: A Guide to Legal Research in Russia
By Arina V. Popova and Lev S. Solovyev
Arina V. Popova earned her Master of Laws degree (LLM) at the New York University School of Law (2006). She received her law degree (J.D.) in 2005 from St. Petersburg State University School of Law, Russia. Lev S. Solovyev is a Ph.D. candidate (2006). He holds a J.D. (2003) from St. Petersburg State University School of Law, Russia.
Published July 2006
Table of Contents
I. Russia – General Information
B. Language, Religion, Currency
II. Political System and the Governmental Structure
A. Democratic and Federal State
B. Separation and Balancing of Powers
C. State and Local Self-Government Authorities
1. State Authorities of the Russian Federation
2. State Authorities of the Subjects of the Russian Federation
3. Local Self-Government Authorities
III. The State Authorities of the Russian Federation
A. The President of the Russian Federation
1. The Role and Effective President of Russia
2. The Requirements to be a President of Russia
3. The President's Major Powers
B. The Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation
3. The Council of the Federation
C. The Government of the Russian Federation
D. The Judicial System of the Russian Federation
3. Courts of General Jurisdiction
4. Commercial ("Arbitrazh") Courts
IV. Regional State Authorities
B. The Constitution of the Russian Federation
D. Federal Constitutional Laws
G. Degrees and Orders of the President of the Russian Federation
I. Regional Laws and Regulations
VI. Legal Education and Career in Russia
5. Lawyers at Consulting Companies
VII. Doing Business in Russia Guides
The Russian Federation, or Russia[1], is the largest country in the world, bordering a number of the European countries (including Poland and the Baltic countries) to the west, Finland and the Arctic Ocean to the north, Asian countries (including China) to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the east.
The population of the Russian Federation is approximately 144 million people. The capital of Russia is Moscow (with a population of approximately 9 million people). The so-called "cultural" and historical capital is St. Petersburg (with a population of approximately 4.5 million people).
The Russian language is the official state language of the Russian Federation. English is taught widely and is the principal foreign language in the Russian Federation.
Orthodox Christianity remains the main religion.
The ruble (RUR) is the national currency of the Russian Federation.
The National Flag (English access) of the Russian Federation is a rectangular cloth of three equal horizontal stripes: the uppermost is white, the middle is blue and the bottom is red.
The National Anthem (English access) is one of the official state symbols of the Russian Federation. The Anthem’s words reflect feelings of patriotism and respect for the country’s history.
The State Emblem (English access) of the Russian Federation is an official state symbol. The double-headed eagle has regained its status as the centerpiece of Russia's State Emblem, testifying to the continuity of Russian history.
After the demise of the age-old Tsarist regime in the revolutions of 1917, Russia (and in turn the Soviet Union) was controlled by the Communist Party. The collapse of the USSR in 1991 presented modern Russia with numerous serious hurdles to overcome, such as the development of a fully democratic political system and a Western-based market economy[2].
At present, Russia is a democratic, federal state with a republican form of government consisting of 89 Regions (a straightforward translation is "Subjects of the Russian Federation") independent from each other. At the same time, the federal structure of the Russian Federation is based on its state integrity.
89 Subjects of the Russian Federation are:
· 21 Republics;
· 7 territories;
· 48 regions;
· 2 cities of federal importance (Moscow and St. Petersburg);
· the Jewish autonomous region; and
· 9 autonomous areas.
The Subjects of the Russian Federation have their own constitutions/charters and legislation, as well as their own regional state authorities.
In addition to the division of the Russian Federation into 89 Subjects of the Russian Federation, there are also municipalities within the bounds of the latter.
The state authorities in the Russian Federation are separated into legislative, executive and judicial authorities, which are independent from each other.
The state power is also divided between the state bodies of the Russian Federation and the state bodies of the Subjects of the Russian Federation.
The State Authorities of the Russian Federation are:
· the President of the Russian Federation;
· the Federal Assembly (the State Duma, the lower chamber, and the Council of the Federation, the upper chamber);
· the Government of the Russian Federation and relevant executive authorities; and
· Courts of the Russian Federation.
The state power in the Subjects of the Russian Federation is exercised by the state authorities elected by their respective population. Those authorities are regional legislative, executive, and judicial authorities.
The power within the municipalities is exercised by the local self-government authorities, which are independent from the state authorities. The limits of their power are prescribed by federal laws.
The President of the Russian Federation (English access) is the head of the State who determines the guidelines of the State's internal and foreign policies.
The current Russian President is Vladimir V. Putin (English access), who was elected President of Russia on March 26, 2000 and inaugurated as president on May 7, 2000. He was re-elected President of Russia on March 14, 2004.
Any citizen of the Russian Federation not younger than 35 years of age and with a permanent residence record in the Russian Federation of not less than 10 years may be elected President of the Russian Federation.
