Bringing Human Rights Home: The Challenge of Enforcing Judicial Rulings in Ukraine and Russia

Abstract

The problem of systemic non-enforcement of judicial decisions, the Ukrainian government’s failure to respond to a pilot judgment, and Russia’s legislative reform offer important case studies for both rule of law development in the post-Soviet sphere and the efficacy of the European human rights system. This article looks at systemic non-enforcement both as a domestic and international challenge. It first examines Ukraine’s history with the European Court of Human Rights and the response to the Ivanov v. Ukraine pilot judgment. It unpacks the factors that are responsible for persistent non-enforcement and for preventing domestic reform. It then turns to Russia, and explores the European Court of Human Rights’ pilot judgment in the case Burdov v. Russia (no. 2), the Russian response, and implementation of the subsequent reforms. Lastly, the article examines the significance and implications of these cases for the European human rights regime.