Russia

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Russia Russian coat of arms This image depicts a seal, an emblem, a coat of arms or a crest. ... The politics of Russia (the Russian Federation) take place in a framework of a federal presidential republic, whereby the President of Russia is both head of state and head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. ...

Constitution President: Vladimir Putin Prime Minister: Mikhail Fradkov Federal Assembly Federation Council Duma Judiciary (Russian Constitution) Constitutional Court Supreme Court Supreme Court of Arbitration Political parties Elections in Russia President: 2000 - 2004 - 2008 Parliamentary: 2003 - 2007 Subdivisions Federal subjects Human rights Foreign relations

Other countries • Politics Portal view • talk • edit

Constitutional Court of Russian Federation (Russian: Конституционный Суд Российской Федерации) is a high court which is empowered to rule on whether or not certain laws or presidential decrees are in fact contrary to the Constitution of Russia. Its objective is only to protect Constitution (in Russian constitutional law this function is known as "constitutional control" or "constitutional supervision") and deal with a few kind of disputes where it has original jurisdiction, whereas the highest appellate court is the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. The President of Russia (ru: Президент России is the highest position within the Government of Russia. ... Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (Russian: ) (born October 7, 1952) is a Russian politician, and the current President of the Russian Federation. ... The Prime Minister of Russia is the current Head of Government of the Russian Federation. ... Mikhail Fradkov (Photo: Ricardo Stuckert/PR, 2006) Mikhail Yefimovich Fradkov (Russian: Михаи́л Ефи́мович Фрадко́в) (born September 1, 1950) is a Russian politician, and the current Prime Minister of Russia. ... Federal Assembly of Russia (Федеральное Собрание) is the name of the parliament of the Russian Federation, according to the Constitution of Russian Federation, 1993. ... The Federation Council of Russia (Совет Федерации, Soviet Federatsii, Federal Soviet) is the upper house of the Federal Assembly of Russia (parliament of the Russian Federation), according to the 1993 Constitution of the Russian Federation. ... A Duma (Ду́ма in Russian) is any of various representative assemblies in modern Russia and Russian history. ... The Russian judiciary has judicial appeal and judicial review at the level of the Supreme Court. ... Political parties in Russia lists political parties in Russia. ... Politics of Russia Categories: Election related stubs | Elections in Russia ... Presidential elections were held in the Russian Federation on March 26, 2000. ... Presidential elections were held in the Russian Federation on March 14, 2004. ... The Russian Presidential election of 2008, scheduled to be held in March 2008, is widely expected to be a three-horse race between the official Kremlin-backed candidate, the candidate of the left-wing nationalist forces and the nominee of the democratic opposition. ... Legislative elections were held in the Russian Federation on December 7, 2003. ... Russia is a federation which consists of 88 subjects (Russian: ; English transliteration: subyekty, sing. ... Russias human rights record remains uneven and worsened in some areas following the end of the Soviet Union. ... Regarding the foreign relations of Russia, Russia has taken important steps to become a full partner in the worlds principal political groupings. ... Information on politics by country is available for every country, including both de jure and de facto independent states, inhabited dependent territories, as well as areas of special sovereignty. ... The current Constitution of the Russian Federation (Конституция Российской Федерации) was adopted by national referendum on December 12, 1993 replacing the previous Soviet-era Constitution of April 12, 1978 of Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic following the Russian constitutional crisis of 1993. ...

History

Before 1980s in the USSR the importance of judicial supervision over compatibility of legislation and executive actions with the provisions and principles of the constitution was not recognized. Only on December 25, 1989 Constitutional Control in the USSR Act was adopted. Accordingly, Constitutional Supervision Committee was created. It started functioning in mid-1990 and was dissolved in late 1991. In December 1990 the Constitution of the RSFSR was amended with provisions which provided for creation of Constitutional Court (whereas similar USSR body was called Committee, not Court). On July 12, 1990 Constitutional Court of the RSFSR Act was adopted. In October the Fifth RSFSR Congress of Soviets elected 13 members of the Court and the Constitutional Court de facto started functioning. From November 1991 till October 1993 it rendered some decisions of great sifnificance. For example, it declared unconstitutional certain decrees of Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, which were adopted ultra vires, and forbade the practice of extrajudicial eviction. The first Soviet Constitution, which governed the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic, described the regime that assumed power in the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. ... The Congress of Soviets was the supreme governing body of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and the Soviet Union in two periods, from 1917 to 1936 and from 1989 to 1993. ... The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (Президиум Верховного Совета СССР in Russian, or Prezidium Verkhovnogo Soveta) was a Soviet governmental body. ... Ultra vires is a Latin phrase that literally means beyond the power. ...

