The European Court of Human Rights has recognized the significance of a challenge to the lack of a fair trial in a case challenging the denial of re-registration of an NGO in Russia.  The Human Rights Resource Center “Sutyajnik” announced yesterday that the President of the Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights has awarded its staff lawyer legal aid for representing the applicant before the Court in Sutyajnik vs. Russia. The competitive award, made after careful review of the litigating lawyer’s work, was made to a post-graduate student of the Urals State Law Academy whose dissertation is on the European Convention. Although the award covers  fees and expenses in accordance with the system of free legal aid laid down in Chapter X of the Rules of Court as well as a lump sum for normal secretarial expenses (telephone, postage, photocopies, etc.) the amount represents more a recognition of exceptional skill than a sum sufficient to cover application and litigation expenses. 

The award suggests that the Court considered the case has merit, and that the decision on admissibility should be forthcoming soon. The case Sutyajnik v. Russia concerns the situation of the right to a fair trial and the right to association in Russia. The case is significant for Russian NGOs because of the 1995 law on Non-governmental Organizations which forced all NGOs in Russia to undergo a re-registration process.  

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