Russia was a member of the Council of Europe, an international organization that focuses on the promotion of democracy and human rights, from 1996 to 2022. At the time of its accession, Russia did not meet the requirements of membership, but it was believed that joining would help Russia improve its record on democracy and human rights protection. In a 2019 paper published in the International & Comparative Law Quarterly, international law scholars Kanstantsin Dzehtsiarou and Donal K Coffey described Russia as showing "persistent and clear disregard of the values and aims of the CoE", including occupying other member states, sponsoring separatist movements, and ignoring judgements of the European Court of Human Rights. During its membership, Russia was suspended from voting rights on multiple occasions. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, on 16 March the Committee of Ministers voted to expel Russia from the council with immediate effect.
Accession
In 1989, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) granted the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union a special guest status, granting Soviet parliamentarians the right to attend but not vote. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, President Boris Yeltsin worked for the Russian Federation to join the Council of Europe.
In 1992, the Committee of Ministers, the Council of Europe's executive, expressed support for eventual Russian membership when it met the requirements laid out in the Statute of the Council of Europe, namely pluralist parliamentary democracy and protection of rule of law and human rights.
In 1994, a commission appointed by PACE determined that Russia was unfit for membership, citing deficits in Russia's legal order, especially in the areas of "constitutional rights, freedom of movement, national minorities, political and religious freedoms, the death penalty, military conscripts, secret surveillance, and places of detention". PACE suspended Russia's membership application later that year in response to the First Chechen War, citing "the indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force by the Russian military", which it declared to be contrary to the Council of Europe's values.
Russia signed the European Convention on Human Rights, the United Nations Convention Against Torture and the European Charter of Local Self-Government in 1996 and ratified the first on 5 May 1998. Russia joined the Council of Europe on 28 February 1996. The Council noticed favourably the entry into force around the same time of the Civil Code of Russia and Criminal Code of Russia. At the time, Irina Busygina and Jeffrey Kahn wrote, "No serious observer believed that Russia met the criteria for membership". Relaxation of standards also characterized the accession of other countries including Ukraine, Romania, and Croatia. British delegate David Atkinson argued that Russia could be suspended if it did not meet its obligations.
On its accession to the Council of Europe the Russian Federation entered into a number of commitments. The report on the Honouring of obligations and commitments by the Russian Federation dated 2 June 1998 is of interest here.
Effect of membership
The argument for admitting Russia to the Council of Europe rested on the belief that membership would lead it to change its behavior in line with the Council of Europe's fundamental values. Initially there was great optimism, and Russia changed several laws to bring them into compliance with Council of Europe requirements, at least on paper.
There was also the belief that - by extending the protection of the European Court of Human Rights to Russia's citizens, a consequence of its membership - human rights in Russia could be improved. It was argued that, whatever the shortcomings of Russia's national justice system, Strasbourg could act as a "last hope of justice" for Russians. Indeed, the effect of membership on Russia's human rights record has been judged successful in some individual cases brought to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), when they are low-profile and not politically sensitive.
However by 2008, more than 25 percent of ECtHR cases concerned Russia, clogging the court's docket and creating a backlog. The flood of cases, many of which resulted in judgements against Russia, revealed systematic flaws in Russian protection of human rights. Although in some cases Russia made reforms to address the underlying issues, it was more common for the state to simply pay the complainants without any reform.