Political system and structure of the state

THE RUSSIAN CONSTITUTION OF 1993 territories (krais), one autonomous region (avtonomnaya ob- The supreme legal document of is the Constitution last), four autonomous districts and two cities of federal signifi- of the Russian Federation, adopted by national referendum cance, these being and Saint Petersburg. on 12 December 1993. In post-imperial Russia this was The two main principles of state division in Russia are the fifth Constitution although it was the first one to be -of national-territorial and administrative-territorial. The former ficially approved by the nation. Its adoption was the subject rests on the foundation of republics, autonomous districts of drawn-out debate and was preceded by a fierce power and autonomous regions. The Russian Constitution of 1993 struggle, which almost brought the country to the verge of recognises a nation’s right to self-determination but only as the civil war. long as it does not undermine the state sovereignty of the The referendum marked the beginning of a new period for Russian Federation. Hence the main ethnic groups of the the Russian State. After centuries of tsarist rule followed country have their own subjects (constituent units) in the by 70 years of communist dictatorship, Russia consciously federation but are still subordinate to the federal authority. took the path of further democratic development on the ba- Although in many of these subjects Russians comprise the sis of the principles spelled out in the Constitution of 1993. majority of the population, they are still more ethnically and Although the inevitable process of democratisation could culturally diverse than other parts of the country. The native clearly be witnessed in the latter period of the language of the republics is usually given official status on a under the rule of Mikhail Gorbachev, it was only with the par with Russian, the people have their own citizenship be- adoption of the new Constitution that Russia emerged as a sides Russian citizenship, and all the republics have adopted truly democratic country. their own Constitution which, however, cannot contradict the In the Constitution, Russia was proclaimed a democratic main principles enshrined in the Constitution of the Russian state based on a separation of powers giving priority to hu- Federation of 1993. man rights and freedoms. It also guaranteed political and All the other subjects of the Russian state (regions, ter- ideological pluralism, promoted ideals of the free-market ritories and federal cities) were created on the basis of the economy, and recognised the nation as the only bearer of administrative-territorial principle. These subjects, as well as State sovereignty. being autonomous districts and regions are entitled to have As in many other transitional countries, democratisation their own Charter, which must also comply with the princi- in Russia has suffered a series of setbacks, characterised ples of the Constitution of the country. by human rights violations, restrictions of political freedoms Although some of these constituent units have a different and tight control over the mass media. To the present day, status, officially they are all equally entitled to the same de- the country has often been criticised for practising rule of gree of autonomy. However, the regions are not equal in thumb rather than rule of law. In response to this critique, territory and population. Accordingly, their economic power the administration of President came up with is not comparable either. With the priority aim of addressing the concept of ‘sovereign democracy’, which implies that this problem, the map of the federal subjects of Russia was the measures taken by the Russian government that are redrawn several times, so that they are better managed and perceived as illiberal from the outside should not be taken have become less dependent on subsidies from the federal as anti-democratic tendencies but rather as peculiarities of budget. the democratic regime in Russia. The adjective ‘sovereign’ The political structure of each subject is also based on the is meant to signify that Russia reserves the right to define principle of separation of powers. Every subject has its own what it deems democratic through the prism of its own na- executive and legislative body, the structure of which it is tional interests. entitled to determine independently, on the basis of the main principles of the federal structure. Members of the legisla- THE FEDERAL STRUCTURE tive body in the federal subjects are elected by their citizens. The status of Russia as a federal state is also guaranteed The number of deputies and their term of office are also de- by the Constitution. Russia presently consists of 83 federative termined independently by every subject. However, accord- units, these being 21 republics, 46 regions (oblasts), nine ing to federal laws, a deputy’s term of office in the legisla- 195 196 CIDOB International Yearbook 2010 Russian Federation, Country Profile premacy of federal power over the subjects that signed the signed that subjects the over power federal of premacy su the established which Agreement, Federative the signed Chechnya, and for except SFSR, Russian former enon hasbeendubbed‘theparadeofsovereignties’. the most of this opportunity. In Russian history, the phenom make to decided SFSR the of subjects federal fifteen about possible. in Thenceforth, the as period from August to October of 1990, sovereignty much as take could SFSR the of republics the that Yeltsin, declared Boris SFSR, the of Soviet ist Republic (SFS Social Federated Soviet Russian the of Sovereignty State of Republi the of Deputies People’s the 1990, June 12 On independent. become to first the were countries Baltic The Union. the leave and tendency of the Soviet the republics to by proclaim their prompted sovereignty was This state. confederate a into state federal a from transformed be would USSR the which to ing accord agreement federal new a signing through was alive Union Soviet the keep to way only the that clear became it from the Soviet state. By the end of Mikhail Gorbachev’s rule executive powersofthesubject. and legislative the between cooperation effective more and governor, subject’s the of expected being responsibility of between the federal centre and the subject, a higher degree cooperation better as such results, positive quite had has initiative this regions, some in that, out point experts ment pro-govern However, today, experts. political different and opposition the from criticism considerable threat, drew it terrorist although the of problem the solving of aim prime the with subjects, the over control federal enhance to out carried was reform This subject. the of body of legislative the consent the with Russia of President the by appointed been have subjects of federal the Heads the then, since and, abolished was procedure this 2004 in However, citizens. his/her jurisdiction. under comes also subject the of body tolegislative the right dissolve The subject. the of body legislative the by orated subject, and international levels, and promulgates laws elab