Putin bans enforcement of foreign court decisions in Russia

Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin has signed a law stipulating that rulings of foreign courts with criminal jurisdiction will no longer be enforceable in Russia if Russia is not a participant.

According to Ukrinform, Nastoyashchee Vremya reported the news.

The law also provides that decisions of international judicial bodies whose authority is not based on an international treaty or United Nations Security Council resolutions will not be enforced.

Vladimir Gruzdev, Chairman of the Board of the Association of Lawyers of Russia, previously clarified that this law will apply, for example, to rulings by the International Criminal Court (ICC). In addition to ICC decisions, the restrictions will also cover the future Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, which the United Nations may establish to investigate Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

It is noted that in March 2023, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Putin and Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova.

They are accused of responsibility for the unlawful deportation of children from the occupied territories of Ukraine to Russia.

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Additionally, the ICC issued arrest warrants for the Secretary of the Russian Security Council, former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov, Commander of the Russian Air Forces Sergei Kobyliash, and former Commander of the Black Sea Fleet Viktor Sokolov.

In response, on 12 December 2025, a Russian court in absentia sentenced the ICC prosecutor and eight judges to terms of 3.5 to 15 years in prison on charges of “bringing a manifestly innocent person to criminal liability or unlawfully initiating criminal proceedings, unlawful detention, and preparation for an attack on persons enjoying international protection.”

As Ukrinform reported, on 25 June, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed an agreement with the Council of Europe at the Palace of Europe in Strasbourg to establish a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine.

On 15 July, the Verkhovna Rada passed a law ratifying the Agreement between Ukraine and the Council of Europe on the establishment of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine.