Unprincipled disobedience to international decisions: A primer from the Russian Constitutional Court

This article uses the opportunity of a decision by the Russian Constitutional Court (RCC) to test whether unprincipled disobedience can be detected.Disobedience indicates the refusal, by domestic authorities, to implement the binding decisions of international courts and tribunals. Unprincipled disobedience is dictated by convenience rather than principled reasons. In Yukos, the Russian Court declared the eponymous judgment of the European Court of Human Rights impossible to execute, for incompatibility with the Russian Constitution.The reasons put forward by the Russian judges are deeply problematic from the perspective of constitutional and international law. Th e fragility of this decision’ s arguments reveals the real motives of the RCC and qualifies its decision as a glaring instance of unprincipled disobedience.