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Summary: General overview of Russia's national legal provisions on children's rights, including guidance on how to conduct further research.
National laws on children's rights Status of CRC in national law Constitution: the Constitution of Russian Federation includes a number of provisions that directly address the rights of children: Legislation: the Federal Law on Basic Guarantees of the Rights of the Child in the Russian Federation of July 21, 1998 repeats all the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The national legislation related to the subject matter of the CRC includes, but is by no means limited to: Legal Research Case law Case Law resaerch Compliance with the CRC In depth analysis The Committee also expressed serious concerns at reports that children continued to be subjected to torture and cruel treatment, “in many cases when in police custody or during the pretrial stage of legal proceedings”. The lack of access to legal counsel and medical services for children in custody was also a serious concern, alongside the lack of effective complaints mechanisms to challenge ill-treatment. The Committee urged the State to prevent acts of torture or other ill-treatment, investigate, prosecute and punish those who commit such offences and strengthen the complaints procedure to address such abuses. The lack of protection for children involved in prostitution was also a serious problem raised in the Committee's 2005 Observations, particularly with regards to the lack of legal protections for children between the ages of 14 and 18 years. The Committee urged the State to ensure that reports of sexual exploitation are investigated and punished appropriately, and to take legal measures to put in place protections regarding involvement in prostitution and pornography for all children under 18. Current legal reform projects
Article 15 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation provides that “[u]niversally acknowledged principles and standards of international law and international treaties of the Russian Federation shall be a part of its legal system”. This makes it possible for the standards of international law to be directly applied by the courts. Should a contradiction be found between an international agreement to which the Russian Federation is a party, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and national law, the international provisions would be applied.
The Federation Council, the upper house of the federal parliament, maintains a website in English with limited resources (http://www.council.gov.ru/eng/). The Duma, the lower house, maintains a website in Russian (http://www.duma.gov.ru) with a range of legal resources, including a database of legislation (http://duma.consultant.ru/). The Constitution is available through the website of the Constitutional Court (http://www.ksrf.ru/en/INFO/LEGALBASES/CONSTITUTIONRF/Pages/default.aspx). A selection of legislation is available in English through the International Labour Organisation website, NATLEX (http://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/natlex_browse.country?p_lang=en&p_country=RUS) and the World Law Guide website (http://www.lexadin.nl/wlg/legis/nofr/oeur/lxwerus.htm). In addition, the GlobaLex Initiative at New York University has published a guide to legal research in the Russian Federation, and the U.S. Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov/law/help/guide/nations/russia.php) and World Legal Information Institute (http://www.worldlii.org/ru/) both provide a selection of legal and governmental resources.
CRC Jurisprudence
The Convention on the RIghts of the Child has been cited in Russian courts, including in relation to a case regarding the eligibility of a father of a child with a disability to certain pension benefits (http://www.crin.org/Law/instrument.asp?InstID=1577).
The website of the Supreme Court of Russia (Верховный Суд Российской Федерации) has limited legal information in English, and publishes case law in Russian (http://www.supcourt.ru/indexA.php). The judgments of the Constitutional Court are available in Russian through the Court's website (http://www.ksrf.ru/ru/Decision/Pages/default.aspx).
In its Concluding Observations of 2005, the Committee on the Rights of the Child welcomed a number of legislative developments, including the adoption of a new Labour Code which, in particular, increased the protection of minors against harmful working conditions. Amendments made to the Criminal Procedure Code also provided a more humane approach in the procedure for trials of child offenders. Reforms to the Criminal Code also introduced norms prohibiting the trafficking of human beings. However the Committee expressed concern that some of the recommendations made in previous Observations had not been addressed. The Committee also expressed concern at the failure to effectively implement a number of newly adopted Acts.
The Committee expressed a number of more specific concerns in its Concluding Observations of 2005, including with regards to juvenile justice. The Committee was critical of the lack of specific federal procedures and courts for children in conflict with the law, as well as of the stigmatisation of children involved with the justice system. The lack of alternative measures to detention, the inappropriate conditions in which children were detained and the inadequate educational provisions for children in detention were also all issues that the Committee highlighted as falling short of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Please contact CRIN if you are aware of any current legal reform projects.