The Constitution of the Russian Federation is a legislative act that was created in such a way that the meaning of each of its provisions was understandable to any reader and perceived "as is", not wrong. However, the document still has some concepts that are not completely clear to us. For example, the guarantor of the Constitution. What or who is it, what is the history of this concept, how is it related to the President of the Russian Federation, we will analyze further.
Definition of a concept
The guarantor of the Constitution is the function of a particular public authority, which means guaranteeing the implementation of the provisions of the country's main law. In our country, this is a fairly young expression - its "birth" is attributed to 1991. Initially, the term meant the Russian Constitutional Court, and then the President, the head of state.
The provision that the President in our country is the guarantor of compliance with the clauses of the main law of the state is one of the most important ones recorded in the Constitution of the Russian Federation.
Let's look at the history of collocation.
The origin of the concept
The term "guarantor of the Constitution" was first declared in 1991. You can find him in the transcript of the 5th Extraordinary Congress of People's Deputies, published in the "Rossiyskaya Gazeta". The authorship belongs to the deputy V.T. Kabyshev. In his speech to colleagues, he shared his point of view on the Constitutional Court. It was his deputy who considered the guarantor of the Constitution.
Kabyshev noted that the main task of the Constitutional Court is to give a “red signal” to both the Congress of Deputies and the President if an act contrary to the main law of the country is adopted. The guarantor of the Constitution must constantly remind the authorities and society of the observance of the latter.
Guarantor - B.N. Yeltsin
The Constitutional Court was not considered the first guarantor of the country's basic law for long. On July 16, 1992, B. N. Yeltsin declared that the guarantor of the Constitution was the president of the Russian Federation. That is, none other than himself. This statement was announced at a meeting with leaders of leading media outlets. Boris Nikolaevich also assured the audience that, being the guarantor of the Constitution, he would personally oppose the return of the times of total censorship and would do everything possible to flourish freedom of speech and press.
Words B.N. Yeltsin was legislatively enshrined in the new Constitution, adopted on December 12, 1993. I must say that the first Russian president showed particular respect for this characteristic. Many contemporaries of the nineties remember that Boris Nikolaevich began a considerable part of his speeches and decrees with the words "As a guarantor of the Constitution, I must ..."
The media, noting the president’s attention to this formulation, sometimes ironically called him that in a number of publications denouncing the deplorable state of affairs in the country. The euphemism "guarantor of the Constitution" in this vein has been used since 1994. Therefore, many citizens did not take this concept seriously.
Modern interpretation of the term
Today, the guarantor of the Constitution is President V.V. Putin. The new head of the country does not focus the attention of journalists on this function, however, in the media even now you can find this concept as a synonym for the word “president”.
Concept in the Constitution
The basic law of the country states that the President is the guarantor of the Constitution. This information is contained in paragraph 2 of Art. 80 (4th chapter of the document). This is primarily expressed in the following:
- Guarantee of the rights and freedoms of every citizen.
- Protection of state sovereignty within the framework of presidential competence.
- Guarantee of independence and state integrity of the Russian Federation.
- Guaranteed coordinated interaction and the functioning of a number of government bodies.
To better illustrate the depth of the term “guarantor of the Constitution”, let's take a look at how the main Russian law represents the President, his rights and obligations. Let's start with a direct correlation of his power and guarantee of compliance with constitutional provisions.
Presidential Enforcement
So, the Constitution and the President:
- When the head of state takes office, he utters the words of the Oath, where, among other things, he brings the people a promise to protect both the Constitution and the rights and freedoms of every citizen of the state.
- The competence of all public authorities is limited by constitutional provisions. It is the President who trusts to control and ensure this balance. He has special powers to regulate the activities of authorities in the framework of the Constitution.
- As the guarantor of civil rights and freedoms, President Putin today must constantly monitor the effectiveness of all three branches of government: legislative, judicial and executive. But at the same time without intruding on their area of competence.
- The Constitution gives the President a certain legal distance from all branches of government. This is necessary for him to participate in rule-making, settle disputes, and also embody the functions of constitutional review. The law also determines the powers of the President to cooperate with the Government, the prosecutor's office, the federal judicial system, public organizations, and law enforcement agencies.
- The duty of the President under the Constitution is to ensure that federal legislative acts, regulatory acts of entities do not contradict the basic law of the country. In the event of a violation, the President has the right to demand from any authority the restoration of violated rights and freedoms of citizens. In this case, he is authorized to take the most decisive, up to coercion.
- The realization by the President of the rights and freedoms of citizens is embodied in his legislative initiative. He has the authority to issue decrees that protect the rights of both the human person as a whole and individual groups of citizens. Acts of the President also have the power to provide civil society with the whole range of personal, socio-economic and political rights.
- But the fundamental law limits the power of the President. The phrase "guarantor of the Constitution" is perceived by many citizens too broadly: the head of state is addressed with messages, complaints about decisions of law enforcement agencies, court sentences. The President has no right to perform the functions of these structures.
- None of the decrees or resolutions of the President shall be contrary to the provisions of the Constitution.
Dismissal of the President
The Constitution also protects the state from the arbitrariness of the President:
- The State Duma is authorized to charge the President with a serious crime or treason.
- This conclusion must be confirmed by the Supreme Court.
- The Constitutional Court is obliged to render a verdict that the prosecution procedure was carried out in accordance with the procedure established by the main law.
- Based on the foregoing, the Federation Council removes the President from his post.
Constitutional Rights Obligations of the President
President Putin, like the former, future heads of state of the Russian state under the Constitution, is competent and obliged:
- Define the main vectors of both domestic and foreign policy.
- Represent the Russian Federation both internationally and domestically.
- Appoint the head of government by agreement with the State Duma.
- Preside at meetings of the Russian Government.
- Decide on the resignation of the Government.
- How to present the candidacy of the Chairman of the Central Bank of Russia to the State Duma, and to raise the issue of relieving this person from his post.
- Submit candidatures of judges of the federal courts, the Constitutional, and the Supreme to the Federation Council.
- Appoint and dismiss deputy. Chairman of the Government, ministers.
- Form and head the Security Council of the Russian Federation.
- To approve the military doctrine of the state.
- Appoint and dismiss their authorized representatives.
- To appoint and dismiss the highest command of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
Thus, the guarantor of the Constitution is a wording with deep meaning. It implies a wide range of guarantees of the President to ensure the rights and freedoms of citizens within the framework of the basic law of the state.