The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation is a highest judicial body of constitutional supervision in the Russian Federation, exercising judicial powers by way of administering constitutional justice with the aim to protect the basis of the constitutional system, basic human and civil rights and freedoms, ensuring supremacy and direct effect of the Constitution of the Russian Federation on the entire territory of the Russian Federation.

Composition and establishment of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation:

The Constitutional Court consists of 11* judges, appointed by the Federation Council upon nomination by the President of the Russian Federation. The Constitutional Court performs its functions if no less than two thirds of the total number of Judges are in office. The powers of the Constitutional Court are of unlimited duration.

* Judges of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, exercising their powers on the date of entry into force of Article 1 of this Law, continue to exercise the powers of a judge of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation until their termination on the grounds established by the Federal Constitutional Law of 21 July 1994 No. 1-ФКЗ "On the Constitutional Court Of the Russian Federation" (Article 3, Section 7 of the Law of the Russian Federation on the amendment to the Constitution of the Russian Federation of 14 March 2020 No. 1-ФКЗ "On Improving the Regulation of Certain Issues of the Organisation and Functioning of Public Authorities").

Powers of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation:

Powers and principles of establishment and operation of the Constitutional Court are determined by the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the Federal Constitutional Law on the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. 

The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation decides exclusively issues of law and is guided only by the Constitution. When carrying out constitutional adjudication, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation refrains from establishing and examining factual circumstances in all cases when it falls within the competence of other courts or other bodies. 

The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation verifies laws and other acts of the highest bodies of state power of the Russian Federation and its constituent entities for compliance with the Constitution, including laws and their drafts in the form of preliminary constitutional control at the request of the President. The court may consider the issue of constitutionality of normative legal acts in the manner of specific constitutional control - upon complaints from citizens, legal entities, municipalities, or upon requests from courts in connection with a specific case. It also reviews international treaties before their entry into force, considers disputes about the competence determined by the Constitution, gives official interpretation of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, resolves the issue of possibility of enforcing decisions of an interstate body, foreign or international court or arbitration, and exercises a number of other powers. 

Procedure for the activity of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation:

The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation shall act in accordance with the rules of constitutional proceedings established by the Federal Constitutional Law "On the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation". Certain issues of organising its activities are determined by the Rules of Procedure of the Constitutional Court. 

The main principles of the activities of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation are independence, collegiality, transparency, equality of parties and adversarial proceedings. 

The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation considers and adjudicates cases in sessions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation with the holding of hearings, and in the cases and in the manner established by Article 47.1 of the Federal Constitutional Law "On the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation" also without holding hearings.

The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation in the course of constitutional adjudication delivers decisions in the form of judgements, resolutions, and admissibility decisions. Consideration of cases and issues and adoption of decisions are carried out by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation collectively. 

Binding nature of decisions:

The decisions are final and not subject to appeal. The provisions of normative acts recognised by the Constitutional Court as contrary to the Constitution become invalid. Acts or their individual provisions recognised as constitutional in their interpretation given by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation are not subject to application in a different interpretation.

Decisions of the Constitutional Court are obligatory throughout the territory of the Russian Federation for all representative, executive and judicial bodies of state power, local self-government, enterprises, agencies, organisations, public officials, citizens and their associations.

Constitutional Court’s birthday is celebrated at the end of October. On October 30th, 1991 Judges of the Court held their first working session. However there’s still ongoing debate over the date, which should be considered the true birthday of the Court – should it be the day of the adoption of the first Law on the Constitutional Court, the day when the judges were elected or rather the day of the Court’s first session?

The idea to create a special body, entrusted with overseeing the compliance with Basic Law, is attributed to Mikhail Gorbachev. He proposed to establish the Committee of Constitutional Supervision of the USSR.

The idea was implemented into legislation on December 1, 1988, when Art. 125 of the Constitution of the USSR had been amended. The amendment stipulated that Committee of Constitutional Supervision (CCS) of the USSR was to consist of 23 experts in law and political science, it was also to include a representative from each of the 15 constituent republics; CCS was to be elected by the Congress of People’s Deputies of the USSR.

On December 21–23, 1989 the Second Congress of People’s Deputies of the USSR had adopted the law on the Constitutional Oversight in the USSR, elected Sergey Alekseyev as the Chairman of the CCS and Boris Lazarev as the Deputy Chairman.

The task of electing the remaining 25 Committee members (the composition of the CCS was enlarged compared to initial plans) was delegated to the Supreme Council.

On April 26, 1990 the Supreme Council elected 19 members of the CCS.

Committee of Constitutional Supervision of the USSR was empowered to oversee the constitutionality of not only of enacted laws of the USSR, but also of legislative drafts as well as legal acts of the Prosecutor-General of the USSR, Supreme State Arbiter of the USSR and other normative acts. 

