The President of the Russian Federation

head of state

Supreme Commander-in-Chief

holder of the highest office within the Russian Federation.

he is not the head of the executive branch.

According to the 1978 Russian Constitution, the President of Russia was head of the executive
branch and headed the Council of Ministers of Russia.

According to the current 1993 Constitution of Russia, the President of Russia is not a part of
the Government of Russia, which exercises executive power.

The current President of Russia is Vladimir Putin.

The Government of Russia is the highest organ of executive power.

In all cases where the President of the Russian Federation is unable to fulfill his duties, they shall be
temporarily delegated to the Prime Minister, who becomes Acting President of
Russia.[4] The Chairman of the Federation Council is the third important position after the President
and the Prime Minister. In the case of incapacity of both the President and Prime Minister, the
chairman of the upper house of parliament becomes acting head of state.

Selection process
Eligibility
A candidate for office must be a citizen of the Russian Federation who is at least 35 years old and
has 'permanently resided' in Russia for at least 10 years.[7]

The Constitution of Russia limits the election of one person to the Presidency to two consecutive
terms. Since the constitution contains no ruling on a total number of terms that a President may
serve, a former president may seek re-election after sitting out one complete term.

Election
The election of the President is mainly regulated by the Presidential Election Law (PEL) and the
Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights (BGL).

The Federation Council calls the presidential elections. if it does not call a presidential election that
is due, the Central Election Commission will call the presidential election. The Election Day is the
second Sunday of the month and the presidential electoral constituency is the territory of the
Russian Federation as a whole.
Each faction in the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament has the right to nominate
a candidate for the presidential elections. The minimum number of signatures for a presidential
candidate fielded by a political party with no parliamentary representation is 100,000, down from 2
million before amendments to the law.

Terms were extended from four to six years in 2008, during Dmitry Medvedev's administration. The
President is elected in a two-round system every six years, with a two consecutive term limitation. If
no candidate wins by an absolute majority in the first round, a second election round is held between
two candidates with the most votes.

Inauguration
Inauguration of the President of Russia is conducted six years after the inauguration of the previous
president. If the President was elected in early elections, he takes the oath, thirty days after the
announcement of the results.

Vacancy or disability
Vacancies in the office of President may arise under several possible circumstances: death,
resignation and removal from office. In all cases when the President is unable to perform his duties,
his powers are temporarily transferred to the Prime Minister until the new President takes office.

Powers and duties

Guarantor of the Constitution
As the guarantor of the Constitution and the entire system of constitutional law, the President
ensures that the constitutions, laws and regulations of the constituent territories of the Russian
Federation be in full compliance with the countrys Constitution and federal laws.
Nominations
The President is highly active in appointing top officials in the country. He nominates candidates for
official state positions, who must ultimately be appointed based on parliamentary vote. The
President submits nominations to the Federation Council, the upper house of the parliament, for
judges of the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and the Supreme Arbitration Court, as well as
for Prosecutor General of Russia. A proposal to relieve the Prosecutor General of his duties must
also be submitted to the Federation Council. The President submits to the State Duma, the lower
house of parliament, nominations for appointment to the office of the Chairman of the Central Bank,
and likewise submits to the State Duma any proposal to relieve the Chairman of the Central Bank of
his duties.
Legislation
Under the procedure stipulated by the Constitution, the President exercises his right to submit draft
legislation, as well as the right to sign bills into law or to veto them.

The President has the right to suspend laws and regulations issued by executive bodies of Russias
constituent territories if such laws and regulations contravene the Constitution, federal laws or
international obligations of the Russian Federation, or violate human and civil rights and liberties,
pending the resolution of the issue in an appropriate court.

The president is further empowered to grant federal pardons and reprieves, and to convene and
adjourn either or both houses of the Federal Assembly under extraordinary circumstances.

Other powers of the President in the sphere of legal activities and in his interaction with the
Parliament include calling elections to the State Duma, dissolving the State Duma in certain cases,
and calling referendum.

Domestic policy
Under the Constitution, the President is not empowered to determine the full range of short-, middle-,
and long-term objectives and targets of domestic policy, but only its basic guidelines. They are to be
implemented both by the President himself and by the Government of Russia within the bounds of
their authority. The President fundamental positions on domestic policy issues are expressed in his
written decisions regarding draft federal constitutional laws and draft federal laws, as well as his
letters explaining the reasons for rejecting draft federal laws.

