Legal issue: the right of the leadership of a political party to fill at its own discretion the seats in the regional legislature, which became vacant upon the refusal of the elected persons.

Rаtio decidendi:  the Court deemed the right in question to be non-conformant to the Constitution, and obliged the regional legislator to amend the law. The analogous provisions in other regional legislative acts across Russia should be amended as well. At the same time and contrary to its common practice, the Court explicitly ruled out the possibility to reverse the decisions based on the invalidated law (by them the petitioner had been deprived of the seat  he claimed); instead, the Court pointed out that the petitioner may use the mechanisms of  compensation, provided for by the current legislation, e.g. to bring a suit to a court of general jurisdiction with respect to compensation of harm.