During its existence – from May 1990 to December 1991– CCS had pronounced 23 decisions. They include a number of landmark rulings, which maintain their relevance up to date – such as those, which declared discretionary citizen registration procedure and implementation of normative acts without their prior publication incompatible with the Constitution.

CCS stood up courageously to the coup attempt of August 19, 1991. All the CCS members present in Moscow (unfortunately there were only five) conducted a session. A quorum of at least 11 members present was required for CCS to proclaim a decision. Thus it was decided that each of the present members in their personal capacity would submit a vehement request to the Supreme Council of the USSR, stating their concern about the situation. However the position of the CCS was misinterpreted by the media to the extent of giving impression that the CCS at least had no objections over the actions of the SCSE (State Council for the State of Emergency) if not outright endorsed them. 

In December 1991 the Committee of Constitutional Supervision of the USSR had voluntarily ceased its existence.

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Amendment to the Russian Constitution, which was passed on December 15, 1990 for the first time mentioned the institution of the Constitutional Court. The amendment, approved by the Second Russian Congress of People’s Deputies, stipulated that the Constitutional Court of Russia was to be elected by the Congress, while its operation was to be defined by a separate law.

Fourth Russian Congress of People’s Deputies discussed the draft law on the Constitutional Court, but it failed to pass by over 100 votes.

The slightly changed version of the law was approved only by the subsequent Fifth Congress on July 12, 1991.

On October 29–30, 1991 13 out of 15 Judges of the Constitutional Court were elected upon nomination of freshly elected Supreme Council Chairman Ruslan Khasbulatov.

October 30, 1991 saw the first working session of the Constitutional Court and on January 14, 1992 the first hearing took place.

At its first hearing the Constitutional Court reviewed the constitutionality of the Presidential Executive Order on the Establishment of Security and Interior Ministry, which merged ministries of state security and internal affairs into a single body.

The Constitutional Court ruled the Executive Order unconstitutional, stating that, by signing the Executive Order, the President had acted ultra vires. The Judgement of the Constitutional Court also referred to restrictions of human rights and liberties by the activities of security agencies, including inviolability of person, privacy, dwelling, correspondence and phone conversations. Division and mutual deterrence of state security and interior agencies was meant to secure democracy and to serve as a bulwark against unlawful takeover of power.

The longest (with hearings lasting almost half a year), the largest in scale and the most publicised case in all the history of the Constitutional Court was the review of the constitutionality of presidential Executive Orders, by which in August 1991 the operation of the Communist Party was first suspended and then ceased, effectively declaring it illegal. Within the same case the Constitutional Court also reviewed the constitutionality of parties themselves – the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Communist Party of Russia.

Many scholars consider the case to be underestimated and incorrectly understood. It may be due to the fact that it came at the peak of political strife and social division. Opposing forces wanted radical far left or far right (depending on whether they represent right or left flank) turn.

The Constitutional Court made a ‘peacemaking’ decision. It ruled that merger of party structures and state bodies was impermissible, but spared ordinary party members. The Constitutional Court ruled that in a democratic state there should be no ban on a particular ideology and thus the prohibition of association by people with particular beliefs is also impermissible.

As a result, both those who supported Communist parties, and those who desired that Constitutional Court sanction lustration and punishment for all former communists, were disenchanted with the result.

Finally, the judgment with the most dramatic consequences was the one which ruled on unconstitutionality of the presidential Executive Order No. 1400, by which he dissolved the Congress of People’s Deputies. It happened on October 5, 1993.  Two days later President Yeltsin suspended the operation of the Constitutional Court.  

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On December 12, 1993 a new Constitution of Russia was adopted by a popular vote. Article 125 of the new Constitution established new legal framework for the operation of the Constitutional Court.

There were two significant changes compared with previous legislation: from that time on the Constitutional Court lost the power to review cases on its own initiative and to review the constitutionality of political parties or of the actions by particular officials. Constitutional Court was empowered to review only normative acts and only upon a specific petition.

Another change, although apparently insignificant, but with a significant impact on the operation of the Court, was the increase in the number of Judges from 15 to 19.

On June 24, 1994 the State Duma adopted a new law to govern the structure and operation of the Court – the Federal Constitutional Law “On the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation”.

On July 12 the proposed draft was approved by the Federation Council. On July 21 the law was signed by the President and on July 23 it was officially published.

By February 1995 all the vacant positions of the judges of the Court were filled. Afterwards the process of constitutional proceedings was resumed. The Constitutional Court examined the constitutionality of the provisions relating to various branches of legislation. The focus of the Court's attention was, in particular, on issues of the criminal process, suffrage, organisation of state power of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and local self-government. The Court eliminated some unreasonable burdens of entrepreneurial activity, laid the foundation for the exclusion of the death penalty in Russia. The Constitutional Court adopted a number of decisions on the interpretation of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. These acts received clarification of the most important constitutional provisions relating, in particular, to the legislative process, organisation and functioning of federal bodies of state power, and the procedure for amending the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

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In winter of 2007 Article 115 of the Federal Constitutional Law “On the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation” was amended, establishing the residence of the Court in the city of St.Petersburg. The amendment entered into force on February 5, 2007 and by May 21, 2008 operation of the constitutional justice was transferred to the complex of Senate historic buildings in St.Petersburg city center.

