Exclusion of the Russian Federation from the Council of Europe and the ECHR : An Overview

Russian membership of the Council of Europe came to an end on 16 March 2022. In an unprecedented move, prompted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Committee of Ministers excluded the Russian Federation from the Organisation. As a consequence, Russia also ceased to be bound by the ECHR, with the Strasbourg Court remaining competent to deal with applications directed against Russia in relation to acts or omissions capable of constituting a violation of the Convention that took place before 16 September 2022. This overview records, in chronological order, the decision-making process which led to the exclusion of Russia from the Organisation, with particular attention paid to the repercussions this has had upon the ECHR control mechanism. The most important documents on this subject can be found in the Appendix