Constitution of Russia

Constitution of Russia
Presidential copy of the Constitution.
Ratified	12 December 1993
Signatories	Citizens of Russia

For the constitution of the Imperial Russia, see Russian Constitution of 1906

The current Constitution of the Russian Federation (Russian: Конституция Российской Федерации, Konstitutsiya Rossiyskoy Federatsii; pronounced [kənsʲtʲɪˈtutsɨjə rɐˈsʲijskəj fʲɪdʲɪˈratsɨɪ]) was adopted by national referendum on 12 December 1993. Russia's constitution came into force on 25 December 1993, at the moment of its official publication. It replaced the previous Soviet-era Constitution of 12 April 1978 of Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic following the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis.

Of all registered voters, 58,187,755 people (or 54.8%) participated in the referendum. Of those, 32,937,630 people (54.5%) voted for adoption of the Constitution.

History

Main article: 1993 Russian constitutional crisis

On 29 April 1993 Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR Boris Yeltsin released the text of his proposed constitution to a meeting of government ministers and leaders of the republics and regions, according to ITAR-TASS. On 12 May Yeltsin called for a special assembly of the Federation Council (formed 17 July 1990 within the office of the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR) and other representatives to finalize a draft for a new constitution from 5–10 June, and was followed by a similar decree 21 May. The assembly produced a draft on July 12.

After much hesitation, the Constitutional Committee of the Congress of People's Deputies decided to present its own draft constitution. The Supreme Soviet immediately rejected the Yeltsin constitutional convention's draft and declared that the Congress of People's Deputies was the supreme lawmaking body and hence would decide on the new constitution. On 21 September, Yeltsin declared the Supreme Soviet dissolved and announced a constitutional referendum on his draft constitution and new legislative elections for December, resulting in the peak events of the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis.

While under martial law imposed by Yeltsin, and with the Congress forcefully disbanded, Yeltsin held the Russian constitutional referendum of 1993 which confirmed the Yeltsin constitutional convention's draft 58%-42% with a 55% turnout.

Structure

The constitution is divided into two sections.

Section One

1. Fundamentals of the Constitutional System
2. Rights and Liberties of Man and Citizen
3. Federative system
4. President of the Russian Federation
5. Federal Assembly
6. Government of the Russian Federation
7. Judiciary
8. Local Self-Government
9. Constitutional Amendments and Revisions

Section Two

1. Concluding and Transitional Provisions

Overview

The Russian Constitution has entrenched world standards for human rights and basic principles of democratic state-building such as ideological neutrality of the state, political pluralism, competitive elections and separation of powers. The constitution establishes a super-presidential system, resembling the French system but with stronger executive power due to the increased independence of the president in comparison to the French model.

Presidential powers

Dmitry Medvedev takes the presidential oath with his hand resting on the Constitution, 7 May 2008.

The President of the Russian Federation holds primary power in the Russian government system. The President who is elected for a six year term, is the head of state and the Supreme Commander in Chief. He determines "guidelines for the domestic and foreign policy of the state". Although the President may preside over Government meetings, he is not the head of the Russian Government. As the head of the state the President appoints the members of the Government and directs its activities. While in general the presidential "direction" of the activities of the Government is limited to establishing guidelines, under the 1997 Constitutional Law on the Government the President has a special authority over ministries dealing with defense, security, internal and foreign affairs.

Legislative Branch

Internal checks and balances within the legislative power work through the procedure of the Federation Council's reviewing of the laws adopted by the State Duma and giving its consent to them. In the case of the bill rejection by the Federation Council, the State Duma in its turn may override the rejection by a two-thirds vote. The legislative branch may check the presidential power of the Russian Federation through hearing the addresses of the President by both houses of the Federal Assembly; giving approval to the decree of the president on the introduction of martial law and state of emergency; granting consent to the president for the appointment of the chairman of the government, the chairman of the Central Bank, the Procourator General, members of the Constitutional Court, Supreme Court and more.

See also

• Institute of State and Law
• Russia
• Law of the Russian Federation
• Constitution of the Soviet Union
• 2008 Amendments to the Constitution of Russia
• Constitutional economics
• Constitutionalism

References

• Gönenç, Levent (2002). Prospects for Constitutionalism in Post-Communist Countries. Kluwer Law International. ISBN 90-411-1836-5. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Jeffries, Ian (1996). A Guide to the Economies in Transition. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-13684-9. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

External links

• Text of the Constitution in Russian – from the official website of the Government of the Russian Federation
• English translation of the Constitution - from the official website of the Government of the Russian Federation
• The Russian Constitution, with the Russian text and unofficial translations to English, German, and French
• Information about the Russian Constitution