inter- federal, the on subject the represents He/she body. executive its of head the also is subject the of leader This subject.the of development socio-economic the fostering at aimed programmes different out carrying also while plan, budget the of implementation supervises usually and subject body ofthesubject. giving consent on appointments to positions in the executive and budget its approving subject, the of laws the enacting around revolve usually body this of responsibilities main The years. five exceed cannot subjects federal the of bodies tive for theauthorities ofthesubjects. centre and the subject, and the area of jurisdiction reserved federal the between jurisdiction joint of area the jurisdiction, the subjects of the federation: the area of exclusively federal and authority federal the between relations the in risdiction ju of areas three distinguishes agreement This agreement. Nevertheless, on March 31, 1992 all the republics of theof republics the all 1992 31, March on Nevertheless, In general, the federative structure of Russia was inherited their by elected be to used subjects federal the of Heads the of leader political the by formed is body executive The R ). Subsequently, the Head of the Supreme c dpe the adopted Congress of Congress Declaration Declaration ------tised the rights of the republics over those of other federal federal other of those over republics the of rights the priori tised it relations, federal-regional of sphere the in clarity erning bodies,regionalbudgetapprovalandlawenactment. eral, they are responsible for the formation of their own gov gen authority.In full enjoy subjects federal jurisdiction, joint the federalsubjects. of relations economic foreign and international the of nation coordi and self-government, local and administration gional re of system the for framework legal the of establishment development, along with those in the sphere of public health, cultural and social for programmes of coordination subject, federal the of territory the in resources natural federal of use the one, with legislature regional the of compliance as ternational relations,anddefencesecuritypolicy. in protection, environmental development, cultural and cial so freedoms, and rights human of protection finances, and of issues within the spheres of state administration, economy of access to the mainland for Russian citizens living in the in living citizens Russian for mainland the to access of complications around revolved arose that problem main The Tatarstan.or Chechnya as emphatically as sovereignty its of tist sentiments, the Kaliningrad region never raised the issue separa to prey falling to prone most area the be to seemed such as Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. Although it might have Russia’s main territory by the newly established Baltic States, tion. That was the Kaliningrad region, which was cut off from Russian Federation came into being in rather a peculiar situa Republic seemstoberesolved,atleastforthetimebeing. improved and the problem of independence aspirations in the significantlyhas region the in situation the subsidies, federal the installation of a pro-Russian government and an inflow of sus region. With the elimination of the main terrorist groups, Cauca North the in groups Islamist and forces military sian Rus the between warfare guerrilla into that developed gradually conflict military protracted a to led government lican repub secessionist the clash and The power federal central Russia. between of authorities federal the for large loom Chechnya’sof independence problem the made people, local the by supported former eventually was of which men, military Soviet comprised largely movement, separatist strong eco the nomic sphere. in mainly privileges, its of many retains still stan Tatarrepublic and the federation was signed. Nevertheless, the between authority of division the on agreement new a 2007, in and, federation the of subject that equal an so became it amended was Tatarstan of Constitution the In 2000, Federation. Russian the of structure the within state confeder ate a of status the Republic Tatar the granting this 1994, February 15 on signed was Authority of Delegation been deemed invalidsince1993. have Constitution, the contradict that Agreement the of parts disparity,those this eliminate to order In subjects. Although the Federative Agreement introduced a lot more lot a introduced Agreement Federative the Although and federal centralised of sphere the beyond lying areas In issues such includes mainly jurisdiction joint of area The range the for responsible exclusively is centre federal The ih h dsouin f h US, nte sbet f the of subject another USSR, the of dissolution the With A complex. more was Republic Chechen the of case The Mutual on Agreement special a Tatarstan, of case the In ------region and vice versa. Thus, the problem of the Kaliningrad In order to bridge the gap between the regional authorities region not only had a federal dimension, but also an interna- and the federal centre, in May 2000 the new institution of tional one. It became especially acute after the Baltic States federal districts was introduced into the federal structure signed the agreement to join the EU in the spring of 2003. of Russia. According to the Presidential decree of 13 May After several months of talks the same year the problem 2000, all the subjects of the Russian Federation formed sev- was resolved through establishing a special regime of border en federal districts, which were to be headed by Presidential crossing through Lithuania and Belarus for Russian citizens Plenipotentiary Envoys, chosen from among the members of going to and from the Kaliningrad region, and to and from the Presidential Administration. Their main responsibility is the main part of Russia. Although the transit of people to to ensure implementation of constitutional responsibilities by and from this region is still hindered by some formal proce- the President at the regional level, which is to say, they are dures, which are unavoidable in the current situation, Russia mainly responsible for control over regional compliance with has managed to find responses to most of the demands in the decrees and ordinances of the federal centre. Represent- relation to the problem. While the solution of the Kaliningrad atives are appointed by the President and their term cannot problem is a good example of fruitful cooperation between exceed that of their patron. Russia and the EU, the geographical position of the exclave On 19 January 2010 a new North Caucasian federal dis- opens a lot of possibilities for the development of even closer trict was created out of seven federal subjects, which had cooperation between the countries, especially taking into previously formed part of the Southern Federal District. The consideration the great significance of the Kaliningrad region main purpose of this innovation was, according to the Presi- for Russia from the strategic point of view. dent, to enhance effectiveness of economic and social policy Nevertheless, the federal centre approaches the possibility in the region. Alexander Khlopotin, who was put in charge