Within the bounds of the authority granted to the head of state by the Constitution and other laws,
the President also shapes the basic domestic policy guidelines by issuing legal regulations and
through organizational and regulatory activity, such as issuing decrees and executive orders. Each
year the President is required to make an Address to the Federal Assembly regarding the situation in
the country and the internal and foreign policy of the state.

Foreign policy
The President is invested with extensive rights to implement the state's foreign policy. The President
determines Russia's position in international affairs and represents the state in international
relations, conducts negotiations and signs ratification documents. The President appoints and
recalls diplomatic representatives of Russia to foreign states and international organizations. These
appointments are preceded by consultations with the respective committees or commissions of
the two houses of the Federal Assembly. The President signs international treaties.
 The Parliament
The 628-member parliament, termed the Federal Assembly, consists of two chambers, the
450-member State Duma (the lower house) and the 178-member Federation Council (the
upper house).

Russia's legislative body was established by the constitution approved in the December
1993 referendum. Under the constitution, the deputies elected in December 1993 were
termed "transitional" because they were to serve only a two-year term. In April 1994,
legislators, Government officials, and many prominent businesspeople and religious
leaders signed a "Civic Accord" proposed by Yeltsin, pledging during the two-year
"transition period" to refrain from violence, calls for early presidential or legislative
elections, and attempts to amend the constitution. This accord, and memories of the violent
confrontation of the previous parliament with Government forces, had some effect in
softening political rhetoric during the next two years.

The Federal Assembly is prescribed as a permanently functioning body, meaning that it is

in continuous session except for a regular break between the spring and fall sessions. This
working schedule distinguishes the new parliament from Soviet-era "rubber-stamp"
legislative bodies, which met only a few days each year. The new constitution also directs
that the two chambers meet separately in sessions open to the public, although joint
meetings are held for important speeches by the president or foreign leaders.

Structure of the Federal Assembly

Each legislative chamber elects a chairman to control the internal procedures of the
chamber. The chambers also form committees and commissions to deal with particular
types of issues. Unlike committees and commissions in previous Russian and Soviet
parliaments, those operating under the 1993 constitution have significant responsibilities in
devising legislation and conducting oversight.

They prepare and evaluate draft laws, report on draft laws to their chambers, conduct
hearings, and oversee implementation of the laws. As of early 1996, there were twenty-
eight committees and several ad hoc commissions in the State Duma, and twelve
committees and two commissions in the Federation Council. The Federation Council has
established fewer committees because of the part-time status of its members, who also hold
political office in the subnational jurisdictions.

Committee positions are allocated when new parliaments are seated. The general policy
calls for allocation of committee chairmanships and memberships among parties and
factions roughly in proportion to the size of their representation. In 1994, however,
Vladimir Zhirinovskiy's Liberal-Democratic Party of Russia (Liberal'no-
demokraticheskaya partiya Rossii--LDPR), which had won the second largest number of
seats in the recent election, was denied all but one key chairmanship, that of the State
Duma's Committee on Geopolitics.
Legislative Powers

The two chambers of the Federal Assembly possess different powers and responsibilities,
with the State Duma the more powerful.

The Federation Council, as its name and composition implies, deals primarily with issues
of concern to the subnational jurisdictions, such as adjustments to internal borders and
decrees of the president establishing martial law or states of emergency. As the upper
chamber, it also has responsibilities in confirming and removing the procurator general and
confirming justices of the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, and the Superior Court
of Arbitration, upon the recommendation of the president. The Federation Council also is
entrusted with the final decision if the State Duma recommends removing the president
from office. The constitution also directs that the Federation Council examine bills passed
by the lower chamber dealing with budgetary, tax, and other fiscal measures, as well as
issues dealing with war and peace and with treaty ratification.

The Federation Council has less power than the State Duma. All bills, even those proposed
by the Federation Council, must first be considered by the State Duma. If the Federation
Council rejects a bill passed by the State Duma, the two chambers may form a conciliation
commission to work out a compromise version of the legislation. The State Duma then
votes on the compromise bill. If the State Duma objects to the proposals of the upper
chamber in the conciliation process, it may vote by a two-thirds majority to send its version
to the president for signature. The part-time character of the Federation Council's work, its
less developed committee structure, and its lesser powers vis--vis the State Duma make it
more a consultative and reviewing body than a law-making chamber.

Because the Federation Council initially included many regional administrators appointed
by Yeltsin, that body often supported the president and objected to bills approved by the
State Duma, which had more anti-Yeltsin deputies. The power of the upper chamber to
consider bills passed by the lower chamber resulted in its disapproval of about one-half of
such bills, necessitating concessions by the State Duma or votes to override upper-chamber
objections. In February 1996, the heads of the two chambers pledged to try to break this
habit, but wrangling appeared to intensify in the months that followed.

The State Duma confirms the appointment of the prime minister, although it does not have
the power to confirm Government ministers. The power to confirm or reject the prime
minister is severely limited. According to the 1993 constitution, the State Duma must
decide within one week to confirm or reject a candidate once the president has placed that
person's name in nomination. If it rejects three candidates, the president is empowered to
appoint a prime minister, dissolve the parliament, and schedule new legislative elections.

The State Duma's power to force the resignation of the Government also is severely
limited. It may express a vote of no-confidence in the Government by a majority vote of all
members of the State Duma, but the president is allowed to disregard this vote. If,
however, the State Duma repeats the no-confidence vote within three months, the president
may dismiss the Government. But the likelihood of a second no-confidence vote is
 virtually precluded by the constitutional provision allowing the president to dissolve the
State Duma rather than the Government in such a situation. The Government's position is
further buttressed by another constitutional provision that allows the Government at any
time to demand a vote of confidence from the State Duma; refusal is grounds for the
president to dissolve the Duma.

The Legislative Process

Draft laws may originate in either legislative chamber, or they may be submitted by the
president, the Government, local legislatures, the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court,
or the Superior Court of Arbitration. Draft laws are first considered in 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.
Conciliation commissions are the prescribed procedure to work out differences in bills
considered by both chambers.

A constitutional provision dictating that draft laws dealing with revenues and expenditures
may be considered "only when the Government's findings are known" substantially limits
the Federal Assembly's control of state finances. However, the legislature may alter finance
legislation submitted by the Government at a later time, a power that provides a degree of
traditional legislative control over the purse.

The two chambers of the legislature also have the power to override a presidential veto of
legislation. The constitution provides a high hurdle for an override, however, requiring at
least a two-thirds vote of the total number of members of both chambers.

The Judiciary of Russia interprets and applies the law of Russia. It is defined under
the Constitution and law with a hierarchical structure with the Constitutional Court,Supreme Court,
and Supreme Court of Arbitration at the apex. The district courts are the primary criminal trial courts,
and the regional courts are the primary appellate courts. The judiciary is governed by the All-Russian
Congress of Judges and its Council of Judges, and its management is aided by the Judicial
Department of the Supreme Court, the Judicial Qualification Collegia, the Ministry of Justice, and the
various courts' chairpersons. And although there are many officers of the court, including jurors,
theProsecutor General remains the most powerful component of the Russian judicial system.

The judiciary faces many problems and a widespread lack of confidence but has also made much
progress in recent times. There have been serious violations of the accepted separation of
powers doctrine, systematic attempts to undermine jury trials, problems with access to justice,
problems with court infrastructure and financial support, and corruption. But the judiciary has also
 seen a fairer and more efficient administration, a strengthening of the rule of law, moves towards a
more adversarial system, and increased utilization of the justice system under Putin.

Contents
[hide]

1Courts
o 1.1Constitutional Court
o 1.2Supreme Court
o 1.3Regional courts
o 1.4District courts
o 1.5Arbitration courts
o 1.6Magistrate courts
2Administration
3Officers
o 3.1Judges
o 3.2Prosecutors
o 3.3Advocates
o 3.4Jurors
4Law
o 4.1Criminal procedure
5Analysis and criticism
6History
7See also
8Notes
9Further reading

Courts[edit]
Russia has a trifurcated court system, with constitutional, ordinary, and commercial courts. The
Constitutional Court of Russia is considered a separate, independent court. The district courts are
the primary criminaltrial courts, and the regional courts are the primary appellate courts.