The President of the Russian Federation is elected for four years by citizens of the Russian Federation. The same person may not be elected for more than two terms running. Therefore, Vladimir V. Putin may not be elected to be the President of Russia next time in 2008.
The President of the Russian Federation has a right to:
· appoint (provided that there is a consent of the State Duma) the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation;
· to chair meetings of the Government of the Russian Federation;
· present to the Council of the Federation candidates for appointment as judges of the Highest Courts of the Russian Federation, as well as appoint judges of other federal courts;
· dissolve the State Duma in certain cases;
· submit bills to the State Duma, sign (with a "veto" right) and make public the federal laws; and
· issue decrees and orders related to a great number of spheres, which are obligatory for fulfillment in the whole territory of the Russian Federation (Those decrees and orders shall not, however, run counter to the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the federal laws).
The President of the Russian Federation may be impeached by the Council of the Federation on the basis of the charges of high treason or another grave crime, advanced by the State Duma and followed by the conclusions of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation.
There was no precedent of impeachment in Russia.
The Federal Assembly is a parliament of the Russian Federation working on a permanent basis and consisting of two chambers – the State Duma (the lower chamber) and the Council of the Federation (the upper chamber).
The State Duma and the Council of the Federation have separate sittings.
The State Duma (Russian access) is the lower chamber of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.
The State Duma consists of 450 deputies elected for a term of four years. A citizen of the Russian Federation over 21 years of age may be elected deputy of the State Duma.
State Duma sets up committees and commissions, holds parliamentary hearings on issues in its authority.
The composition of the State Duma is not based on a bipartisan system like legislative authorities in the USA. Four major parties are represented at the State Duma at the moment: the pro-presidential party "Edinaya Rossia" (Russian access) (68,67%), Communist Party (Russian access) (10,22%), Liberal Democrats Party (Russian access) (7,78%) and "Rodina" Party (Russian access) (6,44%).
The State Duma has the following major authorities:
· adoption of the federal constitutional laws and the federal laws, which are the main sources of law in the Russian Federation;
· approving the appointment of the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation by the President of the Russian Federation; and
· advancing charges against the President of the Russian Federation for his impeachment.
The Council of the Federation (English access) is the upper chamber of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation consisting of two representatives from each Subject of the Russian Federation: one from the legislative and one from the executive body of the respective regional state authorities.
The Council of the Federation sets up committees and commissions, and holds parliamentary hearings on issues in its authority.
The Council of the Federation has the following major authorities:
· approval of the federal constitutional laws and the federal laws adopted by the State Duma;
· approval of changes in borders between the Subjects of the Russian Federation;
· impeachment of the President of the Russian Federation;
· appointment of judges of the Highest Courts of the Russian Federation; and
· appointment and dismissal of the Prosecutor-General of the Russian Federation.
The power to initiate bills belongs to:
· the President of the Russian Federation;
· the Council of the Federation and its members;
· the deputies of the State Duma;
· the Government of the Russian Federation, and
· the legislative bodies of the Subjects of the Russian Federation.
In addition, the power to initiate bills belongs to the Highest Courts of the Russian Federation on the issues within their authority.
Bills are considered and adopted by the State Duma. After their adoption, bills are considered to be approved by the Council of the Federation.
After that, the adopted bills are submitted to the President of the Russian Federation for signing and making them public. The President of the Russian Federation has a right to impose a veto on the bill, which, however, may be overcome by a qualified majority of votes of both deputies of the State Duma and members of the Council of the Federation.
Laws shall be officially published for general knowledge either in the "The Russian Newspaper" (only recent legislative acts in Russian are available on the web-site), or "The Collection of Laws of the Russian Federation" Magazine (only the names of recently enacted legislative acts in Russian are available on the web-site), or "The Parliamentary Newspaper" (only recent legislative acts in Russian are available on the web-site).
Unpublished laws are not effective.
The executive power in Russia is exercised by the Government of the Russian Federation (Russian access) and the relevant executive authorities.
The Government of the Russian Federation consists of its Chairman (appointed by the President of the Russian Federation with the consent of the State Duma of the Russian Federation), Deputy Chairman(s) and federal ministries. The Government of the Russian Federation is resigned before each newly elected President of the Russian Federation.
The Government of the Russian Federation has the regulatory and supervisory powers in the areas of finance, state budget, culture, science, education, health protection, social security and ecology, the federal property, the defence of the country, the state security, the foreign policy of the Russian Federation, human rights and freedoms, public order and crime control.
The Government of the Russian Federation may issue decisions and orders obligatory for fulfillment on the territory of the Russian Federation, which, however, must comply with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal laws and decrees of the President of the Russian Federation.
