At the moment, Russia is an integral legal state that exists on the basis of the established regulatory system. This factor is very positive, because it causes many reform processes in our country. Of course, the current legal regime in the Russian Federation did not always exist. Previously, power in the state rested on the unity of command of the monarchs, and later on of the ruling Soviet elite.
Everything changed with the collapse of the USSR. The Russian Federation became a fully independent power, which allowed the creation of a large number of institutions, analogues of which exist in the democratic countries of the West. The RF managed to achieve quite significant progress in the judicial system. This is evidenced by the development of this sector of activity, as well as the presence of a body that refers to it and has a wide range of powers. Such today is the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, the competence of which will be discussed later.
Separation of power: features of the principle
To understand what constitutes the competence of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, it is necessary to consider the origins of the eponymous branch of government. As mentioned earlier, power in Russia has not always been structured as it is today. Until 1991, governance in our country was formed at the expense of the ruling elite or one person, who was the monarch. However, the second half of the 20th century showed instability of such a form of power.
It became clear that democratic trends are increasingly connected with the legal system of the state. Therefore, from the moment of its secession, the Russian Federation has taken the path of all kinds of support for pluralism of opinions, parties and freedom of speech. The democratization of society also found its echo in the process of building a country's governance system. This was confirmed by the appearance of three branches of government, one of which was judicial.
The concept of the Constitutional Court
In Russia, almost all branches of government have a single supreme body. For example, the legislative sphere is regulated by the Parliament, the executive is regulated by the Cabinet, etc. At the same time, there are many misconceptions regarding the judicial branch of government. The bottom line is that the constitutional authority, the features of which will be indicated below, although it is included in the judicial line of management, does not head it. However, this department is endowed with a large number of exclusive powers, which other structures do not have.
Thus, the Constitutional Court is an absolutely independent body that exercises a special type of control, is in charge of the branch of the same name, and also carries out a specific type of legal proceedings.
Key Features
Given all the points presented, we can highlight the most obvious specific aspects of the structure mentioned in the article. They will help to understand the essence, as well as to study the powers of the Constitutional Court. So, the organ presented earlier has the following features:
- enters into the judicial system of Russia, but does not lead it;
- is an exclusive entity authorized to carry out constitutional proceedings;
- the competence of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation is not duplicated by other bodies;
- organ formation occurs through the use of a specific procedure;
- It has a separate regulatory framework (Federal Law "On the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation"), etc.
The presented features prove the uniqueness of the department mentioned in the article and its relative isolation.
Regulatory framework
There is a system of official acts, the provisions of which govern the work of this authority. These include:
- Constitution of the Russian Federation;
- Federal Law “On the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation”.
The first regulatory document establishes the basis of the legal status of the body. The second reveals its systemic features, the procedure for recruiting employees, etc.
Body structure
The competence of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation is largely due to its internal system. The bottom line is that the body includes a limited number of employees. To date, the staff of the people working in the Constitutional Court is 249 people, while only 19 of them are judges. The key figure of the entire department is the chairman. The Law on the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation provides statements on the procedure for its appointment. Thus, the chairman becomes such only after the person is presented by the president directly to the Federation Council. Pick the rest composition of the court is the same. The Law on the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation allows re-election of the chairman of this body for a new term. This rule also applies to his deputies.
Competence of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation
Thus, the represented body is an exclusive agency, the powers of which have their own peculiarity. In order to more fully understand the competence of the Constitutional Court, it is necessary to note the fact that its capabilities are divided into three large groups. This classification is conditional and deduced doctrinally. Nevertheless, it helps to understand the essence of the competence of the department referred to in the article. Thus, today there are the following groups of powers:
- related to the solution of specific cases;
- related to the resolution of disputes on competence;
- other powers.
Rights of the Constitutional Court in the field of solving specific cases
The key moment of the activity of the body described in the article is the fact that it is the subject of constitutional proceedings. In accordance with the powers given by the law, the department resolves cases in which the question of compliance with the provisions of the basic law of Russia is raised:
- legal acts of higher legal force;
- NPA of the subjects of Russia;
- agreements concluded between the Russian Federation and its subjects;
- international legal agreements that have not entered into legal force on the territory of Russia.
Thus, the represented body can recognize any normative act as one that does not meet the provisions of the fundamental law of our state. This entails its cancellation and the loss of all legal force. The decision of the Constitutional Court in such matters is final.
Dispute Resolution Powers
The key task of the judicial system as a whole is to satisfy the interests of certain parties that enter into a certain confrontation with each other. In this case, the Constitutional Court is authorized to resolve disputes that arise between:
- federal government departments;
- federal authorities and governing bodies subjects of federation;
- top governing bodies.
It should be noted that in all cases presented, disputes should relate to the competence of the said departments. Only in this case will they be subordinate to the Constitutional Court.
Other powers of the department
Besides the rights presented earlier, the decision of the Constitutional Court of Russia can also be made on a number of other issues.For example, the competence of this body includes the right to interpret normative acts, which it exercises on the basis of requests from the President, Parliament and Government of the Russian Federation. In addition, the body is authorized to:
- give an opinion on the full observance of the rule of law when bringing charges against the head of state;
- act as a legislative initiator;
- carry out constitutional review in Russia, etc.
Normative acts of the Constitutional Court
In its activities, the said body creates special official acts that have legal force. In accordance with Article 71 of the corresponding Federal Law, a decision of the Constitutional Court may be issued in such forms as:
- conclusion;
- definition;
- ruling of the Constitutional Court.
All of them are issued depending on the issues considered by the body.
Conclusion
So, in the article we examined the concept, structure and positions of judges of the Constitutional Court. It should be noted that today the body is a very effective control agency in Russia. Let's hope that in the future this trend will not decline.
