Gerasimov and Others v. Russia – A new pilot judgment of the European Court of Human Rights

The article analyses the latest pilot judgment of the European Court of Human Rights regarding Russia, issued on July 1, 2014. The judgment applies the systemic problem of non-enforcement of judicial decisions by national courts about the social obligations of the state towards citizens. Unlike the previous judgment in the case Burdov-2, where there was a prolonged non-execution of monetary obligations, this judgment applies to so-called “obligations in-kind”. The European Court noted the half-adopted legislative measures taken after Burdov-2 and prescribed to add to existing legislation some new, effective remedies of the right of citizens to a fair trial, which includes execution of the judgment within a reasonable period of time.