29th January 2020
The submissions address current human rights standards and requirements on the definition and interpretation of rape and its investigation, and the necessity to examine rape complaints and their investigation under the right to non-discrimination (article14 of the European Convention on Human Rights) in conjunction with the prohibition of torture or inhuman or degrading treatment (article 3). The applicant, in this case, is a Russian national who claims that the State failed to conduct an effective investigation into her allegations of rape by her husband.
The case provides the Court with the opportunity to further develop its jurisprudence on the positive obligations of the State in respect of gender-based violence, specifically in respect of complaints of rape and marital rape, taking into account recent developments in international best practice.