The ordinary courts have a four-tiered hierarchy and are responsible for civil and criminal cases:

the Supreme Court of Russia

regional courts
district courts
magistrate courts

In 1995, the courts sentenced about 1 million people for criminal offenses, and considered 3 million
administrative offenses and 2.5 million civil cases.[1]

Constitutional Court[edit]
The Constitutional Court of Russia

The Constitutional Court of Russia ( ) is responsible

for cases concerning conformity with the Constitution, judicial disputes between 2 or more federal
bodies, between a federal body and a member of the Federation, and between members of the
Federation.[2] As such, it practices "constitutional review" (as differentiated from judicial review) and
decides whether federal laws, presidential decrees and directives, and local constitutions, charters,
and laws comply with the federal constitution, as well as treaties between the national government
and a regional governments and between regional governments.

It is composed of 19 judges, and may sit in plenary sessions but is otherwise divided into 2
chambers.[2] The Constitutional Court consists of two chambers with 10 and 9 judges respectively.
The Chairman presides over one of the chambers, the Deputy Chairman presides over the other
chamber.

Constitutionality of laws, disputes concerning competence of governmental

agencies, impeachment of the President of Russia, and Constitutional Court's proposals of
legislation must be dealt with by the plenary session. The Constitutional Court may also submit to
the plenary session any other issue at its discretion.

In general, the court hears cases referred by the President, the Federation Council, the State Duma,
one-fifth of the members of either chamber of the Federal Assembly, theGovernment, the Supreme
Court, or other bodies of legislative or executive authority.[2] It also hears complains by citizens of
allegations of constitutional rights violations.[2]

Supreme Court[edit]
The building of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation onPovarskaya Street

The Supreme Court of Russia ( ) is the highest court, and

supervises inferior courts of general jurisdiction.[3] It occasionally sits as acourt of first instance in
cases where important interests of state are at issue; in this case it normally consists of a judge and
a jury, but occasionally consists of three judges.[3]

There are 115 members of the Supreme Court.[4][5] At plenary sessions the Supreme Court studies
the judicial decisions of lower courts on various topics and adopts resolutions, which establish
recommendations on the interpretation of particular provisions of law for lower courts for uniform
application.

The Presidium of the Russian Supreme Court (

) represents Russia's final court of appeal.[6] The Presidium consists of thirteen judges:
the Chairman of the Supreme Court, its first deputy chairman, its six deputy chairmen and five other
Supreme Court judges.[4] Only the Prosecutor General has the right to appeal to the Presidium, and
as a result, very few criminal cases reviewed by the three-judge panels of the Supreme Court make
it to the Presidium.[6][4] Only 0.4% of criminal cases in 1998 ended with an acquittal in the
Presidium.[6][4]

The court is divided into several chambers or collegia (), and each chamber normally sits
with three judges:[3]

civil ( );
criminal ( );
military ( );
 administrative ( ); and
appeals ( ; formerly the cassation panel or ),
which can review decisions of the other chambers.

There are several entities attached to the Supreme Court. The Academic Consultative Council
(- ) assists the court
in various legal and academic matters and comprises members of the Supreme Court itself,
academics, practicing lawyers, and law enforcement officers. The members of the Academic
Consultative Council are elected at plenary sessions of the Supreme Court. The Judicial Department
is responsible for administration of the courts.[3]

Regional courts[edit]
See also: Subdivisions of Russia

Supreme Court of the Republic of Karelia in Petrozavodsk

Regional courts (also called kray courts and city courts) are the courts at the regional level, though
are not all named as such.[3] This includes the supreme courts of theRepublics of Russia, courts of
the krais (territories; or kray courts), courts of the oblasts (regions; ), city
courts of the federal cities of Russia(Moscow and Saint Petersburg), courts of the autonomous
oblasts, and courts of the autonomous okrugs.

