Wednesday 24 April 2013

Russian Version of Court's Anniversary Book Presented

Earlier this week, the Russian translation of the Court's anniversary book (which dates from two years ago - see here) was presented. It will be distributed to 5,000 local judges and prosecutors in Russia. Symbolic as this may be, more important for practice is a parallel project running currently: bit by bit, commissioned translations of key ECHR case-law in Russian are being made available in HUDOC (clock on the language refiner option on the left of the HUDOC search screen to choose Russian and you will find them). In addition, Russian translations of research reports, fact sheets and case-law guides are being put on the Court's website. This is the press release about the book:

The Russian edition of the Court’s anniversary book The Conscience of Europe: 50 Years of the European Court of Human Rights is being launched today in Moscow in the presence of representatives from governmental bodies, legal professions, civil society and various media outlets.

The Russian edition was published in co-operation with iRGa 5 Ltd. (Moscow) and Third Millennium Information Ltd. (London). The richly-illustrated book is in large-format and comes with updated and additional content tailored to the Russian-speaking readership. In connection with the launch of the Russian edition, President Dean Spielmann stated:

“I should like to thank the Supreme Court and the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation, which supported this project and will be helping to disseminate the book in Russian legal circles. The Court has many friends in Russia and I know they were eagerly awaiting this translation. For those Russian-speakers who do not yet know our Court, or do not know it well and would like to learn more, this anniversary book is the perfect place to start.”

The Court’s anniversary book was published in early 2011 – with the help of a generous contribution from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg – to conclude the celebrations marking the Court’s 50th anniversary in 2009 and the 60th anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights in 2010.

The original editions in English and French are no longer available from the publisher but can be downloaded from the Court’s Internet site. Excerpts from the Russian edition will also be made available online at a later date.