Establishing state mechanisms for the protection of human rights in post-Soviet Russia has been an uncertain endeavor. While the nongovernment sector quickly embraced the public space created by perestroika , the evolution of state-sponsored initiatives has taken a more problematic course. The judicial system has witnessed substantial reform, yet continues to face enormous challenges, which have been determined by a number of constituent factors: psychological, financial, and political. This study seeks to examine the performance of another agency of state accountability, the Russian human rights ombudsman, and to consider its contribution to democracy building in Russia. In discussing the historical context in which the office was established, the direction in which it has developed, and its performance and attendant political responses, this article contends that despite the vicissitudes that shaped its beginnings, the office of the human rights ombudsman is making a valuable contribution to the expansion of administrative justice in contemporary Russia, as it begins to hold government agencies accountable for state human rights violations.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.