Practical guides — step-by-step instructions and recommendations for lawyers and human rights defenders
Emergency Actions
Providing protection algorithms for extradition requests. Explaining procedural differences, legal instruments, and common mistakes that lead to failure.
Documents and Evidence
For those who need to systematically collect and protect evidence: from biographies and timelines to media, finances, and digital traces. Materials are securely archived, translated, and supplemented with templates for lawyers and NGOs.
INTERPOL
Clear tools: how to live with INTERPOL notices, check your status, challenge a Red Notice, and use parallel international mechanisms.
Extradition
Protection algorithms for extradition requests, procedural differences, key legal instruments, and common mistakes that lead to negative outcomes.
Prevention and Asset Protection
A legally resilient system for protecting property and businesses under “nationalization” and pressure in the Russian Federation: maintaining control, documenting legality, and accessing international mechanisms.
CIS Countries Block
Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan: specifics of practices, risks, and protection.
Asylum and International Protection
Step-by-step asylum guidance for the EU, USA, Canada, and the United Kingdom: country specifics, common mistakes, and practical advice.
UN and Special Procedures
How to work with UN human rights mechanisms: proper complaint submission, preparation of evidence, and strategic use of parallel procedures.
Family and Safety
Comprehensive family protection in cases of persecution and migration: marriage, child protection (Hague-1980), domestic violence, cross-border disputes, proving integration, and the role of psychological assessments.
Council of Europe and ECtHR
Tools for filing ECtHR complaints related to extradition, unlawful persecution, and business protection.
Asset Protection and Compliance
Safeguarding assets and business structures under pressure from criminal cases, sanctions, and politically motivated attacks: legal and practical strategies.
Digital Security and OSINT
Digital hygiene rules and OSINT practices for human rights defenders, lawyers, and clients at risk of persecution, data leaks, and compromise.
Media and Press
Public strategy: how to ensure that media coverage strengthens protection rather than creating risks.
Formats and Packaging
How to systematize and structure materials so that they are easy to use for clients, lawyers, courts, banks, and international organizations.
The “Practical Guides” section is designed to provide expert, systematized materials that help lawyers, human rights defenders, researchers, and citizens act confidently in complex legal situations.
These guides are based on international legal norms and the practice of national and intergovernmental institutions — including the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the European Court of Human Rights, INTERPOL, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Each guide is a step-by-step document outlining an action algorithm for specific circumstances — from submitting applications to international bodies to preserving evidence or protecting personal and property rights.
The materials are developed by ARGA Observatory experts and reflect current legal approaches verified through international judicial practice.
The primary goal of this section is to improve the quality and accessibility of legal information and to make international procedures understandable and practically applicable.
The guides help professionals systematize their knowledge, and help individuals understand how to act in emergency situations and how to properly prepare documents, applications, and evidence packages.
The thematic scope of the section covers key areas of international and comparative law, including:
• actions during the first 24 hours after detention or a search;
• interaction with lawyers and consular services;
• procedures for submitting complaints and petitions to UN bodies and the European Court;
• filing requests with the INTERPOL Commission for the Control of Files (CCF);
• rules for documenting and preserving evidence;
• mechanisms for protecting assets and property;
• standards of digital security and personal data protection;
• preparing applications for asylum and international protection.
The guides are grouped by thematic blocks and countries.
Each material includes a brief annotation, references to sources, and is updated as international legal norms evolve.
ARGA Observatory ensures the relevance and accuracy of the information by applying a system of expert verification.
A distinguishing feature of this section is its universal methodology: all instructions are structured to be applicable in any jurisdiction while adhering to the basic principles of fair trial and procedural safeguards.
This format allows the materials to be used not only by professionals but also by individuals who require basic legal orientation in situations where access to professional assistance is limited.
ARGA Observatory views the “Practical Guides” as a tool for legal education and support — a platform where the theory of international law is connected with concrete actions and procedures.
This section brings together concentrated professional information that contributes to strengthening the rule of law, improving legal literacy, and promoting international cooperation in the field of human rights protection and judicial fairness.