The courts sit as both courts of first instance and appellate courts.[7] As courts of first instance, they
hear more complex civil cases and serious criminal cases.[7] A judge and a jury, or alternatively 3
judges, hear these cases.[7] As appellate courts, they hear decisions of district courts that have not
yet entered into force, and consist of 3 judges.[7]

District courts[edit]
See also: Raion

Kanashsky District Court inChuvashia

District courts ( or ; also called rayon or raion courts), which were

called People's Courts until 1996, are primarily courts of first instance but sometimes hear appeals
from magistrate courts.[7] They are formed in areas ( or rayons), urban areas (
), and cities (). Decisions of the court are appealed to the regional court.
As courts of first instance, they handle criminal cases where imprisonment is for more than 3 years,
and consist of 1 judge and a jury where required.[7][8] As courts of appeal from decisions of
the magistrate courts consisting of 1 justice of the peace, they consist of 1 judge and retry the case.[7]

Arbitration courts[edit]

An arbitration court of appeals inVologda

Arbitration courts ( ; also called arbitrazh or commercial courts) hear cases dealing
with a wide matter of contractual issues, such as rights of ownership, contract changes, performance
of obligations, loans, bank accounts, and bankruptcy.[9] They operate independently of the other
courts.[9] The system of arbitration courts is supervised 30-Judge Economic Collegium that is part of
an expanded Russian Supreme Court effective from August 8, 2014.

Magistrate courts[edit]
Magistrate courts ( ; also called Justices of the Peace Courts) handle criminal cases
where imprisonment is for less than three years such as petty hooliganism, public drunkenness, and
serious traffic violations of a non-criminal nature, minor civil cases such as simple divorces, some
property cases, disputes over land, and some labor cases, as well as some federal administrative
law cases.[7] The magistrate courts were expected to hear two-thirds of all civil cases and close to
100,000 criminal cases.[1] It consists of one magistrate or justice of the peace.[7]

Administration[edit]

The VIII All-Russian Congress of Judges in December 2012

Pursuant to the 2002 Federal Law on Organs of the Judicial Community, which is the legal basis for
the judicial organs of self-government, the All-Russian Congress of Judgesis the supreme body of
the judiciary.[10] The Congress elects the members of the Council of Judges, the self-government
body of the judiciary.[10]

The Judicial Department of the Supreme Court of Russia is responsible for administration of the
courts, such as selection and training of judicial candidates, working with law institutes, and
qualifications of judges and other court officers.[3] It is expected to enhance the independence of the
judicial branch.[11] It also supports the Council of Judges and the Supreme Qualifying Collegium.[11][12]

Judicial Qualification Collegia are bodies of judicial self-regulation that were established at the
regional (Judicial Qualification Collegia) and national (Supreme Qualification Collegium)
levels.[13] They play a key role in the appointment, promotion and dismissal of judges.[13]

Some judges serve as a court chairperson. The court chairperson is solely responsible for the
allocation of cases to judges, has considerable powers in the matters of appointment, and makes the
initial recommendation for disciplinary measures, in particular dismissal.[14]

Officers[edit]
See also: Education in Russia and List of law schools in Russia

Judges[edit]

Vyacheslav Lebedev, Chairman of the Supreme Court of Russia

Judges are appointed by the Federation Council,[9] and serve for life. Candidates are recommended
by the Qualification Collegia / Supreme Qualification Collegium to the President, who in turn
recommends candidates to the Federation Council.[9]

The judges of the Constitutional Court are nominated by the President and appointed by
the Federation Council for 12 years,[2] and the judges must be at least 40 years old and must retire at
70 years old.[2] The also must have served as a lawyer for at least 15 years and have a "recognized
high qualification" (quotation from Constitutional Court Act) in law.

The Russian Minister of Justice is responsible for appointing judges to regional and city courts;
however, in practice, many appointments below the national level still are made by the chief
executives of subnational jurisdictions.

Judges of the district courts are appointed by the President. A candidate must be at least 25 years
old, is expected to have received a higher legal education (commonly aspecialist degree), have at
least 5 years of experience in the legal profession, and pass an examination from the Ministry of
Justice.[9][15]

Justices of the peace are usually appointed by the regional legislature, but may also be
elected.[9] Justices of the peace require most of the same qualifications.[9]

Prosecutors[edit]
Yury Chaika, the Prosecutor General of Russia

The Prosecutor General of Russia is the highest prosecutor in Russia, and both he and his office are
independent from the executive, legislative and judicial branches of power. The Prosecutor General
remains the most powerful component of the Russian judicial system.[16]

The Prosecutor General is entrusted with:

1. prosecution in court on behalf of the State;

2. representation of the interests of a citizen or of the State in court in cases determined by law;
3. supervision of the observance of laws by bodies that conduct detective and search activity,
inquiry and pre-trial investigation;
4. supervision of the observance of laws in the execution of judicial decisions in criminal cases,
and also in the application of other measures of coercion related to the restraint of personal
liberty of citizens.

