"The Assembly notes that, under the Court’s records and archives policy, single-judge files are destroyed one year after the final decision, while Committee, Chamber and Grand Chamber files are subject to sorting five years after the case ends. In Lebedeva and Others v. Russia, notified in September 2026, the Court struck out 879 remaining individual applications against the Russian Federation, excluding conflict-related cases. These files may contain unique evidence of human rights violations, including testimony, medical records and domestic court documents. The Assembly therefore invites the Court, exceptionally, to preserve in full the files of all applications against the Russian Federation, including those declared inadmissible or struck out, until the Russian Federation resumes compliance with its continuing obligations under the Convention, subject to appropriate safeguards for personal data and confidentiality."
Preserving the evidence sends an important signal both to the Russian regime and the Russian people