1.1. Greetings. Aims and Objectives of the Course

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Del curso dictado por Saint Petersburg State University

Constitutional Reforms in Russia

24 calificaciones

Saint Petersburg State University

Constitutional Reforms in Russia

24 calificaciones

The course prepared by one of the best Russian experts in constitutional law will focus on political, economic and cultural dimensions of the Russian constitutional system. Historical background of constitutional reforms and today developments will be discussed, basing on concrete examples of these developments. The course will both observe the specific of the Russian constitutional system in comparison to the other constitutional systems and penetrate into the key characteristics of the Russian constitution. Since adoption of the current Russian constitution of 1993 this constitutional system made a great evolution. The course will help to understand what ideas and concepts stand behind the Russian politics, both domestic and international, which principles lie in the basement of the legal framework for cultural, political and economic life of the Russian society. Foreigners and Russians see the Russian constitutional system in the «distorting mirror» of mass media; both of them need professional analysis of how the legal, governmental and economic systems are designed in Russia. The course will present this kind of analysis by a Russian scholar, familiar to contemporary development of constitutionalism in the world, who is able to present the view from inside Russia, but to position the Russian constitutional system in the a wide context of the world constitutionalism. On the finishing this course the students will: 1. make analysis of legislative and judicial acts, taken by Russian state authorities in the context of the Russian constitution, its main values and basic principles 2. to give expert assistance for interaction with the Russian government structures in a wide range of political and economic questions Know: 1. the specific of the Russian constitution, Russian legal, political and economic system 2. the history of forming and development of the contemporary constitutional system of Russia Have the capacity to: 1. better understand of political, economic and legal processes in Russia 2. make prognosis of the development of the Russian legislation and judicial practice, the reaction of the Russian state bodies to events in the world and to the decisions made by foreign states and international organizations

De la lección

Modul 1. Introduction

1.1. Greetings. Aims and Objectives of the Course10:56

1.2. Soviet Ideology, Politics, Law and the Constitution12:53

1.3. Perestroyka of 1980s10:11

1.4. Adoption of the New Constitution and Making Design of the New State in 1990s11:43

1.5. Embodying the New Principles in the Legal and Government Systems in 2000-2010s12:14

Conoce a los instructores

Sergei A. Belov
Associate Professor of Constitutional Law, Candidate of law (PhD)
Department of State and Administrative Law, Law Faculty

Today we start our course about constitutional reforms in Russia.

Through constitutional development of Russian Federation,

we will try to analyze what changes in

political and economical system of

the Russian Federation occurred during the last decades.

The law will be those lands through which we will try to analyze these social changes.

Maybe you didn't know that the most

known and one of the most important persons in the 20th century,

history of the Russian Federation,

Vladimir Lenin and Mikhail Gorbachev, both were lawyers,

and there are reforms which they start in Russia in final,

and I mention were somehow

reflected in the Russian legislation and in the Russian constitution.

Vladimir Putin, the leader of Russia today and the leader of Russia in 21st century,

is also a lawyer and he was SIU student,

he studied in St. Petersburg State University,

so, he was gradated from the Law Faculty of this university.

And this means that many social changes which occur in Russia more or less

are reflected in our Constitution and in our legal system.

Through these principles, through those norms which reflect great social changes,

we will try to look on how Russian society changed during these great reforms,

occurred since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991,

and how it was developed afterwards,

the economic and political system in Russia.

It is well known opinion that

the law does not play an important role in the Russian society,

and many people believe that in Russia we don't have

any influence of the legal principles on the organization of political and economic life.

We will talk about this more detail later,

but for starting this talk,

I would note that many decisions taken in

political and economic sphere in the final form were legal decisions.

They were not those legal principles which completely

corresponds the legal ideas in the Western democracies,

but any decisions which were taken by government organs in the Russian Federation,

more or less got the legal form and were

reflected in the text of the Constitution and in the text of legislative acts.

The Russian Constitutional Court was very much involved in

most public discussions on the decisions taken by the Russian authorities,

especially during the last years.

And these also meant that any decision was

examined through the legal principles and legal norms.

Any decision which reform

political or economic system of the Russian state and of the Russian society,

finally was checked by the Constitutional Court and on this matter,

all these questions were the issue for legal analysis.

This means that we can see on

the legal regulation as on

the mirror reflecting all the changes occurring in the Russian society,

and we will do this in our course.

I would mention that the situation in Russia,

in the Russian law,

in the Russian legal system,

sometimes is quite radically different seen from outside Russia and inside Russia.

From the outside, many people believe that

those reforms which Russia started in 1991, 1993,

those reforms which moved Russia to the democracy of

Western-type state by the next years,

by the end of 20th century,

more or less came to the end,

and the Russian's political system slipped

down to authoritarian organization of the power.

And those principles which were declared in the Russian constitution of 1993,

they did not really applied and really

implemented in the Russian political and legal system.

From inside, the situation seen quite different.

From inside, the Russian lawyers, and Russian politicians,

and many Russian people believe that all these

changes which occurred after adoption of the Russian constitution in 1993,

they were not change of the basic principles.

They were not following some other general approaches,

but they differed in interpretation of

those basic principles which appeared in the Russian Constitution,

comparing to interpretation of the same principles in the Western democracies.

And in the Russian society,

during 2000 and 2010s,

we had a lot of discussions about the special way of

implementation of those basic principles in the Russian legal and political system.

The same with economic,

the Russian approach to organization of economics was different

from that in the most states of Western Europe or in the United States,

but they were basically

the same general principles though they differ in

some consequences and in some details of their practical realization.

In all this view,

in all this approach,

we see that inside Russia we still

believe that those difficulties which we saw in 1990s,

they were a part of quite difficult movement to the democracy.

But this movement did not stop,

but it continues and it will have the same direction as was

defined in the beginning of 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

I would say that we try to

analyze those difficulties which greatly influence the Russian society,

and the approach, the

thinking about democracy in the Russian public opinion,

we will try to explain why those difficulties give us

grounds to say that we

had quite a tough way to democracy,

to the rule of law,

to human rights protection,

but this doesn't mean that we abolish these aims

and these principles are still one agenda in Russia.

And we try in our course to make it more

clear why these difficulties does

not abolish the general principles of the Constitution,

the general principles of democracy,

and we will try to make it in political,

economic sphere, we will try to analyze these approaches today.

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