TATISHVILI v. RUSSIA JUDGMENT
3
the matter should be examined not as a challenge to the State official's
refusal to grant registration, but rather as a civil action for determination of
the applicant's right to move into the flat.
15. Secondly, the court held that the applicant had failed to prove her
Russian citizenship or to confirm her intention of obtaining it and pointed
out that “a treaty” between Russia and Georgia provided for visa-based
exchanges.
16. The judgment concluded as follows:
“Given that the applicant had failed to produce information confirming her right to
move into the flat in question, information on [her] citizenship and the lawfulness of
[her] entry into the Russian Federation, the court accordingly dismissed her claim.”
17. On 5 March 2001 the Dorogomilovskiy District Court of Moscow
confirmed certain amendments to the hearing record, as submitted by the
applicant's representative. In particular, the record was to reflect the
applicant's statements about the non-applicability of municipal-tenancy
provisions to her situation since the flat had been in private ownership, and
about the flat-owner's consent to her residence.
18. On 19 March 2001 the applicant's representative filed a statement of
appeal. He submitted, in particular, that the District Court had incorrectly
referred to the applicant's Georgian citizenship and to a visa requirement for
her entry into the Russian Federation, given that the applicant had never
held Georgian citizenship and that, in any event, the residence regulations
applied uniformly to all persons lawfully residing within the Russian
Federation, irrespective of their citizenship. He indicated that the District
Court had failed to advance any justification for the restriction on the
applicant's right to choose her residence. He also contended that the District
Court's reliance on tenancy provisions had been invalid because the flatowner had had clear title to the flat and there could be no dispute as to the
applicant's right to move in, since she had had the flat-owner's explicit
consent.
19. On 2 August 2001 the Moscow City Court upheld the judgment. It
reiterated the District Court's findings that the applicant's claim had to be
dismissed because she had failed to prove her Russian citizenship or an
intention to obtain it and because she had failed to provide any documents
confirming her right to move into the flat in question. The City Court did
not address the arguments advanced by the applicant's representative in the
grounds of appeal.