Decisions of the Constitutional Court currently cover almost all spheres of public relations. Among the objects of constitutional normative control within the recent years the proportion of provisions related to civil, administrative, civil procedural, arbitration-procedural legislation, legislation on social security has slightly increased, although cases concerning organisation of public authority, exercise of political rights, activities of non-profit organisations remain more noticeable to public attention.

Further streamlining of the Federal Constitutional Law “On the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation” took place in June 2009. Legislators established new procedure for appointment of the President of the Constitutional Court and his deputies, whose number increased to two, as the office of Judge-Secretary has been substituted by that of the second Vice-President of the Constitutional Court. From now on the President and the Vice-Presidents were appointed by the Federation Council upon nomination by the President of the Russian Federation. Their term of office was set at six years with the possibility of reappointment after its expiration.

A large block of amendments to the Federal Constitutional Law “On the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation” was adopted in November, 2010. Basically, they affected issues related to the improvement of the procedure of constitutional judicial proceedings. In particular, the Constitutional Court obtained the possibility, on certain conditions, to resolve cases without holding of hearings. This allowed the Court to shorten the terms of consideration of a number of categories of cases and to increase efficiency and effectiveness of the protection of violated rights and freedoms of citizens of the Russian Federation.

In 2014 and 2015, the competence of the Constitutional Court was broadened with reference to verification of constitutionality of questions submitted to an all-Russian referendum, as well as in the field of settling conflicts between Russian legislation and international legal acts as they are interpreted by the inter-State bodies for the protection of human rights and freedoms.  Amendments also affected legal regulation of a number of procedural questions of activity of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, including those related to realization of the right of citizens and their associations to petition the Court. 

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The competence of the Constitutional Court was further developed in connection with the introduction of amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation in 2020. These amendments provide for the possibility of a priory constitutional review of laws. In particular, the scope of constitutional review includes draft laws of the Russian Federation on amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Specific normative control on complaints of violation of constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens and control on the request of the courts not only against laws, but also against other normative legal acts of the highest bodies of state power was fixed in the constitutional text; at the same time, as applied to citizens' complaints, the condition on the exhaustion of all other domestic remedies is established. In the text of the Constitution, the authority of the Constitutional Court to resolve the issue of the possibility of implementing decisions of interstate bodies adopted on the basis of the provisions of international treaties of the Russian Federation in their interpretation contrary to the Constitution of the Russian Federation was confirmed; the Constitutional Court is also empowered to consider the issue of possibility of execution of interstate bodies decisions, adopted on the ground of provisions of international treaties of the Russian Federation in the interpretation contrary to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, and of possibility of execution of a foreign or international (interstate) court decision, foreign or international arbitration court decision, obliging the Russian Federation, in case such a decision contradict public order foundations of the Russian Federation.

The number of judges of the Constitutional Court has been changed from 19 to 11. The legal nature and main functions of the Constitutional Court are directly defined in the constitutional text - it is established that the Court is the highest judicial body of constitutional review in the Russian Federation, exercising judicial power through constitutional adjudication in order to protect foundations of the constitutional system, fundamental rights and freedoms of man and citizen, ensuring the supremacy and direct effect of the Constitution of the Russian Federation throughout the territory of the Russian Federation.

President:

Mr. Valery Zorkin

Vice-President

Mr. Sergey Mavrin

Membres:

Mr. Konstantin Aranovskiy

Mr. GadisGadzhiev

Mrs. Lyudmila Zharkova

Mr. Sergey Kazantsev

Mr. Sergey Knyazev

Mr. AleksandrKokotov

Mrs. Larisa Krasavchikova

Mr. Nikolay Melnikov

Ghana has had fundament human rights provisions as an inherent right. However, the 1960 Constitution had provisions on human rights under article 13, but the Court in the case of Re Akoto and seven others 1961 GLR 523held that provision was not a fundament human rights but a moral duty imposed on the President to observe those rights.

Chapter 4 of the 1969 Constitution which cover Article 12 to 28 was on Liberty on the individual; fundamental human rights. Chapter 6 of the 1969 which covered Article 19 to 35 was on fundamental human rights. Presently Chapter 5 of the 1992 Constitution which covers Article 12 to 33 is on fundamental human rights.

Address:

Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation.

1, Pl. Senatskaya, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation, 190000

www.ksrf.ru

ksrf@ksrf.ru; Svetlana.Karamysheva@ksrf.ru

+7 812 404-34-33

+7 812 404-33-91