“Don’t Bother Quitting, Because You’re Fired”: Russia’s Expulsion from the Council of Europe
Journal: International Organizations Law Review
Year: 2025

Abstract The paper discusses the termination of Russia’s Council of Europe membership following its aggression against Ukraine in 2022, arguing that membership termination is based on the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers’ act of expulsion rather than on Russia’s act of withdrawal the day before it got expelled. To build this argument, the paper starts by assessing Article 8 of the Council of Europe’s Statute, which endows the Committee of Ministers with the power to sanction member sta