Law of Russia
This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
|This article is part of a series on the|
politics and government of
the Russian Federation
- 1 Hierarchy
- 1.1 Constitutionism
- 1.2 Constitutional laws
- 1.3 Statutes
- 1.4 Sub-laws
- 1.5 Judicial decisions, judicial practice and explanations of supreme courts
- 1.6 Judicial explanations of law
- 1.7 Judicial review of laws for constitutionality by the constitutional court
- 1.8 Other sources
- 2 Type of legal system
- 3 Publications
- 4 Legal education
- 5 See also
- 6 References
- 7 External links
This section does not cite any sources. (April 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
Adopted by national referendum on 12 December 1993 with 54.5% of the vote, the Constitution took effect on the day it was published – 25 December of the same year. It set out the fundamentals of government as well as proclaiming the rule of law, the ideological neutrality of the state, political pluralism, competitive elections and a separation of power, guaranteeing fundamental human rights to the Russian people. The Constitution establishes a semi-presidential system that encompasses strong executive power and increased independence for the president. Since its adoption in a 1993 referendum the Russian Constitution is considered to be the supreme law of the land. Article 15 of the Constitution reads that it “shall have supreme legal force and have direct effect, and shall be applicable throughout the entire territory of the Russian Federation.” Courts are guided by the Constitution and it trumps federal and local laws.
Few amendments have been made to the Constitution since its adoption. The most significant of these was made in 2008. It concerned the term of office to be held by the President of the Russian Federation, which was increased from four to six years.
Constitution Day of December 2013 was the culmination of anniversary events that continued throughout the entire year. A special amnesty resolution was devoted to the 20th anniversary of the Constitution, releasing from criminal liability those citizens who had committed crimes as minors, women with dependent children, pregnant women, women over the age of 55 and men over the age of 60, persons with disabilities, participants in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station rescue operation, military service members, internal affairs staff members and other individuals who have defended Russia. It granted freedom to around 25,000 prisoners, including Khodorkovsky , punk protest group Pussy Riot and Greenpeace Arctic Sunrise ship case demonstrators.
Constitutional laws cannot become part of the constitution or amend parts of it absent a special legal act on constitutional amendment. They are typically enacted in important areas of constitutional law, such as Article 56 which allows for the passage of the constitutional laws necessitated by a state of emergency
Statutes are the predominant legal source of Russian law, and may only be enacted through the legislative process. Codes are the basis for law on a matter, and they are usually supplemented with legislation to develop certain provisions. There are gaps in some of the codes, but even still the judges will find a basis for deciding the case in a given code. Codes are interpreted flexibly, and interpretation may be based on enumeration of “general principles” of the codes. General principles are usually articulated at the beginning of the codes in the first chapter to outline the reason for the legislation. Reasoning by analogy is also allowed.
The Russian Civil Code is the “constitution” of the market economy, and is special in the hierarchy of codes, since it will supplant contradictory text in other codes. New codes and laws supersede old ones, unless a statute expressly preserves the old law.
Presidential decrees and directives
The President has power to issue normative and non-normative decrees, provided they do not contravene the constitution and federal laws. "On the basis