of regional cross-border cooperation very cautiously, which of the district, is known for his good managerial skills which the state of and structure system Political might reflect Moscow’s concerns over regional separatism. he demonstrated while governing the Krasnoyarsk region. The first decade of Russian statehood posed the question of However, it is obvious that the formation of the new district state integrity in a very acute fashion and, during the Presi- was also prompted by signs of growing instability in the re- dency of Vladimir Putin, one of the top-priority issues on the gion and the need to separate the problem-free regions of agenda has been consolidation of central federal control over the Southern district from those with potentially unstable the federal subjects. situations.

I. federal Districts of RUSSIA

Population Federal Administrative Name of District Area (km²) (2002 est.) Subjects center 1 Central Federal District 652.800 38.000.651 18 Moscow 2 Southern Federal District 418.500 13.973.252 6 Rostov-on-Don 3 Northwestern Federal District 1.677.900 13.974.466 11 Saint Petersburg 4 Far Eastern Federal District 6.215.900 6.692.865 9 5 Siberian Federal District 5.114.800 20.062.938 12 Novosibirsk 6 Urals Federal District 1,788,900 12.373.926 6 Yekaterinburg 7 Volga Federal District 1.038.000 31.154.744 14 Nizhny Novgorod 8 North Caucasian Federal District 170.700 8.933.889 7 Pyatigorsk

3 4 1 6 7 5 2 8

197 198 CIDOB International Yearbook 2010 Russian Federation, Country Profile of therepresentativebody federalsubject. the municipal representative body and one third of members commission of which two thirds consisted of the members of a by basis competitive a on chosen manager,was city who the to given was position body,this administrative local the its become chairperson. only In cases where the elected mayor did not head could he/she body, representative the of members the by elected was he/she If body. representative the of chairperson of that or body administrative local the of head of position the took either he/she municipality of the citizens the by elected was administration of Head the when that stipulated also It body. administrative local a and body,administration representative of a Head as the ments was ele municipality such structure local-government the every in have to obliged that stated it time, This ernment. self-gov local of principles organisational new basic the the of on law adoption the with reform municipal of process Government andin1998itcameintoforce. municipal enterprises. of work the as well as lending, its and property municipal of use the from benefits accrue to right the by guaranteed was independence Economic municipal budgeting. local of and property administration municipality, the of the territory in conditions social good maintaining as such affairs, of themunicipalityorbyrepresentativemunicipalbody. citizens the by administration elected either was he/she municipal established, was the of Head the of position the If of local self-government as established by the principles federal centre.main the and municipality the of Charter the with accordance in citizens local by determined be to was which of structure body,the representative a have to obliged was municipality every that stipulated law This 1995. in adopted beyond thesystemoforganismsstateauthority. situated was that one country, the in system governmental system of local self-government as an independent branch of the established officially Federation Con Russian the the of stitution and 1993 in administration local of system the of reform Thoroughgoing 1991. and 1990 in passed were that thesystemoflocalself-governmentwasreinstated. ago years twenty about only was it and discarded was tion local scale. During the years of the Soviet Union, this institu va ( councils district appeared century,there XIX the of back to the reforms of Alexander II, when in the second half unofficial agreement that the right to appoint city mayors mayors city appoint to right the an that of agreement basis the unofficial on out carried was governors subjects’ of elections of the abolition that claimed experts Some mayors. possibility of the governors of the federal subjects appointing the concerning discussion heated in engaged were leaders Immediately after the law was passed, the Russian political political Russian the passed, was law the after Immediately a on embarked government state the 2003, However,in In 1996 Russia signed the of European Local Charter Self- local of charge in put were bodies self-government Local was self-government of local principles on law The main the The firstlaws on the mainof principles local self-government The history of local self-government in Russia can be traced SELF-GOVERNMENT LOCAL OF SYSTEM THE ), which were responsible for public administration on the on administration public for responsible were which ),

