Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law authorizing the country’s Constitutional Court to decide whether or not to enforce judgments of international human rights courts, primarily the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

On Tuesday, Russia’s official judicial portal published the text of the law that enables the Russian top court to overthrow verdicts of the Strasbourg-based ECHR in case its decisions violate the provisions of the Russian Constitution.

It was adopted by the State Duma on December 4, 2015, and approved by Russia’s upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, on December 9, 2015. According to the measure, the country’s constitution takes precedence over international rulings.

The law was adopted in response to the Constitutional Court’s July 2015 decision, which stated that judgments of the ECHR cannot be implemented if they contradict Russia’s constitution.

In July 2014, the ECHR ordered Russia to pay 1.87 billion euros in compensation to shareholders of now defunct Yukos oil company, formerly owned by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was arrested in 2003 and spent a decade in prison on charges of embezzlement and tax evasion.

The ECHR ruling prompted France and Belgium to freeze some assets of the Russian state, although they were later unblocked.

The Russian Justice Ministry said it would not follow the Strasbourg court ruling because compliance would put the ministry in breach of Russia’s constitution.