Constitutional law of the Russian Federation. The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation is the main body of legal protection of the Constitution of the Russian Federation (lecture notes)

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Constitutional law of the Russian Federation. The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation is the main body of legal protection of the Constitution of the Russian Federation (lecture notes)

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Topic 5. The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation is the main body for the legal protection of the Constitution of the Russian Federation

The Russian Federation has chosen the Austrian (European) model of constitutional control, according to which the leading place in the system of measures for the legal protection of the Constitution belongs to a specialized judicial body - the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation (until 1990, the model of parliamentary (non-judicial) constitutional control was fixed at the constitutional level in Russia) .

5.1. The procedure for the formation and organization of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation

The status of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation is determined in Art. 125 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the main act in this matter is the Federal Constitutional Law of July 21.07.1994, 1 No. 1993-FKZ "On the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation". This is the first federal constitutional law in the history of Russia, adopted on the basis of the Constitution of the Russian Federation of 1990. The law is a codified act in the field of constitutional legal proceedings, it contains both substantive and procedural norms. The status of the Constitutional Court, enshrined in the current legislation, has changed significantly in many respects compared to the status of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, established in XNUMX.

The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation consists of 19 judges appointed by the Federation Council on the proposal of the President of the Russian Federation. Proposals on candidates for the positions of judges of the Constitutional Court may be submitted to the President of the Russian Federation by members of the Federation Council, deputies of the State Duma, legislative (representative) bodies of state power of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, higher judicial bodies (the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation itself), federal legal departments (in particular, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation), all-Russian legal communities, legal scientific and educational institutions (in the current composition of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, the majority of judges are well-known legal scholars).

To be appointed to the position of a judge of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, a candidate must meet the following requirements: citizenship of the Russian Federation; age limit - at least 40 years; higher legal education and work experience in the legal profession for at least 15 years; impeccable reputation; recognized high qualification in the field of law.

A judge of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation may be appointed to office once for a period of 15 years. The age limit for a judge is 70 years. A judge of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation has a rather high status, many components of which are strengthened in comparison with the general provisions of the status of a judge in the Russian Federation. Thus, for judges of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, a more complex procedure for bringing to legal responsibility, a different set of grounds and the procedure for early termination of powers, higher material and social guarantees, more stringent requirements for the content of the principle of incompatibility, etc., have been established.

Structure and organization of the activities of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation consists of two chambers consisting of ten and nine judges, respectively, while the decision of any of the chambers is the decision of the Constitutional Court. A complex structure of specialized judicial bodies of constitutional control takes place in most states, where the consideration of constitutional complaints is attributed to the powers of these bodies. The personal composition of the chambers is determined not by the Federation Council when appointing judges, but by drawing lots, while the composition of the chambers is not unchanged - it must change at least every three years. To manage the activities of the Constitutional Court, the judges themselves from their composition at the plenary session for a period of three years elect the Chairman, Deputy Chairman and Judge-Secretary of the Constitutional Court (there are no restrictions on the number of re-elections within the general term of office of a judge for these officials). The powers of these officials of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation can be described as organizational and managerial: in the sessions of the Court, when considering specific cases, they have the same procedural rights as other judges. There are no permanent chairmen in the chambers of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation - the duties of presiding at the meetings of the chamber are performed by the judges who are members of the corresponding chamber, in turn. The Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation cannot be members of the same chamber.

5.2. Competence of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation

The main thing in clarifying the status of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation is the question of its competence (jurisdiction). Disclosing this issue, one should not be limited only to the provisions of Art. 125 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, it is also necessary to proceed from the provisions of Art. 3 of the Law "On the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation", other federal constitutional laws, as well as legal positions contained in the decisions of the Constitutional Court itself. The competence of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation can be divided into the following groups of powers:

1) verification of the constitutionality of legal acts in the order of abstract constitutional control (normative control);

2) verification of the constitutionality of laws in the order of specific constitutional control;

3) resolution of disputes about competence;

4) official interpretation of the Constitution of the Russian Federation;

5) giving an opinion on compliance with the established procedure for charging the President of the Russian Federation with high treason or committing another serious crime;

6) other powers.

