Institute of Modern Russia

Details

Law

The Difficult Destiny of the Ukrainian Constitution

Details

24 March 2014

Ekaterina Mishina

The restoration of the 2004 version of the Ukrainian Constitution has been one of the key legal outcomes of the Euromaidan. IMR Advisor Ekaterina Mishina examines the document’s history and shows why it was so important to restore this particular version of the Ukrainian Constitution.

Details

Law

Ukraine Goes for Lustration

Details

13 March 2014

Ekaterina Mishina

The new Ukrainian government has backed a bill that would establish performance and lustration reviews for judges in the country’s regular courts. IMR Advisor Ekaterina Mishina discusses the bill in the context of judicial reform in Ukraine and the history of lustration in other post-Soviet states.

Details

Law

The Duma’s Problem with Historical Memory

Details

18 February 2014

Ekaterina Mishina

A few weeks ago a new bill was introduced for consideration in the first reading at the Russian State Duma. The bill focuses on, quote, “prohibiting the rehabilitation of Nazism.” IMR advisor and prominent legal expert Ekaterina Mishina argues that this bill is another demonstration of the current tendency to restoration of the Soviet approaches and policies.

Details

Law

Russia: Presumption of Innocence as “Legal Fiction”

Details

05 February 2014

Ekaterina Mishina

Russia’s criminal process is about to be revamped once again. A new bill submitted to the Duma would incorporate the principle of “objective truth” into the criminal procedure and to eliminate the adversarial system. IMR Advisor Ekaterina Mishina, a prominent legal scholar, contends that this means, for all intents and purposes, the abolition of the presumption of innocence in Russia.

Details

Law

A Rubik’s Cube from the Russian Constitutional Court

Details

30 December 2013

Ekaterina Mishina

In December, the Constitutional Court of Russia issued a ruling in the Markin case that was supposed to settle the question of Russia’s obligation to implement decisions of the European Court of Human Rights on its territory. IMR Advisor Ekaterina Mishina, a prominent legal scholar, notes that the Constitutional Court has dodged the principal question—but still made sure to show “who is the boss.”

Details

Law

Lost Cause: On the 20th Anniversary of the Russian Constitution

Details

11 December 2013

Ekaterina Mishina

December 12 marks the 20th anniversary of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. According to some estimates, over $600,000 were spent on pompous celebration activities. Meanwhile, as IMR legal expert Ekaterina Mishina notes, the constitution has begun to be treated as a fetish, while its real content is ignored. Legal initiatives and veiled statements calling for defiance of the constitution’s direct instructions are not a rare case anymore.

Details

Law

Two Big News Events about the Fight against Corruption

Details

10 December 2013

Ekaterina Mishina

This November Information Science for Democracy (INDEM) Foundation published a significant book titled Russian Corruption: The Scale, Structure, and Dynamics. This book represents the results of a series of sociological studies conducted by INDEM between 2001 and 2010. IMR Advisor Ekaterina Mishina, a prominent Russian legal expert, analyzes this publication in the context of the Russian government’s latest attempts to fight corruption.

Details

Law

The Soviet Legacy: The Impact of Early Bolshevik Law Felt Up to the Present

Details

01 November 2013

Ekaterina Mishina

The early Soviet criminal norms formed the basis for arbitrary interpretation and selective application of the law, as well as for judicial arbitrariness. IMR Advisor Ekaterina Mishina, a prominent Russian legal expert, contends that the legacy of that era is still being felt.

Details

Law

Hostile Takeover: On Putin’s “Judicial Reform”

Details

17 October 2013

Ekaterina Mishina

In early October, Vladimir Putin introduced a bill into the State Duma that would abolish Russia’s Supreme Arbitration Court and transfer its functions to the Supreme Court. IMR Advisor Ekaterina Mishina, a prominent legal scholar, contends that the bill destroys one of the few remaining accomplishments of Russia's judicial reforms.

Details

Law

"Where Can It Be Seen, Where Can It Be Heard?"

On the Unprecedented Decision Regarding Navalny and Ofitserov

Details

05 August 2013

Ekaterina Mishina

On July 18, the defendants in the “Kirov Forest case,” Moscow mayoral candidate Alexei Navalny and entrepreneur Petr Ofitserov, were arrested in the courtroom after the guilty verdict was announced. Yet the following day both were released, pending appeal. IMR Advisor Ekaterina Mishina, a prominent Russian legal expert, discusses the unprecedented decision.