Fra sovjetisk protest til russisk prosess : En analyse av drivkreftene bak europeiseringen av Russland, belyst gjennom arbeidet med reform av straffeprosessloven 1989-2001

Abstract

Summary:

This thesis discusses which factors that have had an impact on the outcome of the new Russian Criminal Procedural Code that was signed in December 2001. I have in writing this dissertation drawn on the spiral model from "Power of Human Rights" (1999) by Risse, Ropp and Sikkink. This book argues that the state s attitude towards making tactical acknowledgements to the international human rights obligations does have a positive impact on the real norms behaviour within the state. In my study I have examined the thesis that the pressure from the international and national community is necessary for introducing improvements. I have tested whether the changes in the Russian Criminal Procedural Code were subjected to the so-called "boomerang effect", i. e. the pressure from different groups triggering further developments.

The study has emphasised that the government structures have been more involved in the legal reform process than expected. In particular the judicial elite operating in the constitutional court and higher courts of Russia has been progressive in underlining the breaches of rule of law in Russia from the beginning of the 1990. Some prominent forces within the presidential administration and the Federal Duma also played an important role in finishing the legal reform. The Soviet past has made the decision-making process difficult since the institutions that have been dominant; such as the prosecution authority, did not want to loose their leading role in criminal procedure. Except from participation in some round tables, the national NGOs have not been invited to participate formally in the decision making process. However, their reports could have raised the awareness, but otherwise their influence has limited through shaming instead of dialogue. Instead, the pressure from below has been visible through overwhelming appeals from Russian citizens to the European Human Rights Court in Strasbourg. Except from the effective use of the mechanisms of Council of Europe, the pressure from the international community, as a whole has not been as persevering as expected.

I have argued that Risse, Ropp and Sikkink´s model is too little nuanced compare to the importance of the Russian authorities active involvement. However this could be explained by the fact that my study has been concentrated on a limited legal law reform while the spiral model should illustrate several aspects of the human rights developments within the states.