Main article: Russian constitutional crisis of 1993

On October 7, 1993 Boris Yeltsin's decree suspended work of the Constitutional Court. According to the decree, the Constitutional Court was "in deep crisis". On December 24 another presidential decree repealed the Constitutional Court of the RSFSR Act itself. In July 1994 the new Constitutional Court Act was adopted. However, the new Constitutional Court started working only in February, 1995, because the Federation Council f Russia several times refused to appoint judges nominated by Yeltsin. Boris Yeltsin was President of the Russian Federation at the time of the crisis. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Federation Council refers to one of the following: Federation Council of Russia—the upper house of the Federal Assembly of Russia (the lower house is the State Duma). ...

Composition

Headquarters of the Constitutional Court in Kitai-gorod of Moscow, by Marian Peretiatkovich and Fyodor Rerberg.

Constitutional Court of Russian Federation consists of 19 judges, one being the Chairman (currently - Valery Zorkin) and another one being Deputy Chairman. Judges are appointed by the President of Russia with the consent of Federation Council of Russia. In order to become a judge of the Constitutional Court a person must be citizen of Russia, attain the age of 40, have legal education, have length of service as a lawyer at least 15 years and have "recognized high qualification" (quotation from Constitutional Court Act) in law. The Constitutional Court consists of two chambers consisting of 10 and 9 jugdes respectively. The Chairman presides over one of the chambers, the Deputy Chairman presides over the other chamber. Constitutionality of laws, disputes concerning competence of governmental agencies, impeachment of the president of Russia and Constitutional Court's proposals of legislations must be dealt with on plenary session. Besides, Constitutional Court may by its discretion submit to plenary sessions any other issue. Iverskiye Gates leading to Red Square are the only extant gates of the Kitai-gorod wall. ... Location Position of Moscow in Europe Government Country District Subdivision Russia Central Federal District Federal City Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov Geographical characteristics Area  - City 1,081 km² Population  - City (2005)    - Density 10,415,400   8537. ... A poststamp representing the headquarters of the Constitutional Court of Russia. ... The President of Russia (ru: Президент России is the highest position within the Government of Russia. ... The Federation Council of Russia (Совет Федерации, Soviet Federatsii, Federal Soviet) is the upper house of the Federal Assembly of Russia (parliament of the Russian Federation), according to the 1993 Constitution of the Russian Federation. ... Depiction of the impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson, then President of the United States, in 1868. ...

