If we consider the executive authorities as subjects of administrative law, we can say that these are isolated elements in the public administration system. This term often refers to government organizations that have authority and make legal decisions on behalf of the state.
The main purpose of the executive bodies
The distribution of power into three branches entails the distribution of the main functions between them. The legislative body adopts laws, the enforcement of which the executive authorities are called upon to enforce. As subjects of administrative law, they have the right to issue subordinate regulatory legal acts of a regulatory nature in order to ensure compliance with laws and management activities. The judiciary performs protective functions and, in the event of a violation of the rule of law, makes decisions that can only be challenged in higher courts. Russian justice exists independently of the legislative and executive branches.
The executive authorities of the Russian Federation are endowed with the broadest powers. In addition to the authority to issue decrees and orders, this government structure deals with budget formation and distribution, the implementation of the country's economic and social development programs, and assumes responsibility for making operational decisions on working issues related to their field of activity.
The primary task of executive authorities as subjects of administrative law is to manage the activities of other subordinate entities, administrative bodies. Features of the status of each of them are determined by the functions and tasks implemented in the process of public administration within the framework of delegated authority.
Unlike legislators, executive bodies as subjects of law constitute a single coordinated system. It is based on automatic distribution of responsibilities among all its participants. The system works on this principle: central authorities give instructions of federal significance, and executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation are engaged in their implementation.
Administrative law is a public branch of jurisprudence, which is explained by the role of management bodies in the state apparatus. Within the framework of their competence, executive authorities are vested with operational independence, which allows them to monitor compliance with laws.
Official status
By the definition of the body that exercises executive power, we mean a professionally prepared team of people united by a common goal, internal organizational structure, and a system of relationships. Executive power is an integral part of a system endowed with managerial powers, specific competence, and various tools for solving the tasks set by society. Thus, the organization of executive bodies is based on the collective relations of officials.
State management is built on the principle of applying public government authority. Unlike state-owned enterprises and institutions, executive authorities as subjects of administrative law are empowered to pursue a policy of governing the country, which in no case should go against federal law. Public administration represents successive steps to implement the state development strategy. The system of government structures that exercise executive power can be called the administrative apparatus or management body. However, not all federal management bodies belong to the executive branch.
general characteristics
The Constitution contains only basic definitions regarding the foundations of legal status and the system of executive authorities of the Russian Federation. The principles of public administration are mentioned in federal laws and other legal documents. In accordance with them, the executive bodies are a relatively independent branch of the power apparatus, which is not directly dependent on lawmakers or justice. However, all decisions taken by executive authorities and the activities of departments must fully comply with existing laws. At the same time, managers have enough authority to organize centralized management and ensure the functionality of each element of the structure.
The most important executive body is the government of the Russian Federation. It is formed by the president of the Russian Federation. The government is not controlled or accountable by the State Duma. To date, there is no real mechanism for holding the Russian government accountable. The consequences of the decisions he made are far from always favorable, and this is the most acute and painful problem in the management sphere. According to some experts, the adoption of laws governing administrative procedures and establishing the foundations of administrative legal proceedings would help to resolve this issue.
If we talk about the legal status of governing bodies (executive power), then an integrated approach is needed, which includes administrative legal personality and competence. The rights and obligations of management structures are indicated by the Constitution of the Russian Federation and federal laws.
What are the executive bodies: legal form
The classification of government agencies is organized according to various criteria. The federal structure distinguishes between central authorities and executive bodies of constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Administrative law implies a division into regional, republican, provincial, city bodies.
Government agencies differ in the organizational model. Among the higher structures, it is worth noting the government, council or cabinet. According to the basic rules, they are formed at the federal or republican level. At the moment, government and ministerial bodies have a place in such entities as Moscow, St. Petersburg. State committees, services, departments, administrations, inspections, agencies, departments are subordinate to them. Such a classification does not fully give an idea of what executive bodies are. The forms of the device do not determine the place, nature of authority, level of competence and the principle of activity that underlies the regulation for resolving subordinate problems. Often, these parameters are enshrined in regulatory documents that establish the legal status of a government agency.
When considering issues of organizing executive bodies, one can often come across documents that include the concept of "agency." This term is usually used to describe central authorities that have a clear industry focus or intersectoral governance model. Sometimes in literature the word “department” is replaced by the word “ministry”, “committee”. And although earlier the executive bodies, which were called departments, were directly subordinate to the government of the Russian Federation, today some of the structure of this branch report directly to the president of the Russian Federation.