zemst - - - - - of city mayor appointees only in those cities with a popula a with cities those in only appointees mayor city of variant the nominate should deputies that is idea the problem this to solutions possible the among present, subject At appointed governors. of institution the of introduction the with budget of thethe subject. This problem has become more acute financing income the of part greater the for accounts usually city,which federal main the of mayor the and ernor ties in Russia is often challenged by clashes between the gov this figuremighthavebeen50%. 2009 in Times”, “New magazine opposition the to cording Ac vote. public by elected were administrations municipal of Heads of 69.7% about 2008 of beginning the at result, a As mayors. city elect to right the themselves for reserved that laws enact to Russia, United party pro-government the by dominated bodies, representative municipal of tendency ors wouldbeleftintact. may electing for institution party,the sia that acknowledged Duma Speaker, Boris Grizlov, who also chairs the United Rus the 2006, In governors. the to given be subsequently would eration among the different bodies of state power. Although Although power. state of bodies different the among eration coop of coordination and facilitation is function crucial most his and power of branches the all above is He Constitution. Russian Federation is the Head of State and guarantor of the a presidentialrepublicwithelements ofmixedgovernment. ence of other countries and, as a result, the country became establishing this position, Russian officials studied In the experi Federation. Russian the became later which Republic, ist as the first President of the Russian Soviet Federative Social Yeltsinchosen Boris was 1991, in while, USSR the of ident 1990, Mikhail Gorbachev became the first and the only Pres state governmentbodies. of structure the into administration municipal of bodies ing popular on based integrat while districts, municipal of level lower a to election self-government local of system the ing grip onthemunicipalbudget. their tighten accordingly will and manager city the of choosing process the in influence increased have will authorities subject the that manager,means city which the contracting for responsible commission the in representatives subject’s the of number the increasing of favour officials in out state speaking are more and more meantime, the In basis. tive manager,city competi the a with on up elected ends is who Head of administration. As a result, all the financial leverage of post the take cannot body representative the by elected mayor The undermined. be might bodies self-government cal as an outcome of this tend, the economic independence of lo mayors chosenbypublicvote. their have seven only category, this under falling cities eleven today,instance, For people. million one exceeding tion ofout Effective governance of the Effective federal subjects and municipali growing the by followed was discussion this Nevertheless, According to the Constitution of 1993, the President of the In Russia. in young very is Presidency the of institution The FEDERATION RUSSIAN THE OF PRESIDENT THE mov suggests situation current the to alternative Another that,is concern public to rise given has that issue Another ------he is closely connected with the organisms of executive pow- sembly voted to exclude the option ‘For none of the above’ er, the Constitution doe not put him at their head. Thus, from the ballots. within the power structure of the country, the President of Initially, the President of the RFSR was elected for five years. Russia takes an independent position, which gives him immu- The Constitution of 1993 set the term at four years, while nity from all the other bodies of state authority, except in the allowing , elected in 1991, to serve out his five- case of impeachment. His role within the structure of power year term. When Dmitry Medvedev came to power in 2008 might be compared to that of an arbitrator between the Gov- the Constitution was amended, so that the term of Presiden- ernment and the Federal Assembly, the Russian analogue of tial office was extended to six years. However, in practice a parliament. In case of conflict between them, he is entitled this amendment will only take force in 2012 after the next to dissolve either or both of them. Presidential elections are held. Dmitry Medvedev has stated As the person responsible for protecting the sovereignty of that this move was prompted by the obvious inability of the the Russian state, the President directs the activity of vari- President to fulfil all his promises in a four-year term. ous federal bodies of executive power that are in charge of According to the Constitution of 1993, the same person defence and security policy, domestic and foreign affairs, law cannot occupy the position of the President for more than enforcement and several other issues that are crucial for the two consecutive terms. state. Among others, these bodies include the Ministries of The President is assisted in his work by the Presidential Domestic and Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defence, the Administration, which helps him to prepare reports on ma- Ministry of Justice and the Federal Security Agency. Further- jor issues, drafts of decrees and ordinances; to monitor the more, the President is Commander-In-Chief of the Russian enactment of Presidential decrees; to maintain cooperation Armed Forces and Chairman of the Security Council, a con- with political parties, public associations, international organ-

sultative body, where the main security issues are discussed isations and foreign officials; and to analyse data on interna- the state of and structure system Political and security policy is worked out. The Constitution also vests tional events and the internal situation. The array of functions in the President the right to declare a state of emergency performed by the Presidential Administration has led to its and to impose martial law throughout the territory of the being dubbed the Presidential body of executive power. country. As Head of State, he is also responsible for determining THE FEDERAL ASSEMBLY the main directions of domestic and foreign policy. While he The Federal Assembly, or the Parliament, is the highest is charge of appointing the members of Government and has representative and the main legislative body of the Russian the right to preside over its meetings, at the same time, the Federation. It is bicameral and consists of the Council of Fed- President is not deprived of the right of legislative initiative eration and the .1 and is the person to promulgate the laws passed by the Fed- The main function of the Federal Assembly is law making. eral Assembly. The State Council, another consultative body The two houses are not on an equal footing in relation to this that is comprised of the highest officials of the federal sub- process. In principle, all laws are passed by the State Duma jects and that was established to discuss the most important in three readings. However, in cases specified by law, if a bill current affairs, is headed by the President as well. does not provoke much disagreement, its adoption may not In the international arena the President represents the require all three stages. The role of the Federation Council country. He is entitled to sign international agreements, to in law-making procedure is confined to giving its approval or appoint diplomatic representatives of the country and to ac- disapproval. In case of the latter, the state Duma can over- cept letters of accreditation from diplomatic representatives ride the veto of the Federation Council if not less than two of other countries. thirds of the Duma deputies vote in favour of the law. After Only a person who is not younger than 35 years old, who the law is passed by the Federal Assembly, it requires the has Russian citizenship and who has been living permanently President’s signature, which makes the law effective. If the in Russia for a period of not less than 10 years can become President vetoes the law, it goes back to the legislative body the President of the country. To register as a candidate for and is subjected to reconsideration and alteration. Never- the Presidency, any aspirant has to collect two million signa- theless, the Presidential veto can be overridden by a vote tures of citizens of the country (no more than 50,000 signa- in favour of the law by two thirds of all the members of the tures for any one federal subject), regardless of whether he Federal Assembly. or she is nominated by a party or independently. Another crucial function of the Federal Assembly is supervi- The President is elected by public vote. If any candidate sion. It monitors how the Federal Budget is spent, the ef- receives more than 50% of votes, he/she wins the elections. fectiveness of the Government’s work and the work of other Otherwise, run-off elections take place with the participation state bodies, while also keeping track of the observance of of the two candidates with the largest number of votes re- human rights in the country. The controlling authority of the ceived in the first round. The one who gets more votes this Federal Assembly also presupposes the right to pass a vote time round becomes the President. of no-confidence in the Government. Before 2006, voter turnout had to be no less than 20% Members of both houses elect their own Speaker, who su- for the results of elections to be officially recognised. Since pervises the work of the house. In order to enhance the ef- November 2006, this threshold was abolished for elections fectiveness of their work, both houses have committees and at all levels of state power. The same year the Federal As- commissions, which specialise in certain areas of state activ-

