MOSCOW (Sputnik) — A group of Russian lawmakers filed a request last month to the nation’s high court to determine the ECHR jurisdiction, following a decision by the Strasbourg court to charge Russia billions of dollars in compensation to shareholders of the now defunct oil firm Yukos currently owned by the state-run Rosneft. Stakeholders said the purchase was not conducted equitably.
Judge Sergei Marvin ruled on Tuesday that, "By signing the [European] Convention on Human Rights, Russia recognized the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights." He further added that Russia would act on all ratified international agreements.
Earlier, Mikhail Krotov, presidential plenipotentiary in Russia's Constitutional Court, said that the country was not liable to act on ECHR rulings if they ran counter to the Russian constitution. He stressed Russia could ignore rulings in contravention of its laws.
In July 2014, Europe’s top human rights court ruled that Russia must pay about $2 billion to Yukos shareholders. This prompted France and Belgium to freeze some assets of the Russian state earlier in during the summer, which were later unblocked. The Russian Justice Ministry said it would not follow the ECHR's ruling because compliance would put the ministry in breach of Russia’s constitution.
