Pushback or Backlash against the European Court of Human Rights?

This article uses the theoretical model of ‘pushback-backlash’ developed by Madsen, Cebulak and Wiebusch (2018) for a comparative analysis of the differing patterns of reaction to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) by two Eastern European countries – Russia, and Poland. We argue that Russian Constitutional Court’s ( RCC ) rejection of ECtHR authority, while extraordinary and legislated by the Duma, was in fact self-limiting, as observed in politically motivated cases. The decisions of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal ( PCT ), by contrast, go further than pushback, as rights enshrined in the Convention may soon become illusory to Polish citizens. Having chosen a country that was expelled from the Convention (Russia), and one that is still a member (Poland), we suggest opening the conceptual binary between ‘pushback’ and ‘backlash’ towards a dynamic continuum.