The Investigative Committee of Russia, sometimes described as the "Russian FBI", is the main
federal investigating authority in Russia, formed in place of the Investigative Committee of the
Prosecutor General in 2011.

The Prosecutor General is nominated by the President of Russia and appointed by the majority
of Federation Council for a term of five years. If the nomination fails, the President must nominate
another candidate within 30 days.[17] The resignation of the Prosecutor General before the end of his
term should be approved by both a majority of Federation Council and the President.

Advocates[edit]
Sergei Magnitsky, a Russianadvokat, or attorney, and an international cause clbre

The Russian legal profession is unregulated, but there have been moves towards unification and
regulation recently.[15] Anyone with a legal education can practice law, but only a member of
the Advokatura () may practice before a criminal court.[15] Legal education has
traditionally begun with the specialist degree in law ( ).[18] An
"advocate" is an attorney who has demonstrated qualification and belongs to an organizational
structure of advocates specified by law,[15] known as being "called to the bar" in commonwealth
countries.

An examination is administered by the qualifications commission of a court for admission to

its Advokatura.[15] To sit for the exam, one must have a higher legal education (commonly a specialist
degree) and either two years of experience in legal work or a training program in a law firm.[18][15] The
exam is both written and oral, but the main test is oral.[15] The qualifications commission is composed
of seven advocates, two judges, two representatives of the regional legislature, and two
representatives of the Ministry of Justice.[15]

In 1988 there were 25,000 lawyers,[19] and in 2002 there were 47,000 defense lawyers in all of
Russia.[20]

Jurors[edit]
A juror must be 25 years old, legally competent, and without a criminal record.[8]

Law[edit]
Main article: Law of Russia

The Faculty of Law building at Saint Petersburg State University

The judiciary is primarily regulated by the Constitution of Russia, the Code of Criminal Procedure,
and the 1996 Federal Constitutional Law on the Judicial System of the Russian Federation.[21] The
Constitution states that the judicial branch is independent of the legislative and executive
branches.[22]

There is no usage of precedent, as used in common law legal systems. As such, the law on appeal
may depend on the composition of the chamber deciding the appeal. A chamber normally consists of
3 judges, out of the dozens of judges within the court (19 in the Constitutional Court, 115 in the
Supreme Court). Without the legal principle ofstare decisis, for each case a chamber may come to a
different, even contradictory, conclusion, even compared to chambers within the same session. If
they come to relatively consistent decisions, those in civil law legal systems call this jurisprudence
constante.

Criminal procedure[edit]
Everyone has the right of legal assistance.[23] The accused have the right to a defense lawyer from
the time they are detained, put in custody, charged, or declared a suspect.[23][24] According to the
2001 Code of Criminal Procedure, defense lawyers can participate in investigations with the consent
of the prosecutor, meet privately with a client, collect evidence independently of the prosecutor,
identify defense witnesses, present expert witnesses, be present for all court procedures, access to
the prosecutions evidence after the investigation, and to file appeals regarding court procedures.[25]

For serious and specific crimes, the accused have the option of a jury trial consisting of 12
jurors.[8] The crimes that may be tried by a jury are murder, kidnapping, rape with aggravating
circumstances, child trafficking, gangsterism, large-scale bribery, treason, terrorism, public calls for
violent change in the constitutional system or for the seizure of power, and select other crimes
against the state.[8] The Constitution of Russia stipulates that, until the abolition of the death penalty,
all defendants in a case that may result in a death sentence are entitled to a jury trial.

Jurors are selected by the prosecution and defense from a list of 30-40 eligible candidates.[8] They
are similar to common law juries, and unlike lay judges, in that they sit separately from the judges
and decidequestions of fact alone while the judge determines questions of law.[8] They must return
unanimous verdicts during the first 3 hours of deliberation, but may return majority verdicts after that,
with 6 jurors being enough to acquit.[8] They may also request that the judge show leniency in
sentencing.[8]

Analysis and criticism[edit]

See also: Politics of Russia

The arbitrazh courts have been singled out as particularly effective in dealing with business
issues.[9] Also, the number of people seeking assistance of the judicial system has increased from 1
million under Yeltsin to 6 million under Putin.[9]
However, Transparency International found that 78% of respondents reported they did not expect to
find justice in the courts.[26] Both public perception and comments from senior judges point to bribery
as prevalent at the trial court level.[27]

