Complaints to the UN and ECHR after Russia left the Council of Europe
The guides below are drafts: a lawyer has not reviewed them yet. This is not legal advice.
Draft What human rights defenders advise
Complaints to the UN and ECHR after Russia left the Council of Europe
- The ECHR only accepts complaints about violations before 16 September 2022. Russia doesn't currently comply with its judgments, but they put violations on record.
- For later violations there's the UN Human Rights Committee: you must go through four instances (first, appeal, two cassations), the filing deadline is 5 years, and registration takes about a year.
- In February 2026 the Supreme Court called the UN Committee's interim measures non-binding, but not its final decisions. Human rights groups say complaints are still worth filing.
- It's best to prepare with a lawyer from the start: violations must be raised in Russian courts first, or the UN may not consider them.
- Where to turn: Memorial, the Institute for Law and Public Policy, First Department.
Ready-made templates and tools
- EHRAC briefing note: international avenues for complaints against Russia after its expulsion from the Council of Europe · EHRAC (Лондон) · link checked September 26
- How to collect documents for a UN Human Rights Committee complaint (in Russian) · OVD-Info (foreign agent, extremist) · link checked September 26
Designations of organisations in this guide: Memorial Human Rights Defence Centre (extremist, on Rosfinmonitoring list); Memorial Political Prisoners Support (extremist, on Rosfinmonitoring list). Contacting them carries a risk: do not write from a phone that may be seized, and do not repost their materials.
current as of 25 September 2026. More: OVD-Info: the ECHR now and the alternatives (extremist); First Department: the Supreme Court and UN Committee decisions (foreign agent)