The Russian Judicial Chamber for Information Disputes originated in an institution called the Arbitration Court on Information Matters, an ad hoc body established specifically for the 1993 parliamentary elections. The temporary body had proved reasonably successful as an impartial adjudicator of disputes during a controversial period. It was therefore decided to replace it with a permanent complaints body.
The Judicial Chamber for Information Disputes is an independent state body 'under the President of the Russian Federation'. Its functions are to be carried out without interference from any other body. A number of these functions relate to the role of the media in elections, including:
- helping to assure non-partisan and truthful media coverage of matters of public interest;
- guaranteeing the principle of parity in the mass media;
- helping to apply the principle of political pluralism through television and radio news and political talk shows;
- issuing guidelines to correct mistakes in media reporting on matters of public interest.
Clause 8 of the regulations establishing the Chamber provides that it shall adjudicate on 'the disputes and other cases that involve the mass media'. The legal basis for resolving these disputes, aside from Russian law, is 'the universally accepted principles and rules of international law and requirements of the Russian Federation's international treaties', as well as the standards of journalistic ethics.
Although the body is described as a 'Judicial Chamber', its jurisdiction is explicitly separated from that of the normal courts. It can examine any matter within its competence 'except for the matters formally referred to in the jurisdiction of courts of the Russian Federation'. In practice, this means that a decision of the Chamber can be appealed in a court of law. But it also means that a complainant can take a matter to court instead of to the Chamber - a right guaranteed under the Constitution - or can file a separate court case after the Chamber has already heard the matter.110
