Legal System of Russia

Russia is located in Central Asia. It is geographically situated in north asia bordering the arctic ocean, extending from eastern europe (the portion west of the urals) to the north pacific ocean. The country achieved independence on 25 december 1991 (from the soviet union; russian sfsr renamed russian federation); notable earlier dates: 1157 (principality of vladimir-suzdal created); 16 january 1547 (tsardom of muscovy established); 22 october 1721 (russian empire proclaimed); 30 december 1922 (soviet union established). The capital is Moscow.

Government Overview

Government Type: semi-presidential federation Chief of State: President Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN (since 7 May 2012) Head of Government: Premier Mikhail Vladimirovich MISHUSTIN (since 16 January 2020) Cabinet: the government is composed of the premier, his deputies, and ministers, all appointed by the president; the premier is also confirmed by the Duma Administrative Divisions: 46 provinces (oblasti, singular - oblast), 21 republics (respubliki, singular - respublika), 4 autonomous districts (avtonomnyye okrugi, singular - avtonomnyy okrug), 9 federal subjects (kraya, singular - kray), 2 federal cities (goroda, singular - gorod), and 1 autonomous province (avtonomnaya oblast’)

oblasts: Amur (Blagoveshchensk), Arkhangelsk, Astrakhan, Belgorod, Bryansk, Chelyabinsk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Kaliningrad, Kaluga, Kemerovo, Kirov, Kostroma, Kurgan, Kursk, Leningrad (Gatchina), Lipetsk, Magadan, Moscow, Murmansk, Nizhniy Novgorod, Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Orenburg, Orel, Penza, Pskov, Rostov, Ryazan, Sakhalin (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk), Samara, Saratov, Smolensk, Sverdlovsk (Yekaterinburg), Tambov, Tomsk, Tula, Tver, Tyumen, Ulyanovsk, Vladimir, Volgograd, Vologda, Voronezh, Yaroslavl

republics: Adygeya (Maykop), Altay (Gorno-Altaysk), Bashkortostan (Ufa), Buryatiya (Ulan-Ude), Chechnya (Groznyy), Chuvashiya (Cheboksary), Dagestan (Makhachkala), Ingushetiya (Magas), Kabardino-Balkariya (Nal’chik), Kalmykiya (Elista), Karachayevo-Cherkesiya (Cherkessk), Kareliya (Petrozavodsk), Khakasiya (Abakan), Komi (Syktyvkar), Mariy-El (Yoshkar-Ola), Mordoviya (Saransk), North Ossetia (Vladikavkaz), Sakha [Yakutiya] (Yakutsk), Tatarstan (Kazan), Tyva (Kyzyl), Udmurtiya (Izhevsk)

autonomous districts: Chukotka (Anadyr’), Khanty-Mansi-Yugra (Khanty-Mansiysk), Nenets (Nar’yan-Mar), Yamalo-Nenets (Salekhard)

federal subjects: Altay (Barnaul), Kamchatka (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy), Khabarovsk, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Perm, Primorskiy [Maritime] (Vladivostok), Stavropol, Zabaykalsk [Transbaikal] (Chita)

federal cities: Moscow [Moskva], Saint Petersburg [Sankt-Peterburg]

autonomous province: Yevreyskaya [Jewish] (Birobidzhan) National Holiday: Russia Day, 12 June (1990) Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Legal System

The legal system of Russia is described as civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts International Law: has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt

Constitutional Framework

The constitution has the following history: several previous (during Russian Empire and Soviet era); latest drafted 12 July 1993, adopted by referendum 12 December 1993, effective 25 December 1993 Amendment Process: proposed by the president of the Russian Federation, by either house of the Federal Assembly, by the government of the Russian Federation, or by legislative (representative) bodies of the Federation’s constituent entities; proposals to amend the government’s constitutional system, human and civil rights and freedoms, and procedures for amending or drafting a new constitution require formation of a Constitutional Assembly; passage of such amendments requires two-thirds majority vote of its total membership; passage in a referendum requires participation of an absolute majority of eligible voters and an absolute majority of valid votes; approval of proposed amendments to the government structure, authorities, and procedures requires approval by the legislative bodies of at least two thirds of the Russian Federation’s constituent entities

Judicial Branch

Highest Court(s): Supreme Court of the Russian Federation (consists of 170 members organized into the Judicial Panel for Civil Affairs, the Judicial Panel for Criminal Affairs, and the Military Panel); Constitutional Court (consists of 11 members, including the chairperson and deputy) Judge Selection: all members of Russia’s 3 highest courts nominated by the president and appointed by the Federation Council (the upper house of the legislature); members of all 3 courts appointed for life Subordinate Courts: regional (kray) and provincial (oblast) courts; Moscow and St. Petersburg city courts; autonomous province and district courts (the 21 Russian republics have court systems specified by their own constitutions)

Legislative Branch

The legislative structure consists of bicameral Note: note 1: the State Duma now includes 3 representatives from the “Republic of Crimea,” while the Federation Council includes 2 each from the “Republic of Crimea” and the “Federal City of Sevastopol,” both regions that Russia occupied and attempted to annex from Ukraine and that the US does not recognize as part of Russia Lower Chamber: State Duma (Gossoudarstvennaya Duma) (450 (all directly elected) seats) Electoral System (Lower Chamber): mixed system Upper Chamber: Council of the Federation (Soviet Federatsii)

Citizenship and Suffrage

Citizenship by Birth: no Citizenship by Descent: at least one parent must be a citizen of Russia Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Historical Background

Founded in the 12th century, the Principality of Muscovy emerged from over 200 years of Mongol domination (13th-15th centuries) and gradually conquered and absorbed surrounding principalities. In the early 17th century, a new ROMANOV dynasty continued this policy of expansion across Siberia to the Pacific. Under PETER I (1682-1725), hegemony was extended to the Baltic Sea and the country was renamed the Russian Empire.

This article provides a summary of the legal system and governmental structure of Russia based on the CIA World Factbook. The Factbook is a public domain publication of the United States Central Intelligence Agency.