European legal and political mechanisms in promotion of freedom of expression in the norm-violating state: case of Russian Federation

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to explain the essence of European legal and political mechanisms in promotion of human rights, particularly freedom of expression in the Russian Federation. The confrontation between Europe and Russia over the practice of this commonly accepted liberal democratic norm has become vigorous since the adoption of ECHR in 1998 by the latter. This study emphasizes analysis of obligations taken by Russia under international law and European legal and political instruments for monitoring the compliance. Deriving from the theory of international socialization developed by Thomas Risse, Stephen Ropp and Kathryn Sikkink the research tries to contribute into the understanding of the process and applicability of the theory to powerful norm-violating state. This is done through consideration of the ECtHR case law and evaluation of international political pressure generated by transnational advocacy networks based on particular case studies.