The role of the ombudsman in the defence of social rights in times of economic crisis, St. Petersberg - Russian Federation, 2-4 September 2009

Round Table of Russian ombudsmen

Event programme

Wednesday, 2 September 2009

 Arrival of participants in Pushkin / St. Petersburg, dinner at (tbc)

Thursday, 3 September 2009

9.30-10.00       Opening session 

                       Thomas HAMMARBERG, Commissioner for Human Rights, Council of Europe 

                       Alexander SUNGUROV, President, Saint Petersburg Center for Humanities and Political Studies “Strategy”

                        Vladimir LUKIN, Ombudsman of the Russian Federation

10.00-14.30     Session 1 : Implementing the Revised European Social Charter in the Russian Federation – Requirements of law and practice

                        Chair: Vladimir LUKIN, Ombudsman of the Russian Federation (tbc) 

The commitments undertaken by the Russian Federation

Elena VODKACH-BOLDYREVA, Department of Legal and International Activities, Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation (tbc)

 Translating commitments into compliance

Régis BRILLAT, Head of the Department of the the European Social Charter Secretariat, Directorate General of Human Rights and Legal Affairs, Council of Europe 

 Major social rights issues in the Russian Federation

Tatiana MARGOLINA, Co-Chair of the Coordination Council of the Russian Regional Ombudsmen, Ombudsman of the Perm Oblast

Discussion

11.00-11.30    Coffee break 

11.30-13.30    Discussion continued 

13.30-14.30     Lunch break

14.30-18.30     Session 2 : Resolving cases of non-respect of social rights: Judicial and non-judicial remedies available in the Russian Federation.

                    Chair: Christos GIAKOUMOPOULOS, Director of Monitoring, Directorate General of Human Rights and Legal Affairs, Council of Europe

Introductory speech

Irina SKUPOVA, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Samarskaya Oblast

Cases concerning social rights brought before the European Court of Human Rights

Mikhail LOBOV, Head of Legal Division, Registry of the European Court of Human Rights

Discussion

16.00-16.30    Coffee break

17.00-18.00    Discussion continued

18.00-18.30    Summing-up of the first day

Stefano VALENTI, Interdepartmental Centre on Human Rights and the Rights of Peoples, University of Padua (Italy)

                         Dinner

Friday, 4 September 2009

10.00-11.30   Session  3:  Problems and perspectives of the development of the institution of ombudsman in the Russian Federation.

Introductory speech

Alexander SUNGUROV, President, Saint Petersburg Center for Humanities and Political Studies “Strategy”

 Regional Commissioners (tbc)

 11.30-12.00    Coffee break

 12.00-13.30     Working groups:

- Criteria of effectiveness of an ombudsman’s activities

- Establishing the Association of Russian Ombudsmen and organising its functioning

- The interaction between the Regional Ombudsmen and the Federal Ombudsman

- Legislative initiatives of the Russian Regional Ombudsmen        

13.30-14.30    Lunch break

14.30-15.30    Presentation of the findings of the working groups

15.30-16.30          Winding-up of the workshop

Tatiana MARGOLINA, Co-Chair of the Coordination Council of the Russian Regional Ombudsmen, Ombudsman of the Perm Oblast

Markus JAEGER, Head of Co-operation with the National Human Rights Structures, Directorate General of Human Rights and Legal Affairs (Capacity Building Division), Council of Europe

Sight-seeing

Saturday, 5 September 2009

Departure of participants