Powers

Certain powers of the Constitutional Court are enumerated in the Constitution of Russia. Constitutional Court declares laws, presidential and governmental decrees and laws of federal subjects unconstitutional if it finds that they are contrary to the Constitution (i.e. they violate certain rights and freedoms of citizens enumerated in and protected by the Constitution). Thus the law becomes unenforceable, governmental agencies must not implement it. Also, before international treaty is ratified by the State Duma, constitutionality of the treaty may be observed by the Constitutional Court. Constitutional Court is not entitled to judge constitutionality of laws on its own initiative. The law may be submitted to the Constitutional Court by the President of Russia, the government of Russia, the State Duma, the Federation Council of Russia, one-fifth of members of the State Duma or the Federation Council, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation or the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation. Any federal court may request the Constitutional Court to judge on the constitutionality of a law if the law is to be implemented in a case and a judge of the federal court is in doubt about whether the law is contrary to the Constitution. Also, any private citizen may submit in the Constitutional Court a claim challenging constitutionality of a particular law if that law was implemented in a particular case and thus violated rights of that citizen. The current Constitution of the Russian Federation (Конституция Российской Федерации) was adopted by national referendum on December 12, 1993 replacing the previous Soviet-era Constitution of April 12, 1978 of Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic following the Russian constitutional crisis of 1993. ... Russia is a federation which consists of 88 subjects (Russian: ; English transliteration: subyekty, sing. ... It has been suggested that Protocol (treaty) be merged into this article or section. ... Emblem commemorating the 100 year anniversary of Russia Dumas Boris Gryzlov, speaker of the Russian State Duma since December 2003 The State Duma (Russian: Государственная дума (Gosudarstvennaya Duma), common abbreviation: Госдума (Gosduma)) in the Russian Federation is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia (legislature), the upper house being the Federation... Constitutionality is the status of a law, procedure, or act being in accordance with the laws or guidelines contained in a constitution. ... The President of Russia (ru: Президент России is the highest position within the Government of Russia. ... Since gaining its independence with the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991, Russia (formally, the Russian Federation) has faced serious challenges in its efforts to forge a political system to follow nearly seventy-five years of Soviet rule. ... Emblem commemorating the 100 year anniversary of Russia Dumas Boris Gryzlov, speaker of the Russian State Duma since December 2003 The State Duma (Russian: Государственная дума (Gosudarstvennaya Duma), common abbreviation: Госдума (Gosduma)) in the Russian Federation is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia (legislature), the upper house being the Federation... The Federation Council of Russia (Совет Федерации, Soviet Federatsii, Federal Soviet) is the upper house of the Federal Assembly of Russia (parliament of the Russian Federation), according to the 1993 Constitution of the Russian Federation. ...

Another power of the Constitutional Court is to resolve disputes concerning competence of governmental agencies.

Constitutional Court of Russia is scheduled to move to the Senate and Synod buildings on the Decembrists Square in St. Petersburg by 2008.

Constitutional Court interpretes the Constitution of Russia if a request was made by the President of Russia, the government of Russia, the Federation Council of Russia, the State Duma, or by a legislative body of federal subject. Interpretations of the Constitution made by the Constitutional Court are compulsory for other bodies. The Bronze Horseman Saint Isaacs Cathedral Decembrists Square russian: Площадь Декабристов is a city square in Saint Petersburgs Central Business District. ... The current Constitution of the Russian Federation (Конституция Российской Федерации) was adopted by national referendum on December 12, 1993 replacing the previous Soviet-era Constitution of April 12, 1978 of Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic following the Russian constitutional crisis of 1993. ... The President of Russia (ru: Президент России is the highest position within the Government of Russia. ... Since gaining its independence with the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991, Russia (formally, the Russian Federation) has faced serious challenges in its efforts to forge a political system to follow nearly seventy-five years of Soviet rule. ... Federation Council refers to one of the following: Federation Council of Russia—the upper house of the Federal Assembly of Russia (the lower house is the State Duma). ... Emblem commemorating the 100 year anniversary of Russia Dumas Boris Gryzlov, speaker of the Russian State Duma since December 2003 The State Duma (Russian: Государственная дума (Gosudarstvennaya Duma), common abbreviation: Госдума (Gosduma)) in the Russian Federation is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia (legislature), the upper house being the Federation... Russia is a federation which consists of 88 subjects (Russian: ; English transliteration: subyekty, sing. ...

Whenever the President of Russia is impeached, the Constitutional Court renders a resolution concerning complying with the due order of indictment. The President of Russia (ru: Президент России is the highest position within the Government of Russia. ... Depiction of the impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson, then President of the United States, in 1868. ...

Procedure

The Constitutional Court deals with cases either in chambers or in plenary sessions. All judges must be present unless he or she is sick or may have interest in the case and must not abstain from voting on the resolution. Apart from judges, claimant and his representatives governmental agencies involved are present. In order for resolution or decision to pass two-thirds of judges must be in favor of it.

See also

• List of constitutional courts
• Supreme Court of the Russian Federation

This article is a list of constitutional courts. ...

External links

• Official Website (Russian)