Amendments to the 1993 Constitution must be made

On April 16, 2004, Nezavisimaya Gazeta published an article by Professor of the Institute of State and Law of the Russian Academy of Sciences Veniamin Chirkin. The author turned to the recently discussed problem of a possible change in the Constitution of the Russian Federation. He argues that this should not be done, since "the positive potential of the Russian Constitution is far from being exhausted ," but "raising the question of amendments is quite fair . " According to Chirkin, the current constitution "almost does not reflect the regulatory role of the state in the economy ," while the constitutions of democratic states (Spain, Italy, Portugal) contain a number of provisions, including indicative planning. Also, the principle of competition in the political system is not stated in the Basic Law of the Russian Federation, there are no provisions on the role of parties. “The issue of separation of powers has not been resolved very well: in Article 10 three branches of state power (legislative, executive, judicial) are named, and in Article 11 there are, in essence, four (... the president, parliament, government, courts )" . Also, an "unclarified situation" is observed in federal relations, where "one equal subject of the Federation is included in another, equally equal" .

Thus, in the opinion of the author of the article, amendments to the 1993 Constitution should be made, and the corresponding "scientific groundwork" should be prepared now.

Chirkin Veniamin The Constitution should not be revised, but clarified.//Nezavisimaya Gazeta. 2004. 16 April.