International Law & World Order: Weston's & Carlson's Basic Documents II.D.43 Declaration by Heads of State and Government of NATO Member States and the Russian Federation (NATO-RUSSIA Relations: A New Quality) (28 May 2002)

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-91
Author(s):  
Antonino Alì

The article examines the actions taken by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) against the delegation of the Russian Federation in response to the crisis in Ukraine. In 2014 the Assembly decided to suspend some of the rights of the Russian delegation and menaced to annul the credentials of the delegation if an effective effort was not made on the part of Russia to sort out the situation and to reverse the annexation. The adoption of sanctions against the Russian delegation raised several legal issues related to the very existence of a sanctioning power of the CoE and in particular of the Assembly. The question is whether the powers to “penalize” the parliamentary delegation have been exercised by PACE in conformity with the Statute. The Statute of the CoE does not attribute sanctioning powers to the Assembly in order to target the states which are in breach of Article 3 or international law more generally. This power falls firmly in the hands of the Committee of Ministers as a way to put pressure on, deter, and eventually punish a state which has seriously violated the core of the principles of the CoE system. PACE, in the exercise of its functions, may certainly contribute to activating procedures to monitor the activities of the member states, but the last word is in the hands of the Committee which may suspend the rights of representation of a state and request that the offending state withdraw from the Committee entirely. The Statute plainly does not attribute this power to PACE. In the absence of the jurisdiction of a Court to deal with the problems caused by the lack of harmonisation between the sanctions adopted by the Committee of Ministers and the ones introduced by the Parliamentary Assembly through some modifications of the Rules of Procedure, the recent call for a 4th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the CoE by the Assembly in order to “preserve and further strengthen this unparalleled pan-European project currently threatened by divisions and a weakening of member States’ commitment” by “harmonising[…] the rules governing participation, representation and responsibilities of member States in both statutory organs, while fully respecting the autonomy of these bodies” should be welcomed.


Author(s):  
JULIA V. ZVORYKINA ◽  
◽  
KIRILL S. TETERYATNIKOV ◽  
DANEK А. PAVLOVSKY ◽  
◽  
...  

The article is meant to analyze new opportunities of the forthcoming presidency of the Russian Federation in the Arctic Council designed to implement the Arctic Development Strategy of the Russian Federation, strengthen international cooperation and give a new impetus to largescale national and international sustainable development projects in the Arctic, focused on improving the resilience of the environment and population of the Council member states. The authors considered the approaches to formulation of sustainable development priorities in international law and Russian legislation, peculiarities of sustainable development projects in the Arctic, prospective directions of Russian chairmanship in the Arctic Council taking into account postpandemic development of the world economy. Relevant proposals and recommendations on specific areas of cooperation and major projects that could be implemented in the interests of all member states of the Arctic Council are given. A proposal for Arctic Development Bank foundation has been put forward and substantiated.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 106-111
Author(s):  
E. A. Pavelyeva ◽  
◽  
R. Kh. Paytyan ◽  

The analysis of the application of the norms of international law in relation to the establishment of the legal status of refugees, their protection, granting of asylum in the Russian legal system is carried out. Conclusions are drawn about the inconsistency of some norms of national law with universal norms. Problems are identified at the term level. The necessity of supplementing the concept of «refugee» with new categories and features, such as armed conflicts in the country of habitual residence, is substantiated. In support of this thesis, an overview of Russian judicial practice is given. It is concluded that from a legal point of view, both at the universal and at the national levels, a very effective system of assistance to refugees has developed. However, in practice, when the need arises to implement such norms, numerous difficulties arise. It is recommended to solve these problems by eliminating the inconsistency of norms at different levels. The 1951 Convention has ceased to meet the needs and realities of the modern world order. The need to revise the entire system of norms in this area, and the implementation of innovations in national laws is revealed. The role of cooperation between the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the national departments of the Russian Federation is analyzed, and the significant role of the Agency in improving the legislative framework of the Russian Federation is indicated. It is recommended to develop mandatory rules regarding the procedure for granting refugee status. It is proposed to give more legal force to the New York Declaration adopted in 2016, which fully fills the gaps in this area, but at the moment it is only advisory in nature. The tightening of the rules for granting legal status to refugees as a result of the analysis of current trends in the migration policy of Russia is revealed. It is recommended to find a balance of interests in terms of the ratio of the principles of sovereignty and respect for human rights and freedoms.


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