Constitutional Reform in Russia

Any modern state has its own code of laws. Many countries have a Constitution; only seven countries do not. Here is a list of these countries: United Kingdom, Israel, San Marino, Canada, Sweden, New Zealand, Libya. In the Russian Federation (before its adoption in 1918), various rulers repeatedly tried to create the Constitution, but there were some difficulties and obstacles to achieve this goal.

At the V All-Russian Congress of Soviets on July 10, 1918, the first Constitution was adopted. After a hundred years, it was changed five times. On December 12, 1993, a constitution was adopted at a referendum and is still valid today. During this time, only a few amendments have been made to it. In this article, we will consider the question of what constitutional reform is. We will do this by the example of not only our state, but also various countries. We will describe in detail the principles and principles of adoption, who has the right to amend what awaits Russia in the future.

The concept

Constitutional reform is a definite plan of action for revising articles in the Constitution. The abolition of old, perestroika, the introduction of new articles is included in this concept. Such steps are necessary only for the sake of social development. Features:

1. Modification or creation of a constitutional system.
2. Innovations ensure the development of society.
3. Constitutional reform in the Russian Federation has a progressive (phased) character.
4. The scope of the action is divided into full revision and partial reforms.

The Constitution is an open document that gives citizens and government officials information about their rights and obligations. But with each, some of the articles in this document begin to become obsolete. Objective reasons for reform:

1. Domestic political reason. When there is a change in the form of government or political regime, it is necessary to conduct a reform of the foundations of the system or a partial change.
2. In the transition to a completely new form of state-territorial structure.
3. When changing the "political map" of society and the advent of the opposition.

These and other reasons can affect reform. Constitutional reforms are divided into three types: revision, but preservation of the previous Constitution, radical transformation, full restoration of the effectiveness of the Constitution.

What is needed for

The Constitution of the Russian Federation is, first of all, the basis for other branches of law - all other laws are based on it and should not contradict it. The Constitution is the guarantor of the vital structure and successful existence of our country. This document supports the rule of law, integrity and traditions of Russian society. It also provides the rights and obligations of all citizens of Russia. This document has a complex system of hierarchical power.

Without the Constitution, the state can overtake complete anarchy, a real threat of the collapse of the country and the loss of territorial integrity may arise. The highest normative legal act, which establishes the foundations of the state system, builds the concept of the authorities (executive, judicial and legislative). The constitution differs from the law in that it is the basis for them. Laws are repelled by it, and if there is no connection between them, the Constitution always wins.

Who has the right to make changes

The beginning of constitutional reform begins with a review of the provisions. Chapter 9, Article 134 lists the people who have the right to amend, namely:

1. The current President of the Russian Federation.
2. Council of the Federation.
3. Government.
4. The legislative bodies of the federation.
5. The State Duma.

A group of deputies and senators can also make amendments, but only those who are in one fifth of all members of the State Duma and the Federation Council.

Two types of change acceptance

The Constitution of the Russian Federation in separate articles indicates how to make changes. To date, there are only two mechanisms for adopting any amendments:

1. Chapters 1, 2 and 9 cannot be revised by the Federal Assembly because these provisions concern not only the rights and freedoms of citizens of the state, but also the procedure for revising the entire document. But if a group of deputies and senators supports the proposal to amend precisely the above chapters, then the Constitutional Assembly will be convened. Its participants will either confirm the immutability, or develop a new draft Constitution, which is then put to a popular vote.
2. From the third chapter to the eighth, amendments are adopted in the manner prescribed by federal constitutional law. Changes will come into force only after the legislative branch (at least two-thirds of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation) approves them.

Only in this way can you make any changes. Over the past years, a lot of amendments have been made, of which today a stable system of laws has developed.

Reforms 1979-1993

The reason for the constitutional reform in 1991 was due to the fact that domestic political dissonance occurred in the country. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) collapsed , and with it the totalitarian regime collapsed and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) went into oblivion. Against this background of changes, the old economic system of the state and society began to collapse. It was not possible to completely change the previous legal system. Only minor changes were made. An example of this is the certificate of changes and some additions in 1978 to the Constitution of the RSFSR:

• Supplement to Article 12, from that moment private ownership of land is recognized, but not arable;
• Article 11 regulates the status of state property in a slightly different way;
• Article 67 stipulates that citizens have the right to compensation from the state for damage caused by any unlawful actions of state bodies and officials.

But no changes could correct the fact that it was not the legal basis for other fundamental transformations. The state required a new basic law. Because the essence of constitutional reform lies precisely in changing the foundations for society. Therefore, it was decided at the Congress to prepare a draft of a completely new Constitution, which would change the country for the better. But since the old Constitution included the omnipotence of the Soviets, this became a barrier to the further promotion of the project. Another reason was the people themselves, since society over the years has become accustomed to Soviet power and to a similar form of government.

