 Source: HRO.org The Russian Ministry of Justice is examining the possibility of an appeal to the Constitutional Court against the ECtHR’s ruling on the payment of compensation to ex-Yukos shareholders in connection with unlawful tax demands. According to Pravo.ru, this course of action is referred to in the Ministry’s press department’s response to an enquiry from RIA Novosti. The response states, "We are working together with the competent government authorities to identify potential future courses of action with a view to defending national interests.” The Ministry does not exclude the possibility of appealing to the Constitutional Court to act within the scope of its authority. On 1 July 2014, the European Court of Human Rights ordered Russia to pay EUR 1.87 billion in compensation to ex-Yukos shareholders. The ECtHR found that the Russian courts had violated Article 6 (right to a fair trial) of the European Convention on Human Rights when examining the company’s tax affairs in 2000 (cf. “ECtHR awards EUR 1.87 billion to ex-Yukos shareholders”). The ECtHR Grand Chamber subsequently rejected an appeal by the Russian Ministry of Justice against the ruling. In June of this year, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe once again called on Russia to cooperate promptly with the ECtHR ruling on the Yukos case and to provide a payment plan for the compensation it owes to the company’s former shareholders. The Committee also asked for a written explanation of the link between execution of the ruling on the case and “constitutional issues”, in response to the fact that Aleksandr Konvalov, acting in his role as Minister for Justice, had previously raised the possibility of an appeal by his Ministry to the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation concerning possible non-compliance with the ruling. Translated by Joanne Reynolds |
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