MOSCOW, December 9 — RAPSI. Russia's Supreme Court proposed not to consider rulings of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the provisions of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR) in national legal proceedings, RAPSI reports from the plenum session.

The proposed amendment removes the requirement to take into account the ECtHR case law when interpreting and applying domestic legislation. The Supreme Court proposes to remove references to the ECHR, ECtHR judgements, and other Council of Europe documents from the Plenum resolutions, currently in force, replacing them with references to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The document completely removes the provisions of the Convention from Russian administration of law process, including the assessment of reasonable time limits for legal proceedings, conditions of detention, and the trying of corruption cases. The changes are also to affect the matters of detention and the selection of preventive measures, as well as the regulation of mass media activities and the trying of cases, which involve defamation of honor and dignity. The Supreme Court also proposes to repeal Plenum Resolution No. 21 of 2013, which specifically addressed the use of the Convention by courts.

It is also proposed to remove references to the Council of Europe Criminal Law Convention on Corruption, which was denounced by Russia in February of 2023, from case law.

Russia withdrew from the ECHR in September of 2022, six months after leaving the Council of Europe. It thus also withdrew from the jurisdiction of the ECtHR. The Plenum had previously ruled out the EctHR's legal position when considering matters, which concern the selection of preventive measures.