On April 19, 2016, the Russian Constitutional Court issued a ruling rejecting the implementation of Anchugov and Gladkov v. Russia, a decision by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) from July 2013. The ECtHR ruled in Anchugov and Gladkov that the absolute ban on the voting rights of Russian prisoners was in violation of Article 3 of Protocol No.1 (right to free elections) of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Two convicted Russian prisoners brought the case to the ECtHR, complaining they were barred from voting in a number of elections. The Russian Constitutional Court stated that this ruling was in contradiction with Articles 32(3) of the Russian Constitution baring prisoners in detention from voting in all elections. It further stated that Russia is willing “look for a lawful compromise for the sake of maintaining” the European system of protecting human rights, “reserving the determination of the degree of its readiness for it, so far it is the Constitution of the Russian Federation which outlines the bounds of the compromise.” This marks the first case where the Constitutional Court has utilized the authority it received from a law passed in December 2015 granting it the power to disregard international rulings if they are believed to contravene the Russian Constitution.