Topic 2. Constitutional development of Russia

The phenomenon of constitutionalism occupies a priority place among the criteria for "measuring" social progress. The formation of constitutionalism is the largest event in the world history of civilization, associated with the era of the collapse of the feudal world order and the revolutionary replacement of absolutist regimes by republican ones. From the end of the XVIII century. the ideas of constitutionalism are gaining increasing influence on the world constitutional process.

Constitutionalism is a comprehensive category, but it is also possible to single out country-specific aspects that carry the specifics of the constitutional and legal development of a particular country (group of countries). It is in this aspect that one can speak of Russian (French, German, American, etc.) constitutionalism.

Although constitutionalism in Russia arose later than in other states (Russia remained within the framework of an absolutely autocratic regime much longer than other countries), it has passed a fairly long path of development, characterized by contradictions, stages of formation, decline, revival of fundamental ideas and principles.

The constitutional development of the state should not be associated only with the adoption and change of formal constitutions; it is necessary to analyze and take into account the formation (affirmation) of constitutional ideas and principles, the adoption of acts of a constitutional nature by the highest bodies of state power, etc. Based on this, in the history of Russian constitutionalism we can distinguish three periods:

1) pre-Soviet (before October 1917);

2) Soviet (from October 1917 to the second half of the 1980s);

3) post-Soviet (modern).

These periods, being sufficiently long and heterogeneous, are divided into a number of stages, respectively.

2.1. Ideas of constitutionalism in Russia until October 1917

The autocracy, in its essence, denied constitutionalism as the bondage of state power by law. Those social relations that today are called constitutional and legal - in the sphere of organization and functioning of state power, the position of certain social groups of the population, the duties of subjects, etc. - since the time of Kievan Rus were regulated by the letters of princes, their treaties, resolutions of zemstvo councils, imperial decrees and etc.

The first constitutional ideas in Russia appeared in the XNUMXth century. These are, first of all, the ideas of noble (feudal-serf) constitutionalism: “conditions” for the future Empress Anna Ioannovna, the ideas of N. I. Panin (together with D. I. Fonvizin, he even developed a draft constitution), A. R. Vorontsov and others All projects, ideas of this period should not be regarded as a call for the establishment of a constitutional monarchy in Russia - the class essence of the state remained feudal, with the monarch retaining a central place in the political system. However, these ideas contained certain progressive moments: attempts to regulate political relations among the ruling class, institutionalize public opinion, increase its role in the life of the country, etc.

In the second half of the XVIII century. in Russia, a new trend of socio-political thought arose - enlightenment. Its representatives (S. E. Desnitsky, D. I. Fonvizin, N. I. Novikov, A. N. Radishchev and others) paid considerable attention to questions of constitutionalism. In general, their constitutional ideas and projects did not have an estate-noble coloring, the Russian enlighteners advocated limiting the power of the monarch and assigned a central place in the mechanism of state power to popular representation.

In the XNUMXth century The development of constitutional thought in Russia went in two directions:

1) monarchical (government) - M. M. Speransky, N. N. Novoseltsev, P. A. Vyazemsky, P. I. Shuvalov, P. A. Valuev and others;

2) noble-liberal and bourgeois-liberal (stage of revolutionary-noble constitutionalism) - A. V. Berdyaev, P. V. Dolgorukov, P. I. Pestel, N. M. Muravyov, A. I. Herzen, N. P Ogarev, N. G. Chernyshevsky and others.

The idea of ​​a constitutional monarchy prevailed at this stage, however, individual representatives of the liberal trend were already putting forward the idea of ​​republican government (P. I. Pestel in Russkaya Pravda); in one of the variants of the constitutional project of N. M. Muravyov, a federation was proposed as a form of territorial structure for Russia.

During the period under review, written constitutional acts also appeared, developed both for the constituent parts of the Russian Empire and for other states: in 1804, Alexander I approved the draft Constitution for the Ionian Islands, in 1809, a number of imperial manifestos actually created an uncodified constitution of Finland, in 1815 Alexander I signed the Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland (the first valid constitutional act on the territory of the Russian Empire), in 1879 the Tarnovo Constitution of Bulgaria was developed (which was in force until 1947). The supreme power comes to the conviction of the need for a constitutional order in Russia. In 1818, the first Russian constitution was developed - the "State Statutory Charter of the Russian Empire" ("Charter of the State System"). In 1881, Russia could have received the first constitution (“Loris-Melikovskaya”), but the assassination of Alexander II (the reformer tsar who was ready to grant a constitution), the scope of terror, the growth of the revolutionary movement and the situation of retaliatory repressions did not allow this to happen.

