Prospects for normative control in the subjects of the Russian Federation after the 2020 amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation

About the authors:

Alexandr V. Savoskin, Dr. Sci. (Jur.), Associate Professor, Head of the Department of Constitutional and International Law, Ural State University of Economics (Yekaterinburg); Professor of the Department of Constitutional Law, Ural State Law University named after V. F. Yakovleva (Yekaterinburg); savoskinav@yandex.ru; ORCID: 0000-0002-7112-6845Vitali V. Kuriatnikov, Associate Professor of the Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law, South Ural State University (Chelyabinsk); kuryatnikov74@gmail.com; ORCID:0000-0002-1092-3111Veronika A. Meshcheryagina, Cand. Sci. (Jur.), Associate Professor, Associate Professor of the Department of Constitutional and International Law, Ural State University of Economics (Yekaterinburg); metsheryagina@yandex.ru; ORCID: 0000-0001-9507-9417

Abstract:

Prior to the amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation in 2020, three types of courts could carry out normative control in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation: the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, constitutional (charter) courts of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and courts of general jurisdiction. Amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation led to amendments to the Federal Constitutional Law “On the Judicial System of the Russian Federation”. The constitutional (statutory) courts of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation were abolished. The competence of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation to verify the normative acts of the authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation on complaints from citizens was expanded. The partial overlap of competence between the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, courts of general jurisdiction and constitutional (charter) courts of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation has disappeared. However, the issue of verification of normative acts arose if these acts were adopted by the authorities of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation within the exclusive jurisdiction of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation (based on Article 73 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. The Federal Constitutional Law “On the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation” expressly prohibits verification of such normative acts by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. Verification of such acts in courts of general jurisdiction is not formally prohibited by the Code of Administrative Procedure of the Russian Federation, but contradicts the federal nature of the state and Article 73 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. They cannot invalidate contested acts, but they can use other mechanisms to ensure the regime of constitutional and legal legality in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

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