The dissolution of the Russian Republican Party in the light of Russia’s modified Law on political parties
Reply to Written question
| Doc. 11470
| 19 December 2007
- Author(s):
- Committee of Ministers
- Origin
- Adopted by the
Committee of Ministers on 27 November 2007, at the 1012th meeting
of the Ministers’ Deputies. See Doc. 11365.
- Reply to Written question
- : Written question no. 532 (Doc. 11365)
- Thesaurus
1. The Committee of Ministers recalls that
the right to form a political party falls within the scope of freedom of
association, as protected by Article 11 of the European Convention
on Human Rights. As underlined by the European Court of Human Rights
in previous judgments
Note on this matter, “political parties
are a form of association essential to the proper functioning of
democracy”. Accordingly, only convincing and compelling reasons
can justify restrictions on political parties’ freedom of association.
The Committee of Ministers expects all member states to strictly
comply with this requirement, which is at the core of Council of
Europe values and principles.
2. As far as the dissolution of the Russian Republican Party
is concerned, according to the Russian Federation authorities, this
measure has been decided by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation
– and subsequently confirmed by the Cassation Chamber of the Supreme
Court on 31 May 2007 – in accordance with the provisions of the
Federal Law on Political Parties, as an inspection conducted from
March to October 2006 had established that this party did not meet
the requirements set out in the law regarding the minimum number
of members and their territorial distribution. In substance, the
Committee of Ministers feels bound to refrain from any comments
regarding its compliance with the requirements of the European Convention
on Human Rights, since the case is now pending before the European
Court of Human Rights.
3. Beyond the European Convention on Human Rights, the Committee
of Ministers recalls that “the role of political parties in the
building of democracy” was the general theme of the session of the
Forum for the Future of Democracy held in Moscow on 18 and 19 October
2006. As was acknowledged by the participants of the session and
as indicated by the general rapporteur in his final conclusions,
“political parties constitute a permanent feature of all modern
democracies and a key element of electoral competition” and “serve
as an essential instrument for the expression and representation
of different interests”.
4. The Committee of Ministers firmly believes that when considering
possible restrictions to the establishment of political parties,
public authorities in member states should bear in mind these particular considerations,
which are of utmost importance for having a genuine democracy. From
this perspective, the Committee of Ministers fully concurs with
the guidelines on the prohibition and dissolution of political parties adopted
by the Venice Commission in 1999, and in particular that according
to which “the prohibition and dissolution of political parties as
a particularly far-reaching measure should be used with utmost restraint”.
5. When examining the question of freedom of association in the
context of its monitoring procedure in 2005, the Committee of Ministers
paid particular attention to the freedom to establish political
parties and invited member states, when drafting, amending or applying
relevant legislation, to take due account of the European Court
of Human Rights’ case law on Article 11 of the European Convention
on Human Rights and the aforementioned guidelines. It reiterates
this appeal and recalls that the Council of Europe is available
to provide its advice in this respect.
