The Constitution of the Russian Federation is the main law of the Russian state. The provisions of this document provide for adjustments to its individual articles. The corresponding procedure should be carried out with the participation of the Constitutional Assembly. What are the functions of this body? What is the procedure for convening, organizing the work of the Constitutional Assembly, as well as making decisions by this state structure?
What is the role of the Constitutional Assembly in the system of state power?
First of all, we will consider what role the Constitutional Court plays in the political system of Russia.
The Constitutional Assembly belongs to the category of representative structures of power of the Russian Federation and at the same time has constituent powers. This body, which is part of the political system of Russia, has analogues abroad, which can be represented, for example, by constituent assemblies or assemblies.
The main source of law, according to which such a body as the Constitutional Assembly functions, in fact the Constitution of the state. It is noteworthy that the Basic Law of Russia provides for the establishment of the structure in question in accordance with a separate federal constitutional law, which has not yet been adopted in the Russian Federation.
The Constitutional Assembly is a body that, in accordance with the law, which has yet to be approved, is convened if the proposal to amend the provisions enshrined in Chapters 1.2 and 9 of the main source of Russian law will be supported by 3/5 of the votes of representatives of the Federation Council, as well as the State Duma of the Russian Federation.
Consider the key powers that, in accordance with the law, the structure of power in question may have.
Powers of the Constitutional Assembly
These include:
- confirmation of the constancy of the basic law of Russia;
- development and adoption of a new constitution of the state;
- submitting a draft basic law of Russia to a popular vote;
- determination of the entry into force of the Constitution of the state.
However, the authorities in question are entitled to exercise these powers only if, as we noted above, a special legal act establishing the procedure for establishing the Constitutional Court is adopted.
Of course, there have been attempts to approve the law on constitutional assembly in the history of Russia. Projects of this source of law were initiated by various political figures in the 90s and 2000s. In 2012, the President of the Russian Federation instructed his subordinate structures to submit proposals regarding the preparation of the corresponding legal act.
If we talk about the most famous draft laws on the constitutional assembly, then we can highlight the concepts proposed by Gennady Zyuganov, Vyacheslav Zvolinsky, Victor Alksnis and Sergei Baburin, Vyacheslav Volodin, Sergey Kovalev. Also known is the project of Evgeny Fedorov and Anton Romanov. We study the features of these concepts in more detail.
The draft law on the Constitutional Assembly of Zyuganov
The draft under consideration was introduced for discussion in the State Duma in March 1997. In accordance with it was proposed:
- include in the composition of the Constitutional Court the head of state, members of the Federation Council, State Duma deputies, representatives of the government presidium, judges of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, as well as the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation;
- representatives of trade unions.
It was assumed that the state body in question would operate in Moscow. In accordance with the concept under consideration, trade unions received the right to nominate one member from each organization to members of the Constitutional Assembly.
The Co-Chairs of the Constitutional Court were to be the heads of the Federation Council, as well as the State Duma. It was assumed that the financing of the activities of the Constitutional Assembly should be carried out at the expense of the federal budget of the state. In accordance with the draft under consideration, the text of the draft Constitutional Court was to be published promptly, and citizens and various public associations could participate in its discussion through interaction with the special editorial commission of the Constitutional Court.
Draft Law on the Constitutional Assembly of Zvolinsky
The concept under consideration was introduced for discussion in the State Duma in June 1998. In accordance with it, the head of state, representatives of the Federation Council, the State Duma, the prime minister, the head of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation, as well as representatives of Russian regions were to become delegates to the Constitutional Assembly. Moreover, the subjects of the Russian Federation could send representatives to the Constitutional Assembly of the Russian Federation in the amount of:
- 5 people from each region with a population of up to 1 million inhabitants;
- 10 people if more than 1 million inhabitants live in the region;
- 15 delegates from St. Petersburg and 20 from Moscow.
The concept suggested that the venue of the meetings of the Constitutional Court was determined in accordance with the decree of the President of the Russian Federation.
As some experts note, the draft Constitutional Court under consideration did not include the norms by which the Constitution of the Russian Federation was to be developed. Basically, this concept regulated organizational issues within the framework of the establishment of the Constitutional Assembly.