Many did not understand why to change anything. The crisis, national and social contradictions served as the third reason not to attempt gradual constitutional reform, as was originally conceived at the Congress. After the Supreme Council was dissolved, the new Constitution was adopted on December 12, 1993 by popular vote. It was she who put an end to the omnipotence of the Council and established the democratic foundations of building a state and society.

Recent amendments

Constitutional reform is the changes made to the basic law of the state. Under the first President of the Russian Federation, Boris Yeltsin, several amendments were made:

• in early January 1996, namely on the 9th day, it was decided to change the name of the Republic of Ingush and North Ossetia to Ingushetia and Ossetia-Alania;
• dated January 10, 1996 the name of the Republic of Kalmykia - Halmg Tangch was changed to the modern - Republic of Kalmykia.

Russian constitutional reforms were carried out by V.V. Putin in the period from 2000 to 2008. List of amendments to the Constitution:

1. In 2001, the Republic of Chavash became known as Chuvashia.
2. In 2003, the name Ugra was added to the name of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug.
3. On October 14, 2005, the Taimyr Dolgan-German and Evenki Autonomous Okrug was added to the Krasnoyarsk Territory.
4. In 2006, the Koryak Autonomous Region and the Kamchatka Region merged into one region - Kamchatka.
5. Chita Oblast and Aginsky Buryat Autonomous Okrug merged into the Trans-Baikal Territory on June 21, 2007.

The next President of the Russian Federation - Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev in 2008 proposed to the Federal Assembly to introduce a number of amendments, which the society had been discussing for a very long time. He proposed to increase the presidential term from 4 to 6 years, and the State Duma - from 4 to 5 years. He also proposed to oblige the Government of the Russian Federation to conduct an annual report to the State Duma. These amendments were introduced on December 31, 2008. Constitutional reform in Russia was carried out on February 6, 2014, as a result of which the Supreme Arbitration Court and the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation merged, and the powers of the President were expanded.

US Code

The Constitution of the United States of America (USA) is the oldest of the existing in the world. Over the entire period of existence, about 40 amendments were made to it. But not all of them have been ratified by the states. It is in the United States that the change procedure is considered to be the most “brutal,” since it is in this country that the order is very complicated.

To carry out constitutional reform, it is necessary to collect 2/3 of the votes of members of Congress, or at the initiative of 2/3 of the states (for this a special convention is convened). But the amendments will enter into force only when they are ratified by the legislature. Ratification is carried out by legislatures. US constitutional amendments differ from other countries in that they are additionally published to the original text.

Tense situation in 1993

At the end of September, or rather, on the 23rd day of 1993, Boris Yeltsin addressed citizens and presented the main provisions of the decree on gradual constitutional reform. Violating the article of the current fundamental law, he dissolved the Supreme Council and the Congress of Deputies. After that, the Supreme Council announced the immediate removal of the President from his post and that all responsibilities from that moment are assigned to A. Rutsky.

But less than half of the deputies arrived at this Congress. In parallel, they formed a new Government, but they did not have real power. December 24 of the same year, Boris Yeltsin issues another decree, which states the amendment and repeal of more than 40 existing laws. But the decree on constitutional reform was never considered by the Constitutional Court.

Rumors of a change in the Main Law

The President of the Constitutional Court stated some of the shortcomings of the current Constitution. Most recently, Valery Zorkin said that:

• there is no balance between legislative and executive power;
• there is insufficient balance in the cost system;
• insufficient clarity of the distribution of powers between the Government and the President.

The Chairperson proposes to make “targeted” changes to some articles of the main document of the state. He is not aiming at a complete updating of the Constitution; on the contrary, Zorkin suggested amending and supplementing some existing laws.

Valery Zorkin is confident that the amendments will help solve many social problems. He believes that the main problems in Russia today are poverty and growing social tension (due to a certain sense of injustice and a gap between rich people). The chairman believes that it was precisely these feelings that people experienced during the time of the socio-economic split, which caused the revolution in 1917.

Zorkin sees a bipartisan system in the future. The head of the Constitutional Court emphasized that there should be no inclination towards left or right radicalism. In an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Valery Zorkin expressed his confidence that the bipartisanship following the American model would be much more effective.

Summary

Constitutional reform implies a number of amendments to existing articles. In the process of reform, it may even go so far as to invalidate this document. But in order to achieve this, it is necessary to obtain approval from the Constitutional Court. The Constitution is a strong foundation of state power. All applicable laws, codes (criminal, civil, family, etc.) are based on the basic law. Compared to the United States of America, our Constitution is very young. But this is not a cause for concern, since most US articles are already noticeably outdated.

Significant changes in the implementation of constitutional reform were carried out in the RSFSR from 1989 to 1990, then in December 1991, then in September 1993, and they ended in December of the same year. Throughout this time, various amendments and changes have been made, which led to the creation of a more perfect Constitution, which is valid in the Russian Federation today. In the article, we talked about what constitutional reform implies. What is this concept, the principles of the adoption of the document, who has the right to make changes to it, what is needed for this, the reasons for the reforms - all this was described in detail in the article.