Conservative Jurisprudence and Russia’s Response to ECtHR Judgements on Cases of Domestic Violence

Abstract This article examines Russia’s record in complying with the European Convention of Human Rights, the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the CoE’s policies in relation to the human rights of women – the protection of women from domestic violence in particular. It seeks to explain why Russia has systematically refused to introduce specialized legislation on protection from domestic violence. It argues that human rights of women, especially cases of domestic violence, became the main point of contention between Russia and the CoE for two main reasons: a fundamentally different approach to the human rights of women and equality, inherited from Soviet-era legislation; and a special type of legal reasoning of international legal obligations – conservative jurisprudence – which undermined the understanding of the legal value of protection of human rights of women and led to invoking various arguments of cultural sovereignty. Non-compliance and quiet avoidance of any gender-sensitive legislation, not least on domestic violence, indicate that Russia has never really committed to the rule of law.