Volodin's draft law on the Constitutional Court
This concept was introduced for discussion in the State Duma in June 2000. She suggested the following: the Constitutional Assembly includes the head of state, representatives of the Federation Council, judges of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, chairmen of the RF Armed Forces and the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation. It was also proposed that from the State Duma 100 delegates would be appointed to the composition of the Constitutional Court. Moreover, they should reflect the composition of the lower house of parliament, from the point of view of deputy associations, as well as the number of deputies who are elected in 2 types of constituencies - federal and single-member. The head of the State Duma, in turn, must have been a member of the Constitutional Court.
The President of the Russian Federation was also to appoint 100 participants of the Constitutional Assembly - citizens of the Russian Federation with a higher legal education, as well as the necessary qualifications. Proposals for the delegation of citizens to the Constitutional Court by the President of the Russian Federation should have been received by the head of state by individual state bodies, public organizations, scientific and educational structures.
It was assumed that the text of the draft basic law of the state, developed by the Constitutional Assembly, was subject to prompt publication, and subsequently to discussion with the participation of citizens and public organizations. Those interested in this should send their proposals to the Constitutional Assembly, the state body responsible for adopting the updated basic law of the country, within 1 month from the day the draft Constitution was adopted.
The concept under consideration involved the procedure for submitting a draft basic law of the state to a popular referendum.
Kovalev's draft law on the Constitutional Court
This project was proposed to the State Duma in September 2000. He suggested the following:
- the constitutional assembly includes 450 people who are elected by citizens of the Russian Federation through direct voting;
- The COP should sit in Moscow;
- members of the Constitutional Court are elected to two-member constituencies - in accordance with the rules of representation of citizens;
- The constitution should be adopted as part of 4 readings;
- adoption of the basic law could be carried out through a referendum.
Draft Alksnis and Baburin on the law on the Constitutional Court
The draft under consideration was introduced for discussion in the State Duma in November 2007. Its authors proposed the following persons to be appointed to positions in the Constitutional Assembly:
- President of the Russian Federation;
- representatives of the executive bodies of the regions of the Russian Federation in the Federation Council;
- deputies of the State Duma;
- members of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation.
At the same time, persons who could participate in the work of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation without the right to vote were proposed. Namely:
- members of the government of the Russian Federation;
- regional leaders;
- judges of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the SAC
- Attorney General of the Russian Federation;
- representatives of political parties.
It was assumed that the Constitutional Court should be assembled in any of the cities of federal significance - in accordance with a separate resolution of the State Duma. The draft under consideration suggested that the adoption of the basic law of the state is in the exclusive competence of such a body as the Constitutional Assembly of the Russian Federation. That is, the draft Constitution should not be submitted to a referendum.
The draft laws on the Constitutional Court that we examined were rejected by parliamentarians for various reasons. We will study what they could be.
Reasons for rejection of COP projects
According to experts, the main problematic issue of the adoption of the law on the Constitutional Court is the determination of the principles for the formation of the relevant authority. Formed 2 very dissimilar points of view.
In accordance with the first, it was necessary to ensure the most active participation of citizens in the activities of the Constitutional Assembly. According to the second point of view, the main role in the work of the Constitutional Court was to be played, first of all, by people with the necessary level of professionalism and competencies.
So, the most democratic project in this sense could be considered the Kovalev concept, according to which the Constitutional Court was to be formed through the participation of 450 delegates elected by citizens. In turn, the draft law on the Constitutional Court proposed by Volodin suggested that key decisions of the Constitutional Assembly would be made by people with extensive experience in leading government positions.
It can be noted that Zvolinsky proposed a sufficiently compromise option for the formation of the Constitutional Court, according to which the current role was played by the current political figures, however representatives of the regions who were appointed with the participation of the population of the relevant constituent entities of the Russian Federation could also take part in the Constitutional Court.
Thus, during the intra-parliamentary discussions in 90 and 2000, it was not possible to resolve questions about who is included in the Constitutional Assembly, how its composition is formed in terms of finding a balance between the democratic procedure for establishing the Constitutional Court, as well as the professionalism of its delegates.
Another debatable point in discussing the prospects of adopting a law on the Constitutional Court is the role of the Constitutional Court. The fact is that this body, in accordance with the main legal act of Russia, has a fairly wide range of powers regarding the interpretation of the Constitution in the framework of law enforcement practice. In this sense, the establishment of an alternative body to the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation at the level of the representative branch of power can introduce a significant imbalance in the distribution of power over various branches.
