The Federal Assembly is the bicameral national legislature of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. The upper house is the

Federation Council The Federation Council, unofficially Senate, is the upper house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, with the lower house being the State Duma. It was established by the Constitution of the Russian Federation in 1993. Each of the 89 federal s ...

, and the lower house is the

State Duma The State Duma is the lower house of the Federal Assembly (Russia), Federal Assembly of Russia, with the upper house being the Federation Council (Russia), Federation Council. It was established by the Constitution of Russia, Constitution of t ...

. The assembly was established by the

Constitution of the Russian Federation The Constitution of the Russian Federation () was adopted by national referendum on 12 December 1993 and enacted on 25 December 1993. The latest significant reform occurred in 2020, marked by extensive amendments that altered various sections ...

in 1993, replacing the former

Supreme Soviet of Russia The Supreme Soviet of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR, later the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation, was the supreme government institution of the Russian SFSR from 1938 to 1990; between 1990 and 1993, it was ...

. It is located in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. The

Chairman of the Federation Council The Chairman of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation (), also informally called ''Speaker'' (), is the presiding officer of the upper house of the Russian parliament. It is the third highest position, after t ...

is the third most important position after the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

and the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

. In the case that both the President and the Prime Minister are incapacitated, the Speaker of the upper house of the Russian parliament becomes

Acting President of Russia The acting president of the Russian Federation () is a temporary post provided by the Constitution of Russia. The acting president is a person who fulfils the duties of the president of the Russian Federation when cases of incapacity and vaca ...

. The jurisdiction of the Federation Council includes: approval of changes in borders between

federal subjects of Russia The federal subjects of Russia, also referred to as the subjects of the Russian Federation () or simply as the subjects of the federation (), are the administrative division, constituent entities of Russia, its top-level political division ...

, approval of the

presidential decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state, judge, royal figure, or other relevant authorities, according to certain procedures. These procedures are usually defined by the constitution, Legislative laws, or customary l ...

on the introduction of a

martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...

or on the introduction of a

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...

, deciding on the possibility of using the

Armed Forces of Russia The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military of Russia. They are organized into three service branches—the Ground Forces, Navy, and Aerospace Forces—two independent com ...

outside the territory of Russia, appointment of elections of the President,

impeachment Impeachment is a process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In Eur ...

of the President, appointment of judges of higher courts of Russia, appointment and dismissal of the

Prosecutor General of Russia The Prosecutor General of Russia (also Attorney General of Russia, ) heads the system of official prosecution in courts and heads the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation. The Prosecutor General remains one of the most po ...

, appointment and dismissal of Deputy Chairman and half of the auditors of the all Accounts Chamber and others. The jurisdiction of the State Duma includes: consent to the appointment of the

(Chairman of the Government), deciding the issue of confidence in the Government, appointment and dismissal of the Governor of the

Central Bank A central bank, reserve bank, national bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the monetary policy of a country or monetary union. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central bank possesses a monopoly on increasing the mo ...

, appointment and dismissal of the Chairman and half of the auditors of the Accounts Chamber, appointment and dismissal of the

Commissioner for Human Rights The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights is an independent and impartial non-judicial institution established in 1999 by the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe, to promote awareness of and respect for human rights in the council's 46 ...

, proclamation of

amnesty Amnesty () is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of people who are subject to trial but have not yet be ...

, advancing of charges against the President for his impeachment and others. Since the 2003 elections, the Federal Assembly has been referred to by analysts and observers as being a rubber stamp institution.

Powers

As the Russian legislature, all laws must be voted in the Federal Assembly before they are signed into law. All bills, even those proposed by the Federation Council, must first be considered by the State Duma. Upon adoption by a majority of the full State Duma membership, a draft law is considered by the Federation Council, which has fourteen days to place the bill on its calendar. The Federation Council cannot make changes in bills passed by the Duma and can either approve or reject them. If the Federation Council rejects a bill passed by the State Duma, the two chambers must form a conciliation commission to work out a compromise version of the legislation. If two chambers cannot reach a compromise, or the Duma insists on passing the bill ''as is'', the veto of the Federation Council can be overridden, if two thirds of the Duma's constitutional composition vote in favor of the bill. The State Duma and the Federation Council usually meet separately. Joint sessions are organized when: *

President of Russia The president of Russia, officially the president of the Russian Federation (), is the executive head of state of Russia. The president is the chair of the State Council (Russia), Federal State Council and the President of Russia#Commander-in-ch ...

delivers his annual address to the Federal Assembly; *For hearing of addresses of the

Constitutional Court of Russia The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation () is a high court within the judiciary of Russia which is empowered to rule on whether certain laws or presidential decrees are in fact contrary to the Constitution of Russia. Its objective is o ...

; *To hear the speeches of leaders of foreign States.

Parliamentary centre

In the mid 2000s it was suggested that the Parliamentary centre of the

and

be combined into one building. In 2012, the idea was supported by President

Dmitry Medvedev Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev (born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician and lawyer who has served as Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia since 2020. Medvedev was also President of Russia between 2008 and 2012 and Prime Mini ...

. Reasons cited for the construction of a new building included the cramped nature of the parliament members' current offices, the remote locations of these offices split across ten locations in

, and the desire of the government to move the bodies away from the city centre to reduce traffic congestion. Various areas of Moscow were examined to serve as the new parliamentary center:

Kutuzovsky Avenue Kutuzovsky Prospekt (street), Prospekt () is a major radial avenue in Moscow, Russia, named after Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov, leader of the Russian field army during the French invasion of Russia of 1812. The prospekt continues a westward pat ...

, Frunzenskaya Embankment, " Moscow City", Tushino airfield, Krasnaya Presnya Street,

Moskvoretskaya Embankment Moskvoretskaya Embankment () is a major street, located in the Kitay-Gorod administrative district in central Moscow, running along the Moskva River. It stretches from Kremlin Embankment, near Red Square in the west, until the mouth of Yauza Rive ...

, Muzeon Park of Arts and the Sofia Embankment. In September 2014, the Mnyovniki floodplain was selected, a decision which was protested by ecologists. The design of the new building was to be decided on the basis of an architectural competition. The parliamentarians, however, disagreed on aesthetic decisions between candidates in the competition, which were not resolved when the contest was conducted a second time. Financing issues caused complications. Originally, the Parliamentary center was to be funded by private investors, who would in turn receive ownership of a building currently belonging to the State Duma and the Federation Council, as well as permits to tear it down and replace the building with their own development projects (such as hotels). An objection to this plan was lodged by architectural critic Grigory Revzin, arguing that the State Duma is located in the building of the Council of Labor and Defense which was designed by Arkady Langman and built in 1935, rendering the existing State Duma building an architectural monument, which would be protected by the state and cannot be demolished. Work on the parliamentary center was to begin in 2020. However, in 2016 it was postponed to an unknown date due to the economic situation and disagreements on what the center should look like.

Notes

References

External links

Russian Federation Today
— Official issue of the Federal Assembly {{Authority control 1993 establishments in Russia

Government of Russia

Powers

Parliamentary centre

See also

Notes

References

External links