Too much democracy

President Dmitry Medvedev proposed depriving the Constitutional Court of the democratic procedure for electing a chairman and deputy. According to the bill that he introduced to the Duma, the chairman of the Constitutional Court and his deputies (the position of the second is proposed to be introduced instead of the secretary-judge) should be appointed by the Federation Council on the proposal of the president. We must believe that this is the surest step towards democratization of the Constitutional Court and even greater independence of the judiciary from the executive and legislative.

Until now, each of the judges of the Constitutional Court was actually a candidate for the post of chairman. Not so long ago, when Valery Zorkin was re-elected to the post of chairman, lawyer Tamara Morshchakova, who was previously a member of the Constitutional Court, explained to the Daily Journal that in such elections the mechanisms for using administrative resources to influence the process do not work. Now, unless a miracle happens and the Duma passes the presidential bill, leading representatives of the judiciary will actually be appointed - just like governors. Another bastion, the presence of which at least somehow warmed the soul in the face of elections in other areas, will be surrendered without a fight.