign sources. The Court also denounced restrictions on NGO access to various sources of funding and the unpredictability of the size of administrative fines. According to the Court, all these measures are unnecessary in a democratic society. The European Court additionally found that Russia had violated the right of International Memorial to individual application by dissolving it despite the Court’s decision applying Rule 39 of the Rules of Court.

Citation: (2022) Evropeyskiy Sud po pravam cheloveka: obzor postanovleniya Palaty ot 14 iyunya 2022 goda po delu Ekozashchita i drugie protiv Rossii (zhaloby no. 9988/13 i 60 drugikh) [European Court of Human Rights: review of the Chamber judgment of 14 June 2022 in the case of Ecodefence and Others v. Russia (applications nos. 9988/13 and 60 others)]. Mezhdunarodnoe pravosudie, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 16–49. (In Russian).