Life in Russia’s “Closed City”: Moscow’s Movement Restrictions and the Rule of Law

The City of Moscow continues to enforce a restrictive residence registration regime similar to the propiska system that prevailed in the Soviet era-despite constitutional guarantees of the freedom of movement, federal statutory provisions implementing that right, and Constitutional Court rulings that such restrictions are unconstitutional. In this Note, Damian Schaible argues that the continued restrictions represent more than simply an ongoing violation of the human rights of Moscow’s illegal residents; they are also an indicator of Russia’s imperfect transition to the rule of law and a practical obstacle to the success of that transition.