199 200 CIDOB International Yearbook 2010 Russian Federation, Country Profile by popular vote. Their initial term of office, as stipulated in the Constitution stipulated of 1993, was four as years. In 2008, this pro office, of term initial Their vote. popular by im Presidential peachment. of process the initiates the and of work Government the on reports hears President, the by ister Min Prime the of appointment the approves also Duma the Russian the of Federation. body representative main the as tablished re-es it was 1993 in only and exist to ceased it 1917 in However,1905. of events revolutionary the of result the as favour ofsuchamove. in vote members its of thirds two if President, the impeach tion Courts on the recommendation of the President and can judges oftheConstitutional,SupremeandArbitra appoints It law. martial of imposition the and emergency of state the of establishment the on decrees Presidential to approval to alterations gives made to It the subjects’ boundaries and initiative. legislative of right the has also Federation factions. form to allowed not are Council Federation the of members the council subjects,consists of 166 members. Unlike the Duma, the federal 83 are there Since party. Russia” “Just progress in under the currently chairmanship of , the is leader of the commissions, eleven and mittees their representativestotheCouncil. federal sending been have the powers legislative of and executive heads subjects’ the then, since and, again reformed was formation council of mechanism the 2000, In Council. Federation the in representatives two had subject every that means which bodies; legislative and executive subjects’ eral time, the seats were taken this and, established was Federation of Council second the 1995, In basis. non-elective a on formation council of ess proc the regulating to view a with later passed be to was that law federal the pending transitional be to was considered It place. took Constitution Russian the on referendum the that day very the on years two for vote popular by ed elect were convocation first its of members the and 1993 in introduced first was It Parliament. Russian the of house hearings, andoverseeimplementationofthelaws. conduct houses, their to laws draft on report laws, draft ate evalu and prepare They members. house of consist and ity elected by representation proportional in the federal constit in 2011. tion of the Duma, which is to say the one that is to be formed convoca sixth the with starting years, five to extended now is deputy a of office of term the that so amended was vision Until the 2007 elections, half of the Duma members were The State Duma consists of 450 deputies who are elected authorities, other Among making. law is function chief Its The first Russian Duma was established in Imperial Russia THE STATE DUMA Besides having the authority to approve laws, the Council of com sixteen has which Federation, of Council third The upper the be to considered is Federation of Council The FEDERATION OF COUNCIL THE ex officio by the heads of the fed ------try try to the Duma in the 2007 Parliamentary elections. Clearly, On the whole, only four parties cleared the 7% barrier for en 43%. by structure parliamentary the in stake its increased which Party, Russia United the was procedure election to the amendments the from to benefit party only the that to assert and the fifth Dumaison structuresof permitsthe onefourth the decision-making process on most crucial issues. Compar during is required that Duma) of the members the of all (2/3 votes of majority prescribed the secured which party, Russia United the of members the to went Duma fifth the in seats for registration its elections, andabolitionoftheelectiondeposit. for required members party of number the lowering in consisting this process, election the of tion liberalisa slight a in resulted that criticism of wave a off set amendments These 7%. to 5% from raised was Parliament representation. sis ofthesystemproportional ba the on elected are members Duma all thenceforth, and, 2005, voting in single-member constituencies was abolished In constituencies. in and by half single-member voting uencies try with a competitive economy based on innovation and an politicalsystembuilton democraticprinciples. an effective and innovation on based economy competitive a with try civilisation with its own cultural and spiritual heritage, a coun unique a as Russia of development the assumes This tism. conserva reasonable and democracy sovereign of principles towards themainissuesisworked out. party the of stance political the where forums several has also It bodies. legislative in seats of majority the has party the subjects, federal 79 in and, Party Russia United the by held are Duma State the the in seats of majority of vast party,the Chairman the is Putin Vladimir Minister Prime The Its members occupy the key positions in the state structure. personalities. sports and artists figures, public leaders, cal million one than members today, including some of the most more prominent politi numbers it 2001, in recently, quite created Although the moment. for force political influential four commissions. Party. Members of the State Duma form 32 committees and who is chairman of the Supreme Council of the Gryzlov,Boris is Duma present the of Speaker The liament. sia, while the Just Russia has Party 38 members in the Par Rus of Party Liberal-Democratic the by 40 Federation, sian while 57 seats are taken by the Communist Party of the Rus barrier onlygained8.3%ofthetotalvotes. mind that, taken as in a whole, borne the be parties that did also not clear should the it but alone reforms electoral the of consequence the as perceived be not should However,this country. the in processes political the of unification to dency rent situation seems to be characterised by an apparent ten cur the Duma, Russian the of convocations three first the during thrived that pluralism political the with comparison in As the result of 2007 elections, the absolute majority of majority absolute the elections, 2007 of result the As in seats obtain to parties for threshold vote the 2002, In The party promotes the idea of modernisation based on the most country’s the objectively is Party Russia United The The UnitedRussiaParty THE MAINPOLITICALPARTIES seats, 315 occupies Party Russia United the present, At ------The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) Government is responsible for carrying out the edicts coming The Communist Party of the Russian Federation is the suc- from the Head of State. cessor to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Having In the sphere of the economy, the Government is obliged won the Parliamentary elections in 1995, its presence is to prepare and submit the draft of the federal budget to gradually dwindling every four years. The KPRF is presently the State Duma. After it is approved, the Government must the biggest left-wing party in Russia. Its ideology is based on ensure its due implementation and also supervises the proc- Marxist-Leninist teachings and it identifies capitalism as the esses of carrying out of uniform financial, credit and eco- main threat to the successful development of Russia. The nomic policy. party advocates the idea of restoring the USSR and establish- Its executive authority extends to other areas as well, in- ing a new form of socialism that is redefined according to the cluding the social, cultural and political life of the country, main national interests of the Russian State. It also supports where it is once again responsible for ensuring that uniform measures aimed at nationalisation of the major strategic sec- policy is carried out. tors of the Russian economy and the preservation of small The Government is headed by the Chairman, who is often and medium-sized businesses as well as improvements in the called the Prime Minister. If the President should die, resign Government’s social policy. or become incapable of performing his functions, the Head of the Government is the person who replaces him in this The Liberal-Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) position. A person who holds this office is appointed by the The LDPR is one of the first non-communist parties that President with the consent of the State Duma. All the other appeared in Russia. Despite the political orientation that is positions within the Government are appointed by the Presi- declared in its name, the real ideology of the party is often dent on the recommendation of the Chairman of the Gov-

