Legal issue: the constitutionality of the contested provision under which former members of military personnel in need of dwelling have been denied a money compensation on the ground that only those were entitled to such compensation who had been registered for this purpose before 1 January 2005.

Ratio decidendi: the Court held the contested provision to be unconstitutional. It pointed out that the federal legislator is bound to comply with the constitutional principles of equality, justice, and maintaining the citizens’ confidence in law and the actions of the State. Differences as to the conditions of realization of a certain right by citizens are admissible only if they are objectively justified, substantiated and pursue constitutionally significant goals, and the means used to achieve such goals are commensurate to them. But in the present case the Court found that the differentiation in the legal status of persons relating to the same category did not have an objective and reasonable justification, was incompatible with the requirements of Article 19 (part 2) of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and with the constitutionally significant goals capable of justifying possible restrictions of rights and freedoms of man and the citizen (part 3 of Art 55 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation).