The primary and fundamental statement of laws in the

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eight ...

n Federation is the

Constitution of the Russian Federation The Constitution of the Russian Federation () was adopted by national referendum on 12 December 1993. Russia's constitution came into force on 25 December 1993, at the moment of its official publication, and abolished the Soviet system of gov ...

Hierarchy

Constitutionism

Adopted by national referendum on 12 December 1993 with 54.5% of the vote, the Constitution took effect on the day it was published – 25 December of the same year. It set out the fundamentals of government as well as proclaiming the rule of law, the ideological neutrality of the state, political pluralism, competitive elections and a separation of power, guaranteeing fundamental human rights to the Russian people. The Constitution establishes a semi-presidential system that encompasses strong executive power and increased independence for the president. Since its adoption in a 1993 referendum the Russian Constitution is considered to be the supreme law of the land. Article 15 of the Constitution reads that it "shall have supreme legal force and have direct effect, and shall be applicable throughout the entire territory of the Russian Federation." Courts are guided by the Constitution and it trumps federal and local laws.

Amendments

Few amendments have been made to the Constitution since its adoption. The most significant of these was made in 2008. It concerned the term of office to be held by the President of the Russian Federation, which was increased from four to six years.

Presidential System of the Russian Federation

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation came into being as an independent state in 1991 and it is described as a "democratic, federal, rule-based republic" in its constitution which is adopted in 1993, includes many universal principles such as human rights and freedoms, free elections, political and ideological pluralism and judicial independence. According to the Constitution of Russia, the President of Russia is head of the state, and of a multi-party system with executive power exercised by the government, headed by the Prime Minister, who is appointed by the President with the parliament's approval. Legislative power is vested in the two houses of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, while the President and the government issue numerous legally binding by-laws. However, even some academics, who accept that Russia has a constitutional semi-presidential model, describe the system as "presidential" and even "super presidential" due to the strong and central position of the president.

Constitutional laws

Constitutional laws cannot become part of the constitution or amend parts of it absent a special legal act on

constitutional amendment A constitutional amendment is a modification of the constitution of a polity, organization or other type of entity. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly altering the text. Conversely, t ...

. They are typically enacted in important areas of constitutional law, such as Article 56 which allows for the passage of the constitutional laws necessitated by a state of emergency

Statutes

Statutes A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by l ...

are the predominant legal source of Russian law, and may only be enacted through the legislative process. Codes are the basis for law on a matter, and they are usually supplemented with legislation to develop certain provisions. There are gaps in some of the codes, but even still the judges will find a basis for deciding the case in a given code. Codes are interpreted flexibly, and interpretation may be based on enumeration of "general principles" of the codes. General principles are usually articulated at the beginning of the codes in the first chapter to outline the reason for the legislation. Reasoning by analogy is also allowed. The Russian Civil Code is the "constitution" of the market economy, and is special in the hierarchy of codes, since it will supplant contradictory text in other codes. New codes and laws supersede old ones, unless a statute expressly preserves the old law.

Sub-laws

Presidential decrees and directives

The President has power to issue normative and non-normative decrees, provided they do not contravene the constitution and federal laws. "On the basis and for the sake of implementation of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal laws, normative decrees of the President of the Russian Federation" Government may also issue directives having "normative" character.

Agency regulations

Agencies may enact regulations through their general competency, but these are limited to the extent of the constitution and relevant codes. If these limits are not strictly defined, then the president may use agencies to get around the legislative process. Consequently, agencies may have their powers limited by statutes. The

Civil Code A civil code is a codification of private law relating to property, family, and obligations. A jurisdiction that has a civil code generally also has a code of civil procedure. In some jurisdictions with a civil code, a number of the core are ...

purposely authorizes supplementary rules by "statute" rather than the broader term "legislation" which could encompass other secondary law.

Judicial decisions, judicial practice and explanations of supreme courts

Russia is a civil law country; and, strictly speaking, decisions rendered by courts are not binding on other courts. However, the lower courts generally follow the principles established by the supreme courts. Moreover, according to Art.308.8 of the Code of Procedure in Commercial Courts, the Supreme Court can set aside a decision of a lower court on the grounds that this decision contravenes uniformity in interpretation of law as established by case law. In practice, but not in theory, precedents of the higher courts are becoming an important Russian law.

Judicial explanations of law

The

Russian Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation (russian: links=no, Верховный суд Российской Федерации, Verkhovny sud Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is a court within the judiciary of Russia and the court of last resort in ...

have no authority to issue general "explanations" of the substantive law and procedural issues, absent a relevant "case or controversy" in front of them. Legal scholars also take part in these discussions, and the opinions of the judges and commentators are published and used as persuasive authority. This process is somewhat analogous to the discussion that scholars take in ''

American Law Reports In American law, the ''American Law Reports'' are a resource used by American lawyers to find a variety of sources relating to specific legal rules, doctrines, or principles. It has been published since 1919, originally by Lawyers Cooperative Pub ...

'' or in law reviews. The judges and scholars may codify what is practice, or more importantly address new issues of law to the lower courts and instruct them how to interpret these issues. The texts of the explanations of the law are published, and cited by many courts. In contrast, only selected judicial opinions are published. It is not clear which explanations are binding to lower courts, as there is a tension between the Constitution and federal law versus guiding explanatory principles. Still, lower courts that ignore relevant explanations will probably get reversed.

Judicial review of laws for constitutionality by the constitutional court

Judicial Review allows courts to declare unconstitutional laws void. Constitutional Courts are therefore negative legislators. The interpretations of the constitution in the decisions of the Constitutional Court are also authoritative and binding on the political branches. The ordinary or lower courts may also apply judicial review. Courts of general jurisdiction may decline to apply (1) any law that violates the Constitution and (2) any normative regulations, in particular subordinate regulations that contravene statutes. The

Supreme Court of the Russian Federation The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation (russian: links=no, Верховный суд Российской Федерации, Verkhovny sud Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is a court within the judiciary of Russia and the court of last resort in ...

has jurisdiction to determine the constitutionality of regulations issued by government agencies. The Supreme Court has held that lower courts must evaluate the contents of applicable laws or other normative acts for their conformity to the constitution, and to apply the constitution where they conflict.

Other sources

USSR legislation

USSR legislation fills gaps as the new system is being put in place, and is purely transitional until the Russian parliament can add new laws. It cannot contradict legislative acts of RF.

Analogy

Judges often reason by

analogy Analogy (from Greek ''analogia'', "proportion", from ''ana-'' "upon, according to" lso "against", "anew"+ ''logos'' "ratio" lso "word, speech, reckoning" is a cognitive process of transferring information or meaning from a particular subject ( ...

, using the general principles of the law the codes to interpret provisions broadly.

Legal consciousness, natural law, good faith and general principles

Judges don't rely on

natural law Natural law ( la, ius naturale, ''lex naturalis'') is a system of law based on a close observation of human nature, and based on values intrinsic to human nature that can be deduced and applied independently of positive law (the express enacted ...

, but rather

legal positivism Legal positivism (as understood in the Anglosphere) is a school of thought of analytical jurisprudence developed largely by legal philosophers during the 18th and 19th centuries, such as Jeremy Bentham and John Austin. While Bentham and Austin dev ...

combined with general principles of law. They may rely on "the requirements of good faith, reasonableness, and justice since Civil Code and other codes tell specific principles within the code. Other principles are equity and fairness, general principles of law, etc.

Custom

The Russian Civil Code explicitly mentions custom as a separate source of law. Traditions may establish rules of decision where there is no dispositive language in statute or other written law.

Academic commentary

Individual scholars may be influential by drafting legislation or debating proposed legislation. Unlike in some civil-law systems, academic treatises or learned commentary is not considered a separate source of law or cited by judges, but judges and attorney rely on it for their arguments.

International law

All

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

and the international treaties of the Russian Federation are part of Russian domestic legal system. Domestic law gives way to international law according to Article 15 of the Constitution. The Constitutional Court has the greatest expertise in applying international law.

Type of legal system

During the Soviet period, Russian law was considered to be socialist law. Since the fall of the Soviet Union that is no longer the case, and most scholars have classified the Russian legal system as a

civil law system Civil law is a legal system originating in mainland Europe and adopted in much of the world. The civil law system is intellectualized within the framework of Roman law, and with core principles codified into a referable system, which serves as th ...

. However, there are problems with this new classification (similar to the ones that plagued Russia's classification as a socialist law country). Some legal branches could be considered as the mix of civil law and common law. For, example civil procedural law is considered by Dmitry Maleshin as a mix of civil law and common law.

Publications

The '' Rossiyskaya Gazeta'' () is the daily

newspaper of record A newspaper of record is a major national newspaper with large circulation whose editorial and news-gathering functions are considered authoritative and independent; they are thus "newspapers of record by reputation" and include some of the o ...

which includes the official decrees, statements and documents of state bodies such as the

promulgation Promulgation is the formal proclamation or the declaration that a new statutory or administrative law is enacted after its final approval. In some jurisdictions, this additional step is necessary before the law can take effect. After a new law ...

of newly approved

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vari ...

s, presidential decrees, and governmental orders.

Legal education

Legal education has traditionally begun with the specialist degree in law ().

References

* *

External links

* — Documents of the President of Russia * — Documents of the Government of Russia * — Normative legal acts of the Russian Federation from the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation * — Official Russian internet portal for legal information
Russian Private Law
— A blog in English on Russian private law problems

from the Library of Congress *With its Light and Dark Sides; The Unique Semi-Presidential System of the Russian Federation
KÜRESEL SİYASET MERKEZİ
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