There have been serious violations of the accepted separation of powers doctrine.[22] Constitutional
Court Judge and Council of Judges member Vladimir Yaroslavtsev, in a 2009 interview with the
Spanish newspaper El Pas, claimed that the presidential executive office and security services had
undermined judicial independence in Russia.[28] Constitutional Court Judge Anatoly Kononov, who
had frequently dissented from decisions taken by the majority of the court, in his interview to
Sobesednik supported Yaroslavtsev, claiming that there was no independent judiciary in Russia.[29]

There have been accusations of systematic attempts to undermine jury trials, including juror
intimidation and bribery, and systematic trial delays.[30] The number of jury trials remains small, at
about 600 per year, out of about 1 million trials.[30] Lawmakers are continuously chipping away at
what types of criminal offenses merit a jury trial.[30] Juries have granted acquittals in 15-20% of cases,
compared with less than 1% in cases decided by judges.[30] Juries may be dismissed and skeptical
juries have been dismissed on the verge of verdicts, and acquittals are frequently overturned by
higher courts.[30]

Compared to other industrialized nations, Russia has historically had a small number of lawyers in
relation to its population.[19] In 2002 there were 47,000 defense lawyers in all of Russia,[20] while the
courts sentenced about 1 million people for criminal offenses and considered 3 million administrative
offenses and 2.5 million civil cases,[1] and the Russian Census of 2002 put the resident population at
more than 145 million people. For a comparison to the United States, the number of active lawyers
practicing before the judiciary of California as of December 2012 was more than 179,000,[31] while
the 2010 United States Censusput the California population at more than 37 million people.

The court chairperson has sole discretion for allocation of court cases, and there is no systematic
procedure for allocation based on objective criteria.[14] There have been reports where the
chairperson always assigns sensitive cases to particular judges or transfers cases to another judge
during an ongoing trial.[14]

There have been allegations of corruption concerning the oral exam required for admission to
the Advokatura,[15] known as being "called to the bar" in commonwealth countries.

The crucial question of contemporary Russian judiciary is the specialisation of judges and courts.
One of the significant event on this topic was the International conference - First Siberian Legal
Forum "Specialisation of judges and courts: International experience and Russian perspective", held
in Tyumen city (October 1718, 2014) and organised by Tyumen State University and Dmitry
Maleshin[32]

History[edit]
Further information: Judicial system of the Russian Empire

Vera Zasulich, acquitted by jury trial in a well publicized case in 1878

Trial by jury was first introduced in the Russian Empire as a result of the Judicial reform of Alexander
II in 1864, and abolished after the October Revolution in 1917.[33] They were reintroduced in the
Russian Federation in 1993, and extended to another 69 regions in 2003.[33] Its reintroduction was
opposed by the Prosecutor General.[8] Magistrate courts were first created in 1864, abolished in
1917, and gradually reintroduced from 2001 to 2003.[7]

Lay judges were in use in the Soviet Union.[34] After a 1958 reform they were elected for 2 years at
general meetings of colleagues at their place of work or residence, or at higher levels appointed by
the soviet.[34] The incidents of lay judges overruling professional judges was rare, and was officially
reported in only 1 case by the late 1960s.[35]Unlike the juries of the United States, lay judges were not
selected from panels that are cross-sections of the entire population, but selected by institutions in
each district.[36]

On 25 May 2001, President Putin proposed the Federal Law "On Amending the Federal Law On the
Status of Judges In the Russian Federation",[37] which was passed by theDuma, and signed by
President Putin on 15 December 2001. The law introduced disciplinary and administrative
responsibility for judges. The Federal Law on Organs of the Judicial Community, which is the legal
basis for the judicial organs of self-government, was passed in 2002.[10]

Constitutional Court Judge and Council of Judges member Vladimir Yaroslavtsev, in a 2009
interview with the Spanish newspaper El Pas, claimed that the presidential executive
office and security services had undermined judicial independence in Russia.[28] Constitutional Court
Judge Anatoly Kononov, who had frequently dissented from decisions taken by the majority of the
court, in his interview to Sobesednik supported Yaroslavtsev, claiming that there was no
independent judiciary in Russia.[29] In October the Constitutional Court in an unprecedented motion
accused Yaroslavtsev of "undermining the authority of the judiciary" in violation of the judicial code,
and Yaroslavtsev eventually resigned from the Council of Judges but remained a judge; Kononov
resigned from the Constitutional Court on 1 January 2010, seven years ahead of schedule.