Thus, the formation of the ideas of constitutionalism in the modern sense in Russia began in the first quarter of the XNUMXth century, and by the beginning of the XNUMXth century. in Russia there were already enough constitutional and reconstructive plans.

The starting point for the practical constitutionalization and parliamentarization of the country was the Supreme Manifesto of Nicholas II of October 17, 1905 "On the improvement of the state order" and the Code of Basic State Laws of 1906 ("Establishment of the State Duma", "Establishment of the State Council", "Rules on the procedure for considering state list of income and expenses ", etc.). In Russia, for the first time, inalienable civil rights were proclaimed (inviolability of the person, freedom of conscience, speech, assembly, unions, etc.), voting rights were introduced, the State Duma and the State Council were established and formed. These bodies did not become a true parliament, but four convocations of the State Duma, with a total term of legislature of 20 years, is certainly a significant stage in the development of Russian parliamentarism. Among the scientific community of that time, there was an opinion that these acts established a constitutional system in Russia, which significantly limited the foundations of autocracy.

In February 1917, after Nicholas II and his brother Mikhail abdicated, the monarchy in Russia ceased to exist. The State Duma formed the Provisional Government, which proclaimed Russia a republic. The further fate of the state was to be determined by the Constituent Assembly. It was a fairly representative, legitimate body, elections were held, it was convened and started to work, but in October 1917, after the Constituent Assembly refused to approve the first decrees of the Soviet government, it was dissolved by the Bolsheviks. The brief stage of Russian parliamentarism was brought to an end.

Thus, to talk about the consistent perception by Russia at the beginning of the XNUMXth century. ideas and principles of constitutionalism are impossible, however, it is impossible not to note the progressive shifts in the way of Russian statehood, the impetus for the formation of the principles of constitutionalism was given.

2.2. Constitutional (state) law of Russia in the Soviet (socialist) period

The period under consideration is distinguished by the fact that in Russia a constitution appeared in its own, formal-legal sense of the word. However, in terms of content, Soviet constitutions did not agree with the generally recognized postulates of traditional ("Western") constitutionalism (equality of citizens, popular representation and parliamentarism, political pluralism and multi-party system, separation of power, priority of human rights, etc.); Soviet state law was based on ideas about class interests, the subordination of personal interests to public (state), institutional unity of state power, ideological monism and the dominance of one political force, etc.

The beginning of the formation of totalitarian state law was laid by the first acts (decrees) of the first Soviet government: decrees on power, on the establishment of the Council of People's Commissars, on peace, on land, on the nationalization of banks, on workers' control in enterprises, on the prohibition of counter-revolutionary parties, the Declaration of the Rights of the Worker and exploited people, etc.

On July 10, 1918, the V All-Russian Congress of Soviets adopted the first Constitution of the RSFSR, proclaiming Russia a republic of councils of workers', peasants' and soldiers' deputies (as opposed to a parliamentary republic), establishing the unity of legislative and executive-control activities (instead of the division of power), the dictatorship of the proletariat and merciless suppression exploiters (political and certain socio-economic rights were granted only to workers), the federal structure of the state based on the national-territorial principle, the introduction of universal labor service, proclaiming the victory of socialism in all countries as the main goal.

In 1922, Russia actually lost state sovereignty, becoming part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (although de jure it retained the right to secede from the Union). Since that time, the constitutional development of Russia has been the development of it as a republic within the USSR, and all subsequent Russian constitutions were a cast from the union constitutions. The second Constitution of the RSFSR adopted in 1925 (following the Constitution of the USSR of 1924) legally fixed the new status of Russia. In terms of content, this Constitution differed little from the previous one, although it reflected some softening of the political and economic situation after the end of the Civil War.

The Third Constitution of the RSFSR (adopted in 1937 on the basis of the Constitution of the USSR of 1936) proclaimed the complete victory of socialism, for the first time legally (at the level of the fundamental law of the state) consolidated the leading role of the Communist Party, somewhat softened the wording regarding ensuring the equality of citizens.

In 1978, after the adoption of the Constitution of the USSR in 1977, the fourth Constitution of the RSFSR (the last Russian Constitution of the Soviet period) was adopted. The Constitution consolidates the building of developed socialism in the country, the development of the dictatorship of the proletariat into a nationwide state power, and expands the wording of the rights and freedoms of man and citizen.

