@article{2026:kuznetsov:from_hope_,
title = {From Hope to Despair: The Evolution of Protest Rights During Russia’s Council of Europe Membership},
year = {2026},
note = {This paper explores the impact of international law and the Council of
Europe’s (CoE) freedom of assembly standards on the Russian legal
system. It specifically examines their role in safeguarding the right
to protest amidst the repressive measures by the Russian Government,
spanning from the country’s CoE accession to its departure after the
onset of the war against Ukraine in 2022. The main argument of this
paper suggests a dual impact of Russian CoE membership: first,
fostering citizens’ trust in protecting their freedom of assembly
under European human rights standards, and secondly and paradoxically,
providing a shield for the government against substantial criticism
and the need for legal reform. The study is divided into the following
three sections: The first section examines the legal guarantees and
mechanisms for exercising the freedom of assembly in Russian
legislation and selected domestic case law. This section highlights
the adaptation of national legislation to Council of Europe standards
and governmental efforts to control the freedom of assembly. The
second section discusses the European Court of Human Rights’ (ECtHR)
approach in cases against Russia, alleging violations of Article 11 of
the European Convention. By examining responses from the Russian
Government, the section identifies fundamental defects in the assessed
legislation and in the execution of ECtHR judgments. The third section
offers a comparative analysis of whether the Russian case law
illustrates the failure of the international human rights protection
mechanism to effectively uphold freedom of assembly compared to other
former Soviet countries not in the CoE.},
journal = {Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht / Heidelberg Journal of International Law},
pages = {567--604},
author = {Kuznetsov, Dmitrii},
volume = {86},
number = {2}
}