described as populist and nationalistic, due to the contradic- ernment. Currently, besides the Chairman, the Government the state of and structure system Political tory statements of its charismatic leader . consists of two First Deputy Prime Ministers, seven deputy More recently, it has often been called the centrist party. Prime Ministers and seventeen federal Ministers. Members of this party support the idea of strengthening Today, thirteen ministries, 24 federal services and 21 fed- vertical power and establishing state monopoly in the main eral agencies form the structure of the Government. Five strategic spheres of economy. According to its political pro- ministries and several other federal bodies that deal with gramme, people of Russian nationality should be considered the country’s defence, state security, and implementation of as the lynchpin of Russian statehood, while Russia should foreign policy come directly under presidential authority and become a unitary state with a structure based exclusively on are thus often referred to as the ‘presidential block’. All the the administrative-territorial principle. executive bodies are divided into the regular federal bodies that are responsible for administration of affairs in the areas The Just Russia Party under state jurisdiction, and the joint federal departments, The Just Russia Party is relatively young. It was officially es- which carry out their functions in the spheres placed under tablished in 2006 as a result of a merger with several other the joint authority of the State and the federal subjects. The parties. Its ideology can be characterised as social-demo- latter include the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of La- cratic as it gives priority to elaborate and effective social pol- bour, the Ministry of Culture and some other institutions, icy of the state. It is often characterised as belonging to ‘the while the former encompass the Ministry of Defence, the systemic opposition’, which refers to its solidarity with the Foreign Intelligence Service, the Federal Agency of Govern- United Russia Party on most issues. In February 2010, an mental Communications and Information and other executive official agreement was signed between these parties, stating bodies. their intentions to take concerted action aimed at supporting the strategic course of the current administration. JUDICIAL POWER The judicial system of the Russian Federation is an inde- THE GOVERNMENT OF THE RUSSIAN pendent section within the mechanism of separation of pow- FEDERATION ers. It was established on the basis of the Constitution of The Government of the Russian Federation is the main ex- 1993 and the law on the judicial system of the Russian Fed- ecutive body of the country. After the collapse of the Soviet eration of 1996. Union in 1991 the Russian Council of Ministers took over the Depending on the area of competence, three main branch- position of the chief executive body. In 1993 this authority es of the Russian judicial system might be distinguished. The was vested in the Government of the Russian Federation. first is constitutional courts. It is represented here bythe Since then it has been subject to reshuffling several times, Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation and the con- although the main principles of its organisation have been stitutional or statutory courts of the federal subjects, which left intact. are not subordinate to the former body. The Constitutional According to the Constitution of 1993 the Government is Court of Russia, consisting of nineteen judges, exercises responsible for implementation of the principles set out as control over the compliance of laws passed within the terri- the foundations of this document through effective adminis- tory of the country and ensures that activities carried out by tration of state affairs. If the President is entitled to deter- state bodies comply with constitutional norms and principles. mine the main direction of domestic and foreign policy, the It also resolves disputes between the federal subjects. Con-