As for local government, here the state executive bodies of the subjects of the federation are the regional or territorial administrations. In republics with an autonomous administrative-territorial form of government, a government operates. For example, in Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, Khakassia and other constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the executive bodies are governments, and in the Voronezh, Chelyabinsk, Leningrad regions, Krasnoyarsk Territory and Primorye, these functions are performed by administrations.
Branch management
Government bodies vary by field of activity. Allocate bodies that are competent in general matters, and those bodies that are involved in solving problems of a particular industry. The first refers to structures that own jurisdictional territories and have several areas of governance, ensuring economic and social development in each of them. The bodies of general competence are the Government of the Russian Federation, local authorities in the regions (regional and city administrations, district administrations). In the supreme apparatus of power, management functions in a particular industry are performed by ministries, departments, agencies and other structures subordinate to the Government.
In addition to general and sectoral, in the system of federal executive bodies of the subjects, there are interdisciplinary units that perform specific functions for all management spheres (for example, the Ministry of Industry, Science and Technology of the Russian Federation). In each republic, territory or region, representatives of the executive branch manage departments, divisions, and other sectoral structures.
Specific legal status
A special place in the public administration system is held by advisory coordination committees - these are structures that perform auxiliary functions, are not endowed with authority and are not independent units, and at the same time they can solve strategically important issues in the field of public administration. The legal status of such state bodies is regulated by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation.
Under the government of the Russian Federation can be formed:
- advisory councils, the members of which, if necessary, prepare recommendations for the government during the consideration and adoption of important decisions, implementation of reforms;
- coordination commissions participating in government meetings and ensuring interdepartmental interaction of central units.
Despite the practical role of such bodies, they do not have enough authority. Executive authorities cannot take autonomous decisions to strictly follow them on the territory of all constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Commissions and councils, in accordance with the law, have limited competence.
President of the Russian Federation: executive or legislative body?
In this management system, the principle of federalism is used. Legally, it is enshrined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation, legislation, decrees, charters and other normative acts. De jure and de facto, the president is the head of the country, but he does not belong to any of the branches of government, at the same time, this official has practically unlimited powers, since he is:
- sets policy directions within the country and in the international arena;
- makes final decisions regarding any area of state management;
- forms federal bodies, approves their structure, determines the type of activity, goals and objectives;
- appoints the chairman of the government and, on the recommendation of the latter, assumes the posts of heads of federal ministries;
- issues regulatory legal acts of a binding nature, binding on the territory of all constituent entities of the Russian Federation;
- cancels the documents adopted by the government of the Russian Federation, and suspends the documents of the executive bodies of state power of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation;
- holds the post of Supreme Commander of the RF Armed Forces.
Functions and Tasks of the Government of the Russian Federation
The highest collegial body designed to comply with laws is the government of the Russian Federation. The structure of this body includes the Chairman of the Government (Prime Minister), his deputies and federal ministers. This body has broad powers in all sectors and spheres of the state’s life. In particular:
- forms the main financial plan of the country - the annual federal budget;
- provides a report to the State Duma on the implementation of budgetary obligations;
- pursues a unified financial policy in Russia;
- ensures the development of the sphere of health care, social security, ecology, culture, education, science;
- resolves issues related to the management of federal property;
- implements a strategy to ensure the country's defense, state security, and foreign policy;
- monitors the rule of law, respect for the rights and freedoms of citizens, the fight against crime;
- creates targeted social projects and guarantees their implementation.
All powers vested in the government are noted in the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal laws, and decrees of the President of the Russian Federation. The work of this body is organized according to the Regulations of the Government, approved by the Prime Minister. The government holds regular meetings monthly and extraordinary meetings as necessary. The competence of this body depends on the number of members present: decisions made during meetings are considered legitimate only if at least half of the ministers were present at the time of voting.
The legal form of activity of executive authorities, that is, the Government of the Russian Federation, are decisions and orders, which subsequently must be adopted by subordinate and regional authorities for execution. If for some reason the results of the government’s work are considered unsatisfactory, the State Duma may express its distrust of the highest administrative body by passing a resolution by a majority vote of the total number of deputies. The final decision on the resignation of the Government is made by the head of the country.
The first link in the public administration system
Following in the hierarchy after the government of the Russian Federation are the ministries. These are federal structures that implement the tasks of developing a regulatory framework for regulation in a specific area. Executive bodies are formed by decree of the President of the Russian Federation, headed by ministers who are appointed and dismissed by the President of the Russian Federation. Ministers are the main members of the government; they are directly involved in public administration and coordination of the subordinate industry.
