Samenvatting

The western, capitalistic world has been trying to influence the political values of the Russian government since the collapse of the Soviet Union, advocating for implementation of a strong democracy and improvement of human rights. Putin has been active in the centre of power of Russia since he became a loyal friend of Yeltsin, who appointed Putin as acting president after his resignation as president. Especially in the first term of Putin's presidency the transition of his predecessors towards a democracy has been continued and the influence of the western world seemed to serve the Russian citizens. Policies to consolidate the growth of the economy, to improve the social structure and to strengthen the national power were implemented by the government.
During the second term of Putin's presidency and his premiership policies which tightened the democratic freedoms, centralised the political power and introduced new laws or reformed existing laws controlling were introduced. Two major events that triggered the consolidation of governmental power have been the Orange Revolution in Ukraine and the school hostage in Beslan both in 2004. The popularity of Putin has been used to slow down the transition towards a democracy and to make the role of the president increasingly important. However, Putin's popularity is decreasing, as has been shown by mass demonstrations that have been taking place since 2011.
The difference between formal order and practice is established in the Russian constitution, creating a dualistic political regime. The vagueness of the Russian legislation has resulted in a system where the interpretation of the law is left to the ones in power. Furthermore, the legislation does not include a mechanism for accountability. Those two features are opposing a system in which the legislation is a tool to protect the rights of the citizens of a state and they are leading to a huge amount of complaints that are lodged by Russian citizens to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
The Russian Federation became a member of the Council of Europe in February 1996, signing and ratifying the European Convention on Human Rights and accepting the judicial power of the European Court of Human Rights. The war in Chechnya, the war with Georgia and limited democratic freedom has influenced the relationship between the Council of Europe and Russia since Russia became a member of the Council of Europe. Changes have been introduced by Russia, especially in the legislation, but in practice the human rights situation is not in conformity to standards of the European Convention on Human Rights. The unwillingness of the Russian government to change this practice is undermining the enforcement power of the European Court of Human Rights, while the judgments are not implemented. Furthermore, the European Court of Human Rights has detected structural violations with of the European Convention on Human Rights in Russia.
Russia is having a negative effect on the Council of Europe, especially on the European Court of Human Rights, but the Russian membership of the Council of Europe is vital for many Russian citizens. The European Court of Human Rights offers a possibility to lodge an individual complaint against a state in order to find justice, change ill-founded policies and raise attention for the structural problems. An important group for which this international court is vital in finding recognition is the North-Caucasian residents. The Council of Europe has been founded as an international organisation that advocates human rights and democratic values, opposing the communistic values. Therefore, it has been founded to secure rights and freedoms of citizens of member states and to give justice and recognition if those rights and freedoms are violated by one of the member states.