In addition, in accordance with Part 1 of Art. 104 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation has the right to initiate legislation on issues within its jurisdiction.

In the first group of powers, the question of the subject and limits of constitutional control is important. The Constitutional Court verifies the constitutionality of the following legal acts:

1. Acts of the federal level - federal laws, regulations of the President of the Russian Federation, the Federation Council, the State Duma and the Government of the Russian Federation. It is necessary to pay attention to the following. Firstly, the term "federal laws" should be interpreted broadly, meaning by it also federal constitutional laws (in the practice of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation there are cases related to the consideration of the provisions of the Federal constitutional laws of December 31.12.1996, 1 No. 27.09.2002-FKZ "On the judicial system of the Russian Federation ", dated 5 No. XNUMX-FKZ "On Amending and Adding to the Federal Constitutional Law" On the Referendum of the Russian Federation "", etc.). Secondly, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation considers only normative acts of the President of the Russian Federation, the Government of the Russian Federation and Acts of a non-normative nature (individual legal acts) are not subject to constitutional control in the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation.

2. Acts of the regional level - constitutions, charters, laws and other (including by-laws) regulatory legal acts of the subjects of the Russian Federation. Here, the principle is the provision that not all of these regional normative legal acts are subject to constitutional control in the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, but only those issued on the subjects of the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and the joint jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and its subjects. Consequently, the acts issued by the state authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation on subjects of their own jurisdiction, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation is not entitled to consider. In addition, despite the absence of a direct order, one should proceed from the fact that only acts issued by the highest state authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation are subject to control in the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation.

3. Intra-federative agreements, i.e. agreements between federal and regional government bodies, as well as between regional government bodies. We are talking here about contracts of a public law nature, related primarily to the delimitation of powers (for example, disputes arising from contracts of a property nature are under the jurisdiction of arbitration courts). So far, there have been no such cases in the practice of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation.

4. International treaties of the Russian Federation that have not entered into force. The object of constitutional control is not all international treaties of the Russian Federation, but only those subject to ratification or other approval by federal government bodies (we are talking primarily about interstate treaties).

Concluding the characterization of the first group of powers of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, it should be noted that, firstly, all these acts are checked by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation exclusively for compliance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation - checking these acts for compliance, in particular with federal constitutional laws and federal laws, falls under the jurisdiction of general and arbitration courts. Secondly, the verification of the constitutionality of these acts can be carried out in the order of abstract constitutional control, that is, without regard to the application of the challenged act in a particular case.

The basis for the verification by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation of legal acts in the order of abstract constitutional review is a request, the right to which is held by: the President of the Russian Federation; Council of the Federation; The State Duma; a group of 1/5 members of the Federation Council or deputies of the State Duma; Government of the Russian Federation; the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation; Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation; legislative and executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. In addition, in Resolution No. 18.07.2003-P dated July 13, XNUMX, on the case of checking the constitutionality of certain provisions of the Civil Procedure Code of the RSFSR, the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation and the Federal Law "On the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation", the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation concluded that it was possible to appeal to the Constitutional Court with a request to check the compliance of the Constitution of the Russian Federation with the constitutions and charters of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in the manner of abstract normative control by the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation.

In contrast to the abstract, specific constitutional control is associated with the verification by the Constitutional Court of the contested act only in connection with its application in a specific case (as well as if the contested act, in the opinion of the applicant, is subject to application in a specific case). The Constitution of the Russian Federation and the Law "On the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation" name only the law (both federal and regional levels) as the subject of such control. However, in the Resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation of January 27.01.2004, 1 No. XNUMX-P on the case of checking the constitutionality of certain provisions of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, a legal position is set out, according to which, if there is a direct normative connection between the decree of the Government of the Russian Federation and the federal law and if these acts are applied or are subject to application in a specific case in inseparable unity, then the Constitutional Court may recognize as admissible both the request of the court in connection with the specific case considered by it, and the citizen’s complaint about the violation of constitutional rights and freedoms, in which the constitutionality of both the federal law and the normative act of the Government of the Russian Federation.