The Minister, as the head of the central department, is authorized to issue orders, instructions, and develop instructions for their proper application. In this way, rules of conduct are established in legal relations with power structures, local self-government, public organizations, and various institutions.
The heads of the ministries have several deputies, who are concurrently members of the deliberative body - the board. Typically, the board is represented by the chairman in the person of the minister, his deputies, senior officials, scientists, representatives of subordinate organizations. Board decisions made at meetings are recorded and put into effect by order of the minister.
Ministries have a special organizational form - these are legal entities with an independent balance sheet, a seal with the image of state symbols and a specific name. Depending on the functions of executive authorities, they can be divided into two groups. The first group includes those structures that are directly subordinate to the government of the Russian Federation, that is, the ministries in the field of:
- health care;
- education and science;
- mass communications and communications;
- Agriculture;
- transport;
- culture;
- natural resources;
- economic development;
- Agriculture;
- information technologies;
- regional development;
- finance and trade;
- labor and social protection;
- industry and energy.
The second category includes those central departments whose activities should be coordinated with the President of the Russian Federation - the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, and the Ministry of Emergencies of the Russian Federation.
Federal services
This is the second link in the management hierarchy. Federal services are central authorities that perform control and oversight functions in an established industry. , , . . . , , .
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- Adopts or rejects legal acts adopted by the local legislative body;
- acts as the initiator of extraordinary meetings of the legislative body;
- owns the right of legislative initiative in St. Petersburg;
- decides on the formation or resignation of the city government, holds meetings and meetings;
- submits to the Legislative Assembly a draft budget and reports on its implementation;
- cancels documents issued by the local government in case of confirmation of their illegitimacy, that is, inconsistency with federal and regional legislation;
- coordinates the work of downstream administrations and industry units in the city, interacts with federal authorities, local governments and non-profit organizations.
The governor is not allowed to simultaneously hold the post of deputy in the legislative state body of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation. Also, the governor does not have the right to engage in entrepreneurship, but at the same time he can teach, engage in science or creativity and receive income for this. In the event of a resignation or a lack of confidence in the Legislative Assembly, the governor will be forced to resign prematurely. The same thing happens if the court declares the official incapable, missing, dead, guilty of a criminal offense. Only Russian residents, that is, citizens of the Russian Federation who live in the country for at least 183 days a year, are entitled to occupy a governorship.
In parallel with the governor, the city is controlled by the government. This body acts constantly, it is formed to consider the most significant issues, but unlike the decisions of the Government of the Russian Federation, decisions of the city executive body are not of an imperative-administrative nature, and they are necessarily recorded.
The number of members of the government of St. Petersburg is limited to 15 full-time staff, including the governor and his deputies, who are responsible for a specific area of activity:
- economic development of the city;
- tax, financial, industrial and scientific-technical policies;
- state property management;
- social and demographic programs;
- education;
- public health and sanitary-epidemiological welfare of city residents;
- environmental protection and nature management;
- improvement;
- transport and communication;
- power supply;
- capital construction and reconstruction of real estate;
- construction and repair of roads.
The administrative bodies of St. Petersburg carry out the following tasks:
- ensures the implementation of law enforcement and the fight against crime;
- It is engaged in the development of budget projects and social programs with the aim of raising the standard of living of vulnerable groups of the population
- determines the tax policy in the city, exempts certain categories of the population from paying various tax payments or introduces benefits;
- monitors budget execution, prepares reports on the implementation of the region’s strategy for a specific period;
- disposes of the state property of St. Petersburg transferred to the management of the federal authorities in accordance with the relevant documents;
- annul the regulatory legal acts of subordinate structures and bodies of local self-government, if the documents are found to be contrary to the legislation of the country.
Summarizing
Executive authorities are a state system with administrative powers and legal independence. All executive bodies are formed by instances that are higher up the hierarchy, accountable and controlled by them, but at the same time they have a permanent staff, and the rules of their activity are established by a whole complex of laws and by-laws.
Despite the many criteria for classification, government bodies are most often divided into federal and regional, as well as structures of general and special competence. The functions of the entire system of executive bodies should be based on legislation and have a specific target area.
The current legal system in Russia implies the right of every citizen to appeal against illegal actions by administrative structures. Responsibility and accountability of government, in fact, are the only instruments of legality and prevention of self-will on the part of the executive branch.