ECtHR - L.M. and others v. Russia

Court name: European Court of Human Rights
State: Russian Federation
Date of decision:
Legal instruments: European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), European Union law, Other international law
Key aspects: Deportation and removal, Detention, Residence permit, Statelessness and asylum

The applicants, a stateless Palestinian from Syria and two Syrian nationals, entered Russia in 2013 and were kept in a detention centre before their expulsion to Syria. The Court held that the Government’s actions breached the applicant’s rights provided under Articles 2 and 3. The Court also stated that Articles 5(4) and 5(1)(f) had been violated with regards to their detention. The Court also held that the restricted contact with their respective representatives had breached Article 34 of the Convention. 

ECtHR - Tatishivili v. Russia

Court name: European Court of Human Rights
State: Russian Federation
Date of decision:
Legal instruments: European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), European Union law
Key aspects: Access to social and economic rights, Determination/confirmation of nationality, Passport restoration, Residence permit, Stateless status and documentation

The Georgian born applicant held former USSR citizenship until 2000, when she became stateless. Subsequently, she applied for residence registration in Moscow but was dismissed at first instance and on following appeals, due to failing to confirm her Georgian citizenship or apply for Russian citizenship. The Court ruled that there had been a violation of Article 2 § 1 of Protocol No. 4 and Article 6 § 1 of the Convention.

Russia - Supreme Court of Saha Republic, judgment №33-1261/2013

Court name: Supreme Court of Saha Republic
State: Russian Federation
Date of decision:
Legal instruments: 1997 European Convention on Nationality
Key aspects: Acquisition of nationality, Deprivation of nationality, Determination/confirmation of nationality, Establishing identity, Residence permit, State succession

The applicant is a former USSR citizen, who has been residing on the territory of Russian Federation since 1990. He has received an "insert" into his passport in 1994 as evidence of him being recognised as a Russian citizen, which was a standard procedure at a time. In 2011 a "verification" took place - a policy that resulted in questioning of many citizenships acquired after the fall of the Soviet Union, including the applicant. The Court sided with the applicant, considering among others that refusal to recognise him as a Russian citizen would result in his statelessness. 

Russia - Constitutional Court, No. 14-P/2017

Court name: Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation (Конституционный суд Российской Федераци)
State: Russian Federation
Date of decision:
Key aspects: Detention, Residence permit, Stateless status and documentation

The applicant was born in Georgia and moved to Leningrad before the breakup of the Soviet Union, where he was educated and got married. He was never able to exchange his Soviet passport for a Russian passport, was ordered to be expelled while the expulsion was not possible due to his statelessness. His attorney has repeatedly appealed the deportation ruling but in vain.

The decision changed judicial practice and provided a legal ground for the release of stateless persons from detention, even though the amendments to the legislation ordered by the Constitutional Court are still pending (as of May 2021).