The basis for consideration by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation of a case in the manner of a specific constitutional control may be a constitutional complaint or a court request. A complaint can be both individual and collective, i.e. filed by a group of citizens, associations of citizens (including legal entities - commercial and non-profit organizations). In addition, other bodies and persons to whom federal legislation grants the right to apply to the court in the interests of citizens (in particular, prosecution authorities) may file a complaint with the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. A prerequisite for the admissibility of a complaint is that the challenged act must affect constitutional rights and freedoms, i.e. rights and freedoms provided directly in the Constitution of the Russian Federation, and not rights provided exclusively by sectoral or corporate legislation. A court (judge) of any level of the system of general and arbitration courts can apply to the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation in this aspect. At the same time, an appeal to the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation (with a suspension of proceedings on the case) in case of doubt about the constitutionality of the law applied or to be applied in a particular case is not a right, but an obligation of the relevant court.

Disclosing the authority of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation to resolve disputes about competence, it is necessary to keep in mind the following. In this case, the subjects of appeal to the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation are only public authorities: it does not resolve disputes between citizens, between legal entities, between a citizen and an organization, between an organization and the state, etc. The right to apply to the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation to resolve a dispute about competencies are not vested in all government institutions, but only public authorities at the federal and regional levels. Local self-government bodies do not have access to the Constitutional Court. Disputes about competence are possible both in the "horizontal aspect", i.e. between state authorities of the same level - between federal state authorities (for example, between the President of the Russian Federation and the Federation Council, between the Government of the Russian Federation and the State Duma, etc.) or between the highest state bodies of the subjects of the Russian Federation, including one subject of the Russian Federation (for example, between the mayor of Moscow and the governor of the Moscow region, between the mayor of Moscow and the Moscow City Duma, etc.), and in the "vertical aspect" - between state bodies different levels (for example, between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Legislative Assembly of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, between the President of the Russian Federation and the Governor of the Sverdlovsk Region, etc.). The subject of appeal in such disputes can only be the resolution of the contradiction in the positions of the parties on the belonging (violation, non-exercise) of the constitutional authority to one or another state body. The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation does not resolve economic disputes between state authorities, disputes about the jurisdiction or jurisdiction of cases to courts, etc. The form of applying to the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation for resolving a dispute on competence is a petition from the relevant federal or regional state authority. In addition, the President of the Russian Federation may apply to the Constitutional Court with such a petition in the manner of implementing the provisions of Part 1 of Art. 85 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the powers to carry out conciliation procedures to resolve disagreements between the relevant state authorities.

The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation is the only body in the country endowed with the authority to officially interpret the Constitution of the Russian Federation (an authentic interpretation of the Basic Law is practically impossible due to the fact that the Constitution of the Russian Federation was adopted by the citizens of Russia by popular vote). The following persons have the right to appeal to the Constitutional Court with a request for interpretation: the President of the Russian Federation; Council of the Federation; The State Duma; Government of the Russian Federation; legislative bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The interpretation of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, given by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, is mandatory for all state bodies, local governments, legal entities and individuals. At the same time, we are not talking about a casual interpretation of the Constitution (i.e., interpretation of the Basic Law in connection with the exercise by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation of its other powers), but about the interpretation of the Constitution as an independent authority of the Constitutional Court, implemented on the basis of a special request for interpretation.

By participating in the provisions of Art. 93 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation on the procedure for removing the President of the Russian Federation from office, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation gives an opinion on compliance with the established procedure for accusing the President of the Russian Federation of high treason or committing another serious crime. The Federation Council addresses the request to the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation after the relevant accusation has been brought by the State Duma, and the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation has issued a conclusion on the presence of signs of the corresponding crime in the actions of the President of the Russian Federation. If the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation makes a decision on non-compliance with the established procedure for bringing charges, further consideration of the charges is terminated.

