Three-time Chairman

Valery Zorkin remained head of the Constitutional Court

Valery Zorkin became the chairman of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation for the third time. As predicted by the Vremya Novostei newspaper, on Tuesday the majority of judges of the Constitutional Court voted for his election to a new three-year term.

In the first - rating - round of voting, Mr. Zorkin received the largest number of votes (16). He was competed by judges Nikolai Bondar and Boris Ebzeev with nine votes. However, Mr. Ebzeev subsequently withdrew his candidacy, and Zorkin, Bondar and Gennady Zhilin entered the second round. The result of the vote is as follows: Bondar had three votes, Zhilin had one, one ballot was declared invalid (it is possible that it belonged to Zorkin himself). “Valery Zorkin was elected as the new chairman of the Constitutional Court for a third term with 14 votes for and five against,” Vladimir Strekozov, who chaired the meeting, told reporters.

After the elections, Mr. Zorkin told reporters that “the excitement was within the atmospheric limits.” And when asked if he doubted his victory, the chairman of the Constitutional Court replied: “I think those who do not doubt need to clear their brains thoroughly.” Indeed, among the judges of the Constitutional Court, Valery Zorkin is the obvious leader and the most ambitious lawyer. His authority is also supported by his utmost loyalty to the Kremlin, where three years ago they feared the election of Valery Zorkin to the post of chairman of the Constitutional Court. Let us recall that he led the Constitutional Court since its creation in 1991, but after the events of the autumn of 1993, he was forced to resign due to disagreement with the decree of the first President Boris Yeltsin on the dissolution of parliament. However, in February 2003, Valery Zorkin triumphantly returned to his chair. Despite the obvious reluctance of the Kremlin, he was re-elected to the post of head of the Constitutional Court.

Last Saturday, February 18, Valery Zorkin turned 63 years old, and thus there are still seven years left until the end of his term as a judge of the Constitutional Court. Despite the fact that now the Constitutional Court has to constantly maneuver between the text of the Basic Law and the actions of the authorities, who sometimes allow themselves very free interpretations of some provisions of the Constitution, Valery Zorkin believes that today it has become easier to work as chairman of the Constitutional Court than in the early 90s. “I would say it was incredibly tougher back then,” he says. According to him, Russia in 1993 “was in a state of revolution,” and now “we have a Constitution, a developed legal system, more or less mature legislation; the main thing for Russia now is to apply the laws correctly.” Speaking about the upcoming new three-year presidency, he said: “The only thing I would like is not to disappoint the judges by the end of my mandate.”

Yuri KOLESOV