MOSCOW. March 5 (Interfax) - Stalin's legacy has not been overcome in Russia, Russian human rights commissioner Vladimir Lukin said.

"It's a dual issue which involves Stalin's role in establishing such a system, and also the fact that an environment existed for the advent of Stalinism. Russia is known for its traditions of tsarism and other forms of authoritarianism," Lukin told Interfax.

"Another reason why Stalinism triumphed in this country is that people had failed to find a resource to fight it," he said.

"Manifestations of Stalinism are felt to this day: lawlessness in various forms, voluntarism and the so-called 'telephone right' in the courts - all of them hallmarks of Stalinism," Lukin said.

March 5 marks 55 years since Josef Stalin died.