Other powers of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation include those provided for by federal constitutional laws and intra-federative agreements. As examples here, one can cite the authority of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation to verify the constitutionality of documents and materials submitted in connection with the implementation of the initiative to hold a federal referendum, provided for by the Federal Constitutional Law of June 28.06.2004, 5 No. 17.12.2001 "On the Referendum of the Russian Federation"; the authority to exercise mandatory constitutional control of an international treaty of the Russian Federation with a foreign state on the admission to the Russian Federation of a new subject, provided for by the Federal constitutional law of December 6, XNUMX No. XNUMX-FKZ "On the procedure for admission to the Russian Federation and the formation of a new subject of the Russian Federation in its composition" .

When exercising any authority, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation decides exclusively on issues of law and refrains from establishing and investigating factual circumstances in all cases when this falls within the competence of other courts or other bodies.

Not all of the considered powers of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation can be implemented in the sessions of the chambers. Exclusively in plenary sessions, the constitutionality of the fundamental laws of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation is checked, an interpretation of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and a conclusion on compliance with the established procedure for accusing the President of the Russian Federation of treason or committing another grave crime are given. In addition, plenary sessions receive messages from the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, decide on the issue of legislative initiative and organizational issues (election of the chairman, deputy chairman and secretary, formation of the personal composition of the chambers, adoption of regulations, etc.).

The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation mainly carries out subsequent constitutional control, i.e., it checks legal acts that have already entered into force. However, provision is also made for the implementation of preliminary constitutional control, in particular, the verification of the constitutionality of international treaties that have not entered into force, and the initiative to hold a referendum. At the same time, the constitutional control exercised by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation is predominantly initiative (optional). The reason for the consideration of the case is the corresponding appeal to the Constitutional Court with a request, petition or complaint (the specific form depends on the subject and subject of the appeal); The Constitutional Court is not entitled to conduct proceedings on the case on its own initiative. At the same time, there are examples of mandatory constitutional control: giving an opinion on compliance with the established procedure for accusing the President of the Russian Federation of high treason or committing another serious crime, checking the constitutionality of an international treaty on the admission of a new subject of the Russian Federation to Russia or materials on the implementation of the initiative to hold an all-Russian referendum .

5.3. Decisions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation

The types of decisions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation are the resolution, conclusion and definition. The resolution is the main type of the final decision of the Constitutional Court. It is the decisions that are adopted in the exercise of most of the powers of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation: when checking the constitutionality of legal acts, resolving disputes about competence, interpreting the Constitution of the Russian Federation. The conclusion is given by the Constitutional Court in the only case - when considering the established procedure for accusing the President of the Russian Federation of high treason or committing another serious crime. In other cases, definitions are accepted.

The legal nature of the decisions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation is predetermined by their generally binding (normative) and precedent nature. Decisions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation are binding not only for the applicants and the body that issued the act recognized as unconstitutional, but also for all state bodies, local self-government bodies, legal entities and individuals; they are final, not subject to appeal and take effect immediately upon promulgation. The decision of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation acts directly and does not require confirmation by other bodies and officials. At the same time, general and arbitration courts, as well as the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation itself, have the right and are obliged to confirm the unconstitutionality of the provisions of normative acts similar to those that were previously recognized as inconsistent with the Constitution of the Russian Federation by the Constitutional Court, to recognize them as invalid. The legal force of the decision of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation on the recognition of an act as unconstitutional cannot be overcome by the repeated adoption of the same act. Acts or their individual provisions, recognized as unconstitutional, lose their force, and international treaties that have not entered into force are not subject to entry into force and application. The retroactive effect of decisions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation is manifested in the fact that law enforcement decisions based on acts recognized as unconstitutional are not enforceable and must be reviewed in the prescribed manner, unless otherwise indicated in the act of the Constitutional Court itself, for example, the inexpediency of revising earlier court decisions. To implement the decisions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, the Federal Constitutional Law "On the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation" provides for certain duties and deadlines for state bodies and officials to bring acts in line with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, and for non-execution of decisions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation - appropriate liability.

Author: Nekrasov S.I.

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