All Soviet constitutions did not correspond to the traditional understanding of constitutionalism. In addition, they were largely fictitious: even attractive constitutional norms (on personal and political rights and freedoms, democracy, federalism, etc.) were not respected in practice, there was a totalitarian (later - authoritarian) regime in the country with virtually undivided rule by the party -state nomenclature. However, the science of constitutional (state) law during this period was not in complete stagnation, which predetermined a fairly quick transition to a new constitutional model of Russian statehood.

2.3. The Formation of Modern Constitutionalism in Russia

The formation of genuine constitutionalism in Russia should not be associated solely with the adoption of a new Constitution in 1993; this process began in the second half of the 1980s. - within the framework of the last Soviet Constitution of the RSFSR of 1978

After 1985, when the so-called "perestroika" of all spheres of public life began in the USSR, the Constitution of 1978 was changed many times, as a result of which it acquired fundamentally different features. Many of those constitutional provisions were adopted by the current Constitution of the Russian Federation. It was on the basis of the changed Constitution and the provisions of laws adopted in its development that the transition from an authoritarian to a democratic regime began.

This manifested itself, in particular, in the following:

▪ in Russia, at the constitutional level, the rejection of the socialist model of development, the monopoly of the Communist Party, the recognition of political pluralism and a multi-party system, the division of power, private property and freedom of enterprise were enshrined;

▪ changes occurred in the system of state power: the electoral system changed fundamentally, the post of President of the Russian Federation, a two-level representative and legislative body (the Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian Federation and the permanent Supreme Council of the Russian Federation) and the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation were established;

▪ intra-federal relations have changed: all former autonomous republics and most autonomous regions acquired the status of republics within the Russian Federation, the status of other subjects of the federation increased, in 1992 the Federal Treaty was concluded, which became an integral part of the Constitution;

▪ the rights of local self-government were significantly expanded;

▪ On November 22, 1991, the Declaration of Rights and Freedoms of Man and Citizen was adopted, later incorporated into the Constitution;

▪ after the cessation of the existence of the USSR in 1991, norms limiting the state sovereignty of Russia were excluded from the Constitution of the Russian Federation, and its constitutional development since that time has continued as the development of a sovereign state (the Declaration of State Sovereignty was adopted by the Congress of People's Deputies of the RSFSR on June 12, 1989, but it provided for the development of Russia as part of the renewed USSR);

▪ state symbols have changed.

Since the contradictions in the Constitution of the Russian Federation of 1978, despite the introduction of numerous amendments to it, persisted (primarily in the norms regulating the system of state power), the question arose of adopting a new Constitution of Russia.

In 1990, the First Congress of People's Deputies of the RSFSR decided to develop a new Constitution, and a Constitutional Commission was established to prepare a draft of the Basic Law. At that time, a lot of alternative projects were being developed, and the Constitutional Conference was created to summarize all the proposals.

A referendum on the draft of the new Constitution of the Russian Federation and elections of deputies of the State Duma and the Federation Council were scheduled for December 12, 1993 (the legal basis for holding the said referendum and elections were the relevant provisions approved by decrees of the President of the Russian Federation, since at that time the parliament did not function in the country and all full political power was temporarily concentrated in the hands of the head of state.In accordance with Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of September 21.09.1993, 1400 No. 1978 "On a phased constitutional reform", a number of articles of the XNUMX Constitution were suspended, the activities of the Congress of People's Deputies, the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation and lower councils of people's deputies).

On December 12, 1993, for the first time in the history of Russia, a new Constitution was adopted by popular vote (more than 54% of Russian citizens who have the right to participate in the referendum took part in the constitutional referendum, of which more than 58% voted for the adoption of the project put to the vote). It is important to note that an agreed draft of the Basic Law was put to the vote - the Constitutional Council considered and summarized thousands of proposals from various state authorities, political forces, regions, citizens, scientists, domestic and foreign experts. The text of the current Constitution of the Russian Federation is one of the best in the world.

It was with the adoption of the new Constitution of the Russian Federation that a new stage began in the post-Soviet development of Russian constitutionalism; on the basis of the 1993 Constitution, a new legal system and constitutional model of the state are being formed. This stage will be very long, many qualitative norms of the Constitution of the Russian Federation are not yet observed, a significant period is required for society to learn how to live according to the Constitution.

Author: Nekrasov S.I.

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