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About me

About me

Welcome to my online office!

My journey with the European Court of Human Rights began during my scholarship at Duke University’s Institute of Transnational Law at the University of Geneva in the early 2000s. After returning to Russia, where I had received my law degree in the 1990s, I defended my dissertation in 2002, earned an academic degree in Juridical Science, and subsequently researched and taught European Convention law at my alma mater. I also worked as a staff attorney for the American Bar Association’s Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative Programme (ABA CEELI) and later became Deputy Coordinator of the US Department of State’s Regional Initiative. After completing my legal training at Rutgers University in the US, I returned to run the NGO Centre for Clinical Legal Education and Human Rights Protection for several years, where we did hands-on work with the ECHR from 2004.

Since the beginning of the 2010s, I have been offering my services online from my law office registered in St Petersburg. During this time, I have had the pleasure of working with clients from all over Europe and the world on more than 1,200 cases and have advised on several thousand ECtHR matters. In recent years, I have expanded my practice to include cases against various states, individual communications to UN committees, and requests to the Commission for the Control of Interpol Files.

Here are some examples of my work with the ECHR.

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Case of Kirillova

By judgment of 19 September 2016, the ECHR found a violation of the applicant’s right to the peaceful enjoyment of her property in the form of the flat that was reclaimed from her. The flat was subsequently returned to the applicant.

Applicant’s written observations
(Russian version)

Case of Kostyuchenko

By judgment of 9 July 2019, the ECHR found a violation of the applicant’s right to a fair trial in her challenge to the termination of her judicial office.

Application
(In Russian)

Applicant’s written observations
(Russian version)

Case of Nigmatullin

By judgment of 4 February 2020, the ECHR found that the applicant had been tortured by the police and awarded him compensation of €39,700.

Applicant’s written observations
(Russian version)

Case of Singla

By judgment of 19 May 2020, the ECHR found that the applicant’s expulsion from Russia violated his right to respect for his private and family life.

Application
(In Russian)

Applicant’s written observations
(Russian version)

Case of Bulgakov

By judgment of 23 June 2020, the ECHR found a violation of the applicant’s freedom of expression as a result of the blocking of access to the applicant’s entire website on the basis of a single piece of prohibited material and the continued blocking even after the material had been removed. The written observations of the respondent Government in this case can be found here.

Applicant’s written observations
(Russian version)

Case of Laptev

By judgment of 9 February 2021, the ECHR found a violation of the right to life of the applicant’s brother, who was found dead while in custody, and the ineffectiveness of the relevant investigation. In this case, I prepared the applicant’s written observations, which were signed and submitted by the applicant’s representative.

Applicant’s written observations
(Russian version)

Case of Gavrilova and others

By judgment of 16 March 2021, the ECHR found a violation of the applicants’ right to the peaceful enjoyment of property in the form of land plots reclaimed from them. The judgment is available in French only; the ECHR press release is available in English.

Application
(In Russian)

Applicant’s written observations
(Russian version)

Case of Lazutkin

By judgment of 4 February 2020, the ECHR found a violation of the rights of the applicant, a lawyer, in connection with searches of his home and offices under a law that lacked procedural safeguards to prevent interference with professional secrecy.

Application
(In Russian)

Case of Gyrlyan

By judgment of 9 January 2019, the ECHR found a violation of the applicant’s right to the peaceful enjoyment of property as a result of the confiscation of undeclared USD 90,000, the origin of which was known and not illegal.

Application
(In Russian)

Case of Maleyev

By decision of 4 December 2019, the ECHR discontinued the proceedings as, following the communication of the application to the respondent Government, they acknowledged the violation of the applicant’s rights by the conditions of his detention and offered to pay him €7,000 in compensation.

Application
(In Russian)

Case of Lashun

By judgment of 7 December 2021, the ECHR found a violation of the applicant’s presumption of innocence.

Applicant’s written observations
(Russian version)

Case of Skvortsov

By decision of 7 October 2014, the ECHR discontinued the proceedings as, following the communication of the application to the respondent Government, they acknowledged the violation of the applicant’s rights by excessive and unjustified detention and offered to pay him €7,000 in compensation.

Application
(in Russian; prepared using an application form used until 2014)

Case of Reykhert

By decision of 22 February 2022, the ECHR discontinued the proceedings on the ground that a new remedy had been created in Russia to which the applicant could have recourse, even though this remedy had been created after she had lodged her application with the ECHR.

Applicant’s written observations
(Russian version)

Applicant’s written observations
(English version)

Case of Neznakhin

By judgment of 6 April 2023, the ECHR found a violation of the freedom of peaceful assembly in respect of the applicant, who was found to have participated in a march in support of Ivan Golunov in Moscow on 12 June 2019.

Application
(In Russian)

Case of Nikolayev

The case concerns the prolonged non-enforcement of the judgment in favour of the applicant. The ECHR communicated the application to the respondent Government on 28 January 2019.

Applicant’s written observations
(Russian version)

Case of Sablina

The case concerns the prolonged failure of the authorities to provide adequate assistance for the enforcement of the judgment in favour of the applicant. The ECHR communicated the application to the respondent Government on 23 February 2018.

Applicant’s written observations
(Russian version)

Case of Safonov

The case concerns a violation of the right to a fair trial on account of the use of the applicant’s statement against himself, which was obtained without him being given the opportunity to be assisted by a lawyer and without his right to silence being explained to him. The ECHR communicated the application to the respondent Government on 30 November 2020.

Application
(In Russian)

Applicant’s written observations
(Russian version)

Applicant’s written observations
(English version)

Claims for just satisfaction
(Russian version)

Claims for just satisfaction
(English version)

Case of Kuznetsov

The case concerns a violation of the right to a fair trial on account of the use of the applicant’s statement against himself, which was obtained without him being given the opportunity to be assisted by a lawyer. The ECHR communicated the application to the respondent Government on 30 November 2020.

Application
(In Russian)

Applicant’s written observations
(Russian version)

Case of Stupko

The case concerns a violation of the applicant’s right to the peaceful enjoyment of property by the quashing of the final judgment in his favour as a result of the granting of the respondent’s repeated appeal to the President of the Supreme Court, which was filed out of time and did not contain any references to fundamental violations capable of justifying the quashing of a final judgment. The ECHR communicated the application to the respondent Government on 28 September 2018.

Application
(In Russian)

Case of Aleksandrov

The case concerns a violation of the right to the peaceful enjoyment of property by imposing on the applicant, as the acquirer of a property, the burden of responsibility for the errors of the authorities in allowing initially untrue information to be entered into the State Real Estate Register, even though transactions relating to that property had been carried out several times before the applicant. The ECHR communicated the application to the respondent Government on 4 October 2021.

Application
(In Russian)

Case of the “Volya” political party

The case concerns violations resulting from the de facto inability to defend itself against charges of extremism, which ultimately led to the liquidation of the party. The ECHR communicated the application to the respondent Government on 21 October 2021.

Application
(In Russian)

Case of Sivtsev

The case concerns a violation of the principle of legal certainty by reason of the unforeseeable reopening of the statute of limitations due to the accession of the Republic of Crimea to the Russian Federation, which enabled the authorities to bring a claim against the applicant, as a result of which he lost his property. The ECHR communicated the application to the respondent Government on 15 December 2021.

Application
(In Russian)

Case of Menshikov

The case concerns a violation of the applicant’s rights by placing him in a metal cage in court. The ECHR communicated the application to the respondent Government on 02 March 2023.

Application
(In Russian)