201 202 CIDOB International Yearbook 2010 Russian Federation, Country Profile into the courts of the Chechen Republic, which was the last last the was which Republic, Chechen the of courts the into sian Federationcodeofcriminalprocedure. carries out criminal prosecution in compliance with the Rus also It level. municipal the to down federal the from bodies the Prosecutor’s Office, which forms a centralised system of magis for subject. trates, aredeterminedbythelawofevery that as well as subjects, in federal judges the of for courts procedure appointment the while President, Judges the by directly appointed are courts federal other the all for President. the by recommendation on Council tion are the appointed Supreme by Arbitration the Court Federa Judges for the the Constitutional andSupreme Court, Court rest. the all encompass former the while courts, istrates’ mag and subjects federal the of courts statutory and tional constitu include latter The subjects. federal the of courts oftheRussianFederation. the SupremeArbitrationCourt is branch this of highest-ranking The Appeal. of Courts tion by of the federal arbitration subjects courts and the Arbitra taken of decisions validity and on legality the deliberate which Courts, Arbitration District ten are there Then twenty. are courts go to the Arbitration Courts of Appeal, of which there first instance. Appeals in relation to decisions taken by these entrepreneurs and bodies of state authority as of courts the individual entities, legal between relationships legal istrative lowest the admin at and economic with connected situated cases consider are level, which subjects, federal the of the SupremeCourt. of board military the by occupied is system this in echelon with connected issues country.the of bodies with military the of activity the highestThe deal which courts, military of agreements signedbythecountry. international to pertaining issues with deals also and stance in second and first of court the as acts it law, federal by vises the In work cases of prescribedthe courts. lower-level super latter The Federation. Russian the of Court Supreme is the of last resort while the court second instance courts, this in courts theare subjects federal the of courts supreme The branch. instance first the are population, the on ing depend subject every for different is which of number the Municipal courts, as well as district and magistrates’ courts, in mostly justice. of forms are civil and administrative criminal, of charge courts These Court. Supreme the to dinate ties ofthesubjectauthorities. activi the and laws subject the only concerning and subject the of territory the fulfil within only subjects although obligations federal similar the of courts statutory or stitutional capital punishment, the ban was to be lifted when all federal federal all when lifted be to was ban the punishment, capital of 1999, which had established a moratorium on the use of decreethe to according that, is issue The Russia. in justice of the sphere in change significant another entailed ously this is doubtless a positive innovation, it Although may have simultane move. this make to subjects federal the all of one Since 1 January 2010, trial by jury has been introduced been has jury by trial 2010, January 1 Since in vested is Russia in enforcement law control to right The and courts federal into divided also are courts the All Those courts. arbitration the of consists branch third The The branch of general courts also incorporates the system subor are which courts, general is branch second The ------Motherland ofRussia Liberal –DemocraticParty oftheRussianFederation Communist Party Other parties Independent candidates United Russia Union ofRightForcesParty Zhirinivsky’s Blok Other Parties Independent Candidates Fatherland –WholeRussia Unity oftheRussianFederation Communist Party Other Parties Other Parties Independent Candidates Yabloko ofRussia Liberal –DemocraticParty Our Home-Russia oftheRussianFederation Communist Party Communist Party oftheRussianFederation Communist Party Russia’s Choice parties parties Single – member constituency candidates from other ofRussia’s Party UnityandConcert Yavlinsky –BoldirevLukinBlock Russia Democracic Party ofRussia Agrarian Party Women ofRussia Independent single-memberconstituencycandidates ofRussia Liberal –DemocraticParty United Russia oftheRussianFederation Communist Party ofRussia Liberal –DemocraticParty Just Russia 1995 1993 2007 2003 1999 II. P II. 73 20 21 45

TURNO TURNO TURNO TURNO TURNO ARLIAMENTARY 37 38 32 16 220 65 315 64 17 23 55 : 64.76% : 54.81% : : 59.5% : 55.75% : 61.85% : 71 107 77 37 14 (number of seats) of (number 66 29 ELECTIONS 27 22 36 64 40 51 51 113 42 57 157