The Ministries at the Government of the Russian Federation are:
· The Ministry of Internal Affairs (English access);
· The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (English access);
· The Ministry of Justice (Russian access);
· The Ministry for Economic Development and Trade (English access);
· The Ministry of Finance (Russian access);
· The Ministry for Transportation (Russian access);
· The Ministry for Agriculture (Russian access);
· The Ministry for Regional Development (Russian access);
· The Ministry of Industry and Energy (Russian access);
· The Ministry of Natural Resources (English access);
· The Ministry of Education and Science (Russian access);
· The Ministry of Defence (Russian access);
· The Ministry of Culture and Mass Communications (Russian access);
· The Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications (English access);
· The Ministry for Health and Social Development (Russian access); and
· The Ministry for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Disaster Management (Russian access).
Justice in the Russian Federation is administered by courts alone and exercised by means of constitutional, civil, administrative and criminal proceedings.
The judicial system consists of three types of courts:
· constitutional courts;
· courts of general jurisdiction; and
· specialized state commercial courts, named "arbitrazh" courts.
The constitutional courts include the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation (Russian access) and constitutional courts of the Subjects of the Russian Federation.
The main function of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation is to resolve issues with regard to the compliance of laws and regulations with the Constitution of the Russian Federation.
Constitutional courts of the Subjects of the Russian Federation have similar functions with regard to compliance of regional acts with respective regional constitutions and charters.
There is a four-tiered hierarchical system of courts of general jurisdiction acting through the whole territory of Russia with the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation (mainly Russian access) as the supreme judicial body of this branch.
Courts of general jurisdiction hear (i) civil cases with participation of individuals, (ii) criminal cases, and (iii) disputes between individuals and state authorities.
In addition to settling particular disputes, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation issues regularly general court rulings serving as explanations on the matters of judicial practice which are binding on the courts of general jurisdiction of the lower instances.
Commercial disputes in Russia are heard by arbitrazh courts, which have a four-tier, hierarchical system:
· the first level is the federal arbitrazh courts located in each Subject of the Russian Federation;
· the second level is 20 arbitrazh appellate courts;
· the third level is 10 federal district arbitrazh courts;
· the Supreme Arbitrazh Court of the Russian Federation (English access), that is the superior judicial body for deciding commercial disputes.
Similar to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, in addition to settling particular disputes, the Supreme Arbitrazh Court of the Russian Federation issues regularly general court rulings serving as explanations on the matters of judicial practice, which are binding on the arbitrazh courts of the lower instances.
Parties may also refer commercial disputes to the tribunals of private arbitration (both ad hoc and institutional) serving as an alternative to the state courts.
International commercial arbitration is mainly regulated by the Law of the Russian Federation "On International Commercial Arbitration" (English access), dated July 7, 1993, identical to the Model UNCITRAL Law.
The most effective and popular international commercial arbitration courts in Russia are the International Commercial Arbitration Court at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation (Russian and English access), the Maritime Arbitration Committee (Russian access), and the International Commercial Arbitration Court at the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry (mainly Russian access).
The system of state bodies of the Subjects of the Russian Federation is established by the Subjects of the Russian Federation independently, however, in accordance with the general principles of the organization of representative and executive state bodies established by federal laws.
Therefore, the state power in the Subjects of the Russian Federation has been traditionally exercised by the regional executive and legislative bodies elected by the population of those Subjects.
However, at present, due to the legislative changes initiated by Vladimir V. Putin to reduce the influence of regional state authorities, the governors of the Subjects of the Russian Federation are nominated by the President of Russia and approved by the regional legislative bodies. This strengthens the state integrity of the Russian Federation and makes the Subjects of the Russian Federation more dependent on the federal state authorities.
The Russian Federation is a civil law country. It means that legislative acts are the sources of law, which have a primary role, whereas court decisions, contrary to the basics of Anglo-Saxon legal system, are not regarded as the sources of law.
The Constitution of the Russian Federation (English access / Russian access) has the supreme judicial force, direct action and is used on the whole territory of the Russian Federation.
Laws and other legal acts adopted in the Russian Federation may not contradict the Constitution of the Russian Federation.
The current Constitution of the Russian Federation was adopted at referendum on December 12, 1993.
International treaties to which the Russian Federation is a party are an integral part of the Russian legal system.
If an international treaty provides for other rules than those envisaged by law, the rules of the international treaty shall be applied.
Any laws in the Russian Federation may not contradict to the federal constitutional laws. Federal constitutional laws are adopted only on the issues exclusively envisaged by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, such as:
· the state of emergency in the Russian Federation;
· the admission to the Russian Federation and the creation therein of new Subjects of the Russian Federation;
· changes in the status of the Subjects of the Russian Federation;
· description and rules of official use of the state flag, coat of arms and anthem of the Russian Federation;
· referendum in the Russian Federation;
· the regime of the martial law;
· appointment and dismissal of the Commissioner for human rights in the Russian Federation;
·