On the federal level, Russia elects a president as head of state and a legislature, one of the two
chambers of the Federal Assembly. The president is elected for, at most, two consecutive six-year
terms by the people (raised from four years from December 2008).[1] The Federal
Assembly (Federalnoe Sobranie) has two chambers. The State Duma (Gosudarstvennaja Duma)
has 450 members, elected for five-year terms (also four years up to December 2008), all of them
by proportional representation.[2] TheFederation Council (Sovet Federatsii) is not directly elected;
each of the 85 federal subjects of Russia sends 2 delegates to the Federal Council, for a total of 170
members.[3]

Since 1990, there have been six elections for the presidency and seven for parliament.

In the six presidential elections, only once, in 1996, has a second round been needed. There have
been three presidents, with Boris Yeltsin elected in 1991 and 1996,Vladimir Putin in 2000, 2004 and
2012 (Yeltsin had already relinquished power to Putin in 1999) and Dmitry Medvedev in 2008. The
Communist candidate (of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union or the Communist Party of the
Russian Federation) has finished second in every case: Nikolai Ryzhkov in 1991, Gennady
Zyuganov in 1996, 2000 and 2008 and 2012, and Nikolay Kharitonov in 2004. Only in 1996 has
there been a third candidate who gained more than 10% of the votes in the first round, Alexander
Lebed.

In the parliamentary elections, the Communist Party was the largest party in the 1995 and 1999
elections, with 35% and 24% of the votes respectively. The Liberal Democratic Party of Russia has
ranged from 5 to 15% of the votes, and Yabloko won 10% of the votes in 1995 and around 5% in the
other three elections. The only other parties that have achieved more than 10% of the votes have
been Democratic Choice of Russia with 16% in 1993, Our Home Russia with 12% in 1995, and, in
1999, Unitywith 23%, Fatherland All Russia with 13% and People's Deputies Faction with
15%. United Russia, an alliance of Unity and Fatherland All Russia, became the biggest party with
38% in 2003.

Law making process in russia

The right of legislative initiative belongs to the Russian President, the Federal Assembly,
the Government of Russia and the legislative bodies of the subjects of the Russian
Federation. Official organisations of state power and local self-government, citizens and
their associations must obey the laws and the Constitution of the Russian Federation. The
laws must be officially promulgated. Unpublished laws are not applicable. No legal act
affecting the rights, freedoms or duties of the people may be applied unless it has been
published officially for general knowledge.
Draft laws are introduced in the State Duma. Federal laws passed and adopted by the
State Duma are submitted within 5 days for examination by the Federation Council. A
federal law is considered to have been approved by the Federation Council if more than
half of the total number of deputies have voted for it or if the Federation Council does
not examine it within 14 days. In the event the Federation Council rejects the federal
law, the chambers may set up a conciliatory commission to settle the differences, after
which the federal law shall be reconsidered by the State Duma.
In the event the State Duma disagrees with the decision of the Federation Council, the
federal law is considered to have been adopted if, in the second reading, not less than
two-thirds of the total number of the deputies of the State Duma have voted in favour of
it. Then the federal law is sent to the President for his signature and after that it must be
published within 5 days.
If the President of the Russian Federation rejects a federal law within 14 days of
receiving it, both the State Duma and the Federation Council shall reconsider that law in
accordance with the procedure established by the Russian Constitution. If upon
reconsideration the law is approved in the previously adopted wording by a majority of
not less than two-thirds of the total number of members of the Federation Council and of
deputies of the State Duma, it must be signed by the President within 7 days and
promulgated. The President may veto the draft law.
The work of the Government of Russia is controlled by federal constitutional law. It is
ratified on matters specified in the Constitution of the Russian Federation. In case of a
federal constitutional law it is considered to have been adopted if a majority of at least
three quarters of the members of the Federation Council and two-thirds of the deputies
of the State Duma have approved it. Then it must be signed by the President within 14
days and published. Federal laws may not go against the Russian Constitution and
federal constitutional laws.