Professional Affiliation

John Edward Fowler Distinguished Professor of Law, Dickinson Law, Penn State University

Expert Bio

William E. Butler is an expert on international law and comparative law focusing on Russia and Eurasia. He is a Distinguished Professor with Penn State's Dickinson Law and and in March 2021 has published the third edition of Russian Law and Legal Institutions. 

Wilson Center Project

“International Law in the Russian Legal System”

Project Summary

The 1993 Russian Constitution integrated general principles of international law, customary international law, and international treaties of the Russian Federation into the legal system of the Russian Federation. Russia then acceded to the 1950 European Convention for Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which under the Constitution integrated the precedents of the European Court of Human Rights into the Russian legal system. Russia is having second thoughts about this relationship and accordingly modifying Russian international legal doctrine and legislation to reflect what Russia perceives as a changed and changing international system. The project traces those developments in the larger context of Russian and Soviet law and foreign policy and their implications for European and for world order.