ECHR victory prompts military court to reconsider high-profile

ST. PETERSBURG, July 25 - RAPSI. The St. Petersburg Garrison Military Court has accepted the high-profile case of former military officer Konstantin Markin for reconsideration following his victory at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Kommersant daily reports.

The ECHR's ruling on discrimination in the Russian armed forces contradicts the position of the Constitutional Court.

Constitutional Court Chairman Valery Zorkin is ready to compromise with the Strasbourg court in order to resolve the issue. He proposed granting the Constitutional Court the power to decide how best to execute the ECHR judgment.

Markin, a divorced father of three, turned to the European court after his garrison military court denied him parental leave and the Constitutional Court found no grounds to accept his complaint for consideration.

The Constitutional Court's ruling dated January 15, 2009, pointed to the Federal Military Service Act, whereby military personnel enjoy rights and freedoms with certain restrictions and parental leave is granted only to female military personnel.

The European court found its arguments unconvincing and declared it in breach of Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The judgment was challenged by the Russian authorities in the Grand Chamber. Having considered the complaint, the judges sided with the court in its previous judgment, which then became effective.

A high-profile scandal broke out after the chamber of the European Court of Human Rights had considered Markin's case in 2010 harshly criticized the Russian Constitutional Court's decision passed on the same case. In response to this, Zorkin started a discussion on the limits of compliance of the state in cases where the Constitutional Court and the ECHR disagree.

Senator Alexander Troshin submitted a draft law to the State Duma on granting the Constitutional Court the authority to assess the consequences of the ECHR's decisions for Russia.

In the end, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights reconsidered Markin's case at the request of the Russian authorities, after retracting its criticism of the Constitutional Court and its direct order on Russia to amend its discriminatory legislation. However, the chamber came to an even harsher conclusion in regard to Russia's breach of Konstantin Markin's rights, increasing the amount of the compensation to be awarded the applicant.

(2012-07-25/rapsinews)