MOSCOW, May 30. /TASS/. Russia’s Justice Ministry disagrees with the conclusions made by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on the alleged violations committed during the 2011 parliamentary elections in Russia, the ministry said in a statement posted on its website on Tuesday.
"Russia’s Justice Ministry expresses its disagreement with the ECHR’s conclusions on the alleged violations and proceeds from the fact that the elections to the St. Petersburg legislative assembly and to the State Duma of the Russian Federation were held in strict compliance with the legislation, which was confirmed by the conclusions of national judicial panels," the statement said.
On May 30, 2017, the European Court of Human Rights published a judgment in the case of Davydov and Others vs Russia that was passed following complaints filed by applicants on the alleged violation of Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 (right to free elections) to the European Convention on Human Rights and Article 13 of the Convention. The applicants alleged that the violations had been made in the counting of votes during the elections to the St. Petersburg legislative assembly and the elections to the State Duma in December 2011.
As the ECHR noted, "this Chamber judgment is not final. During the three-month period following its delivery, any party may request that the case be referred to the Grand Chamber of the Court. If such a request is made, a panel of five judges considers whether the case deserves further examination. In that event, the Grand Chamber will hear the case and deliver a final judgment. If the referral request is refused, the Chamber judgment will become final on that day."
The ministry’s statement says that "the Justice Ministry of Russia will hold a legal analysis of this judgment within three months with the competent state bodies and organize the preparation of the legal position of the Russian Federation for the purposes of appealing against it in the Grand Chamber of the European Court."
Russia’s Justice Ministry noted at the same time that the European Court had not questioned Russia’s electoral legislation.