The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation has formally concluded the country's legal separation from Europe, issuing a ruling on December 9, 2025, that annuls the applicability of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). In a plenary session, the Court revoked a 2013 decree that had previously mandated Russian judges to apply ECHR standards and follow the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).
This decision follows Russia’s expulsion from the Council of Europe in 2022 due to the invasion of Ukraine. While the status of the ECHR regarding past violations had remained legally ambiguous, this new ruling clarifies that the Convention is no longer a source of law within Russia. The Supreme Court ordered the deletion of all references to the ECHR from judicial guidelines, instructing courts to rely exclusively on the Russian Constitution and "sovereign" international instruments, such as the non-binding Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Legal analysts view this as the final step in the "sovereignization" of Russian justice. By removing the supranational appeal mechanism offered by the Strasbourg court, the Russian state has eliminated the last external check on its power. Citizens facing human rights abuses, unlawful detention, or property seizure no longer have recourse beyond the domestic court system, effectively insulating the state from international legal scrutiny.
Source: The Moscow Times