Thus, the Constitutional Assembly can turn into a state structure that competes with the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation in terms of interpreting the provisions of the main law, despite the fact that the Constitutional Court is supposed to be vested with completely different functions - those that involve practical amendments to the Constitution of the state. That is, corrections of the text of the main law of the country initiated by the Constitutional Court, it is advisable in one way or another to coordinate with the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, taking into account the position of the court regarding the interpretation of existing provisions. But in practice, this mechanism should be provided for in the law on the Constitutional Assembly. This is not easy to do, since the legislative-representative and judicial branches of government, in fact, by virtue of the provisions present with the main legal act of the state, must act independently.
According to experts, the establishment of the Constitutional Court under a separate law should exclude the likelihood of the appearance of a lobby on the part of certain interested structures. Therefore, the procedure for the formation of the Constitutional Assembly must be established so that it is transparent to public and parliamentary control. But here, again, the question arises of distinguishing between two priorities - strengthening the role of participation in the activities of the Constitutional Court of citizens or providing a large amount of authority to those persons who directly make decisions in the course of the activities of the Constitutional Assembly. If the emphasis is placed on the first mechanism, then the likelihood of a lobby is reduced, but the quality of the elaboration of legal acts adopted by the Constitutional Court may also decrease. In the second case, the opposite situation is possible.
Thus, when drafting the law on the Constitutional Court, several significant discussion issues take place at once. The prospects for resolving them depend on many factors - first of all, on the position of leading political forces that acquire their powers in the elections, the outcome of which, in turn, is determined by the citizens themselves by voting.
Despite the fact that the State Duma has repeatedly rejected draft laws on the Constitutional Court, various political figures continued to address the issue of developing an appropriate source of law. Among the most famous draft laws on the Constitutional Court is a document proposed by Evgeny Fedorov and Anton Romanov. This initiative has gained quite wide popularity. We will study it in more detail.
The draft law on the Constitutional Court of Fedorov and Romanov
This project was proposed for discussion in September 2015. The corresponding concept determined the status of the Constitutional Assembly of the Russian Federation, the procedure for its convocation and implementation of activities.
The bill was developed taking into account the provisions of Art. 134 and 135 of the Constitution of Russia. These articles of the main law of the state say that if the competent authorities receive proposals to amend the provisions of 1, 2 or 9 of the chapters of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, as well as if this initiative is supported by 3/5 of the votes of the representatives of the Federal Assembly and the State Duma, then, as we noted above, the Constitutional Assembly is convened. The constitutional legal status of the relevant body is thus defined in the current legislation, but in practice the establishment of the Constitutional Court required the adoption of a separate law.
The draft under consideration suggested that the President of the Russian Federation should head the Constitutional Court. The explanatory note to the relevant document contained theses on the adoption of the procedure for developing the Constitution of the Russian Federation, as well as voting for it in the framework of the activities of the state structure in question.
Draft Fedorov and Romanov to develop a law on the Constitutional Court: the reaction of the authorities
How did the authorities react to the initiative of famous politicians?
The bill from Fedorov and Romanov was supplemented by feedback received from the Government. At the same time, representatives of the Cabinet of Ministers did not support the concept under consideration. In particular, officials considered that in the version of the law proposed by Fedorov and Romanov, the Constitutional Assembly has the right to carry out its activities only as a temporary acting body. In addition, according to members of the government, the appointment of the President of the Russian Federation to the post of chairman of the Constitutional Court was not a very optimal solution, because the current Constitution of the Russian Federation does not provide such powers to the head of state.
The draft law on the Constitutional Court under consideration also received feedback from representatives of the State Duma. As some deputies thought, the source of law that determines how the Constitutional Assembly should be convened, the constitutional and legal status of this state structure, should be adopted no earlier than the 2016 State Duma elections. According to authorities, this is due to the likelihood of a significant adjustment of political forces in the lower house of the Russian parliament after the election.
One way or another, according to political figures, the absence of a law on the Constitutional Court is a very significant gap in the legislation of the Russian Federation. The appropriate source of law, according to parliamentarians, should be adopted.
It should be noted that in the process of discussing the initiative under discussion, opinions appeared that the development of a law on the Constitutional Assembly is not an urgent matter. As some representatives of the authorities considered, its adoption actually means an attempt to revise the provisions of the current Constitution of the country, which is not required at the current stage of the political development of Russia.
The concept under consideration, in accordance with which the status and powers of the Constitutional Assembly was determined, was rejected by parliamentarians. So far, in the Russian Federation, therefore, the current law has not been adopted by which the relevant authority should carry out its activities.
Summary
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