Women’s Rights and the Russian Constitution by Marianna Muravyeva

Verfassungsblog has organised a discussion the state of Russian Constitution after 30 years of its existence. Professor Muravyeva has contributed with the analysis of the human rights of women and the failure of the constitutional law to effectively protect them.

Since the beginning of Russia’ aggression against Ukraine, the government’s rhetoric has become more conservative and nationalistic. In 2022-2023, Russia witnessed the introduction of a slew of oppressive legislation directly violating human rights. Against the backdrop of Putin’s focus on the fight against the ‘enemies’ and Russia’s isolation due to ‘fighting for the right cause’ women once again became the target of regulation with a steady and consistent assault on their human rights, particularly reproductive rights. Moreover, as women actively participate in anti-war protests, the authorities have been treating women more harshly during arrest, trial and sentencing as various reports show. Nevertheless, women continue to fight for their rights and freedoms in courts and on the streets, hoping for change.

Read more here: https://verfassungsblog.de/womens-rights-and-the-russian-constitution/

Check other contributions here as well: https://verfassungsblog.de/category/debates/the-legal-tools-of-authoritarianism-the-russian-constitution-at-30/ 

The Foundations of Russian Law – New Foundational Text

The Foundations of RUssian Law book edited by Professor Muravyeva is finally out!

This accessible text explains how Russian law works in all its principal areas. It elucidates the main concepts and frameworks behind Russian law, and uses original legal sources and case law to explain how it operates in practice. The contributors, all of whom are leading experts on Russian law, employ original research to further knowledge of the Russian legal profession, legal culture, judiciary and court systems, providing a scholarly and practical account of Russian law for students and scholars alike. It is essential reading for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the subject.

Preview the Table of Contents here.

Call for inviting researchers from Ukraine to Finland

Call for inviting researchers from Ukraine to Finland

31.5.2022

when the funding (€500,000) has been fully allocated
 

earliest start date 2 June 2022
Conditions:
  • The applicant is a researcher from Finland.
  • The funding can be applied for to invite a researcher from Ukraine to Finland. The researcher to be invited may still be in Ukraine or may have fled Ukraine because of the Russian invasion.
  • Indicative size of funding: €43,500/year for individual researcher, €57,000/year for researcher with family

See more here

Russian Law Talk 5: All Doom and Gloom Before the Duma Vote?

17 June 2021, 16:00 EET (Helsinki)

Register here: https://forms.gle/cQT6RftVuJb9r8CB7


On 19 September 2021 Russians will go to polls to elect 450 members of State Duma, the lower house of parliament. Although it wields little real political power, elections to the Duma always had outsize importance. They test the ability of local authorities to ‘deliver’ results for the federal center and also gauge public opinion without resulting in real change. The period before elections tends to bring both heightened repression and increased welfare spending to scare and bribe the electorate. This year is no exception. A slate of new repressive laws has been adopted in the past month to specifically target the supporters of imprisoned regime critic Alexey Navalny, who encourages tactical voting. Several opposition figures have already been arrested or forced out of the country. The upcoming election also seems to discourage any pressure on citizens to improve the currently lagging Covid-19 vaccination rate. A technical innovation is the rollout of electronic voting in several regions, despite remaining concerns over its security from fraud. The experts will discuss these and other themes related to the upcoming election.

Speakers:

Dmitry Kurnosov, Carlsberg Fellow at the University of Helsinki
Dmitry Kurnosov studies how the election jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights impacts the development of law, resolution of electoral disputes and election administration in Finland, Denmark, and several Post-Soviet countries. He holds a PhD in Law from the University of Copenhagen. Prior to becoming a researcher, Dmitry has for several years been a Deputy Spokesperson of the Russian Constitutional Court.

Margarita Zavadskaya, Postdoctoral Researcher at the Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki

Margarita Zavadskaya’s research focuses on how perceived electoral malpractice affects electoral turnout and other politically relevant outcomes, and how Russian voters consume and process political information translated by the media. This is studied through a series of survey experiments. Margarita Zavadskaya defended her PhD dissertation, “When Elections Subvert Authoritarianism: Failed Co-optation and Russian Post-Electoral Protests of 2011-12”, in the European University Institute, Florence in 2017.

Vitaly Averin, Member of the Federal Council of the Golos Movement

Vitaly Averin coordinates regional election monitors at Golos, Russia’s largest civic election observation movement. Golos has been monitoring elections since 2000, drawing the ire of the authorities. After several court decisions against the organization, Golos was forced to dissolve, but reconstituted itself as a civic movement.

Balanced participation of women and men in decision-making in the Russian Federation

The report “Achieving balanced participation of women and men in political and public decision making in the Russian Federation. European Best Practices” has been developed in the framework of the project “Co-operation on the implementation of the Russian Federation National Action Strategy for Women (2017-2022)” by Prof Marianna Muravyeva and Dr Joanna Hoare.

The aim of the report is to analyse the current situation in regard to balanced participation of women and men in political and public decision-making in the Russian and compile relevant European best practices to draw inspiration from.

In responding to identified challenges, the report proposes a number of solutions that worked in similar contexts. The following areas are covered in the report: election processes and political parties, improving gender sensitivity of legislation and policies, better working conditions, training and mentoring and working with the media.

Check the English version of the report here: https://www.coe.int/en/web/genderequality/-/balanced-participation-of-women-and-men-in-decision-making-in-the-russian-federation-a-new-publication-is-available