130 III. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS subjects introduced trial by jury in their courts. Thus, shortly (percentage of vote) before this amendment went into effect, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation issued a decree abolishing Boris Yeltsin 57.30 capital punishment for once and for all. Nickolay Rizhkov 16.85 Against all 1.92 At present there is very intense debate concerning another 3.42 possible innovation in the judicial system of Russia. This is re- Albert Makashov 3.74 Vladimir Zhirinovsky 7.81 lated with the introduction of a juvenile courts system, which Aman Tuleev 6.81 was actually provided for in the concept of the development of the Russian judicial system in 1996. In 2002 the State Duma passed a law on the establishment of juvenile courts 1991 TURNOUT: 74.66% in the first reading, while the second reading has not yet taken place. In 2008, with regard to the system of juvenile justice, the Supreme Court noted that its effectiveness was affirmed by all the courts of the subjects that had decided to introduce it. However, this initiative is strongly opposed today Boris Yeltsin 53.82 40.31 by the and a great number of other Against all 4.82 civil organisations. The overall efficacy of the judicial system of Russia- isre 1996 (2nd round) flected in the level of citizens’ confidence in the courts and TURNOUT: 68.88% the number of appeals from Russian citizens to the Euro-

pean Court of Human Rights. Although by December 2009, the state of and structure system Political among all the civil institutions of rights protection, the courts were preferred by the greatest number of people (34%), only 36% consider the judicial system of Russia as being effective, while 38% think the opposite. At the same time, in 2009, Russia topped the list of countries with the largest number

Aman Tuleev 2.95 of appeals to the European Court of Human Rights. Last year 5.80 one appeal in every three came from Russia. Vladimir Zhirinovsky 2.70 1.47 The judicial system of the country is also often criticised for Emma Panfilova 1.01 the prevalence of non-acquittal decisions taken by courts. For Others 2.98 instance, in 2009 for every person who received a verdict of Gennady Zyuganov 29.21 Vladímir Putin 52.94 non-guilty there were a hundred others found guilty. However, the Supreme Court challenges such criticism by drawing at- tention to the fact that 530,000 out of the 900,000 peo- 2000 TURNOUT: 68.74% ple found guilty were sentenced through a special procedure whereby defendants plead guilty. Another problem that Russia has to deal with in the sphere of justice is the low level of implementation of rulings. For 3.84 example, in 2006 only 52% of all the rulings were imple- Sergey Glaziev 4.1 Oleg Malishkin 2.02 mented. Others 4.2 The flaws of the Russian judicial system are officially- ac Nickolay Kharitonov 13.69 Vladímir Putin 71.31 knowledged in the Government’s decree on the development of the judicial system from 2007-2011. During the early 2004 TURNOUT: 64.39% days of his presidency, Dmitry Medvedev also pointed out that Russian society is plagued by legal nihilism, which is the main root of corruption. The programme of judicial reform, on which the government embarked on his initiative, is mostly aimed at enhancing the transparency of court procedures, eliminating corruption at all levels of the state system, im- Vladimir Zhirinovsky 9.35 proving the mechanisms for implementing rulings and restor- Andrey Bogdanov 1.3 Gennay Zyuganov 17.72 ing public confidence in the courts. Dmitry Medvédev 70.28 Notes 1. From the Russian verb ‘dumat’, which means ‘to think’

2008 TURNOUT: 69.7%

203 204 CIDOB International Yearbook 2010 Russian Federation, Country Profile ldpr.ru MA. 2002. State andLocalSelf-GovernmentinRussia). в России: теоретико-правовые основывзаимодействия ofStateandLaw) (Theory aspx?DocsID=112911 zo de2005.< OverVotes).Cry < < ru kprf.ru < tok: TIDOTDVGU.2001. России Samarsky Universitet.2004. Федерации id=35891 < to theGround). < < http://www.minjust.ru http://www.kommersant.ru http://www.council.gov.ru http://www.rg.ru/dok http://newtimes.ru/articles/detail/12063?phrase_ http://wciom.ru The RussianGovernment < The RussianDuma< Federation Russian the of Justice of Ministry The ofRussia< The Liberal-DemocraticParty KOVESHNIKOV, E. KORELSKY, V.; PEREVALOV, V. KAMISHEV, Dmitry. “ < The JustRussiaparty Information AgencyoftheKommersantPublishingHouse The FederationCounciloftheRussian ofStateStatistics< The FederalService oftheRussianFederation< The CommunistParty Documentos oficialesdelaweb BONDARENKO, E. BESPALY, Igor. BARABANOV, Ilya.“ The All-RussianPublicOpinionResearchCenter“ Bibliographical references / > (History ofPublicAdministrationinRussia). (History / / > > 7 (StateLawoftheRussianFederatio).

> http://www.kommersant.ru/doc. The New Times. The NewTimes. Государственное правоРоссийской Kommersant Vlast, / > Государство самоуправление иместное История государственного управления Вертикаль доВертикаль земли По голосам неплачут http://www.duma.gov.ru 4 > / / http://www/spravedlivo.ru . Moscú:Infra-M.2002. > > / http://www.government.ru

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> - http://www.bd.fom.ru dia/11162279 nym ofcompetitiveness). синоним конкурентоспособности SURKOV, Vladislav. “ RIA NovostiInformationAgency< Public OpinionFund“ The RussianPresident< The United Russia party < The UnitedRussiaparty 4 > Суверенитет - это политический политический это - Суверенитет Фонд ОбщественногоФонд Мнения / > < http://www.kremlin.ru http://www.kreml.org/me http://www.edinros.ru ” (Sovereigntyisthesyno http://www.rian.ru / ”< ”< > / > - / - >