Law as an Instrument of State Repression: The Progression before and after the Invasion

• In Event: Law as Mechanism of Authoritarian Rule

Abstract

State Repression through legal means became widespread in Russia with the rise of illiberal legislation in 2011-2022. A lot of those laws are of questionable legal standing, and result in negative effects on Russian society. After 2022 the use of law as a mechanism for state repression increased rapidly. The new norms are oftentimes qualitatively different as they allow even more arbitrariness and selective implementation. This signifies a change in state repression after 2022 and suggests a new stage in the deterioration of the rule of law.
One example is the state repression against LGBTQ individuals. In the previous period there existed the so-called “gay propaganda law” (2013-2022), which was already discriminatory, lacked legal certainty, and resulted in detrimental effects for society. In 2022 it was amended, the scope of the law was expanded, and new related offenses were introduced. Finally, this development culminated in 2023 with the Supreme Court decision that labeled the “International LGBT movement” extremist. In this work I bring the case law of “gay propaganda” to analyze the persecution of LGBTQ people before and after the war. This will help to shed the light on the bigger trend of the progression of state repression in Russia.

Author

• Sergey Katsuba, U College Dublin (Ireland)