Hunting for the Constitution

The judicial branch will be made by amendments

This week, the State Duma should adopt the amendments to the basic law of the country, which will seriously change the face of the judicial branch of power. There will be no branches

Nine articles of the Constitution - there were no such large -scale amendments to the basic law of the country in the entire history of its existence. So the head of state, who made these amendments, and lawmakers, which had just increased salaries to 253 thousand rubles with a presidential decree, decided to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Constitution, which was adopted on December 12, 1993. The first reading passed on November 12, and passed completely everyday: the amendments voted in the twelfth point - between amendments to the Charter of Railway Transport and the next bill on the abolition of “mobile slavery”.

They realized for three

For the adoption of constitutional amendments, as a result of which the country will lose the Supreme Arbitration Court and at least relatively independent of the presidential authorities of the prosecutor’s vertical (The New Times (The New Times wrote in detail about this in No. 33 of October 14, 2013), the law requires two -thirds of the vote of deputies: only 236 deputies (two more mandates are vacant). But the missing voices of the United Russia got it easily. They helped, as always in difficult moments for the authorities, the falcons of Zhirinovsky (LDPR 56 votes), as well as 59 (out of 64) deputies of once opposition “fair Russia”. Three Socialist -Revolutionaries - Dmitry Gudkov, Valery Zubov and Ilya Ponomarev - voted against. The Communist Party of the Communist Party of the Communist Party did not support in full force (92 people). As a result, 351 votes “For” - enough to talk about the “consolidated position of the State Duma” on an extremely important issue for the Kremlin.

“After the recent Congress, Fair Russia became controlled and returned to the Kremlin bosom. Many of the faction are unhappy with this position on the bill, ”Dmitry Gudkov, the actions of his colleagues in the faction, commented on The New Times. “Gudkov, Ponomarev and teeth - in your repertoire:“ Where are you - to the right? So, I’m left, ”retorted the deputy chairman of the committee on constitutional legislation and state building Alexander Ageev (also from“ Fair Russia ”).

In his opinion, criticism sounded to the presidential amendments is a dispute and arguments for their dispute and arguments: “Here we have a European Republic, and in these ships (general jurisdiction. - The New Times) is not very beautiful.” “For example, in the Volgograd region, 50 arbitration courts occur in 4 thousand courts of general jurisdiction. Where is it easier to put things in order? - MP Ageev asks a rhetorical question. - And how much money was allocated to the arbitration court, which was headed by the classmate of Medvedev (Chairman of you Anton Ivanov. - The New Times)? Of course, it will be better and more equipment. First of all, it is necessary to “raise” the common courts, because they protect the rights of citizens. ”

"Opposition" amendments

With the adoption of the bill in the second and third readings, they decided not to delay: only four days were left to make "amendments to amendments". And besides, the special status of the project (the Constitution!) Provides that after the first reading new amendments, only the deputy group of at least 90 people can make new amendments, the chairman of the committee on constitutional legislation Vladimir Pligin said at the meeting. “Pligin is interested in the law to be unchanged,” one of the Duma insiders explained The New Times.

President Vladimir Putin, at the inauguration in the Kremlin Palace, swears to "observe and defend the Constitution." May 7, 2012

However, the Kremlin agreed to the acceptance of small amendments of the clarifying nature, according to The New Times. They were instructed to introduce to that deputy Ageev. The changes will be made to Article 129 of the Chapter on the judiciary. Firstly, the Dumans propose to appoint regional prosecutors without coordination with the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, as was written earlier (Article 129, clause 3): now it will be the privilege of only the president and the prosecutor general. Argument: So the independence of prosecutors from local authorities will be ensured. Secondly, the procedure for the formation of a special qualification board of judges-a temporary structure, which is designed to select 170 members of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, which will now include the Supreme Arbitration Court, will change. (Article 127, which instructed the emergence of the Supreme Arbitration Court in Russia, will be excluded from the Constitution.) The meaning of innovation: along with delegates from regional councils of judges, the collegium will also enter one representative from each of the ten federal arbitration courts.

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The President can create "specialized prosecutors" who "will fight the abuses of bureaucracy"

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What is the probability of adopting these "opposition" amendments? Alexander Ageev confirmed The New Times that he “previously discussed” the amendments with Vladimir Pligin and he agreed that in the initial bill these moments “missed”. “The head of the committee cannot openly agree that the bill needs to be corrected, he is a representative of the party in power, he is hired ... UM, more precisely, he fulfills the will of the Party of power, but they had an oral agreement,” said the Duma insider from among the employees of the apparatus, who always know in advance and sometimes better than the deputies themselves.

“Ageev made a completely correct proposal, we supported: let's at least remove the obligation to coordinate the appointment of the prosecutor of the subjects with the governor, for whom the prosecutor must overtake. This is no good, ”said Yuri Sinelshchikov, deputy of the Communist Party of the Communist Party of the Communist Party of the Communist Party, the deputy of the Communist Party of the Communist Party.

Sinelshchikov himself also collected 92 signatures for his amendment: he proposes to maintain paragraph 1 of Article 129, from which the presidential bill proposes to refuse. This paragraph contained the provision on the prosecutor’s vertical, at the head of which the general prosecutor stood, and now the president will be a side by the Prosecutor General. The Communists are also unhappy that another amendment to the 129th article of the Constitution, Putin offers “other prosecutors”* to appoint and dismiss from his post exclusively by decree of the President of the Russian Federation-without any prosecutor general. The deputy Sinelshchikov suggests that thereby the head of state intends to create “specialized prosecutors”, which, in his opinion, “will fight the abuses of higher bureaucracy”. However, what is really meant by “other prosecutors”, the deputies seem to not know and are not too interested. Although it would be worth: what if the system of the infamous Stalin's “Triks” and “Dvoles” is restored?

Judicial prospects

However, this story will not be limited to amendments to the basic law: it is also necessary to make adjustments to 28 federal laws. This work in the legal administration of the Presidential Administration has already begun. The basic document here will be the law on the newly created Supreme Court, the chairman of the Committee on Civil and Criminal Law, Pavel Krasheninnikov, told The New Times. But in the State Duma they will not develop it. “The State Duma does not have as much effort as, for example, the Ministry of Justice, so the Duma will only finalize all these amendments. In the Ministry of Justice, this work is going on, we interact with them tightly - a working group has already been created, which among others will include deputies. The Supreme Court will also participate in the preparation, ”added Alexander Ageev.

| | | --- | | Legislative acts subject to correction, processing or cancellation: Federal Constitutional Law (FKZ) “On the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation” of the FKZ “On Arbitration Courts in the Russian Federation ” of the FKZ “On the Judicial System of the Russian Federation ” “On the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation” FKZ “On the Government of the Russian Federation ” FKZ “On the State Herb of the Russian Federation” The FKZ “On the Personal Regulation” of the FKZ “On Martial Property ” of the Federal State Property Committee “On Disciplinary trial” of the FKZ “On the courts of general jurisdiction in the Russian Federation” The Law of the Russian Federation “On the Languages ​​of the Peoples of the Russian Federation” Federal Law (Federal Law) The Law of the Russian Federation “On the Status of Judges in the Russian Federation” of the Federal Law “On the status of a member of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation” “On the procedure for covering the activities of state authorities in the state media” of the Federal Law “On International Treaty of the Russian Federation” of the Federal Law “On State Protection” of the Federal Law “On Bailiffs” The Budget Code of the Russian Federation “On Financing of the Courts of the Russian Federation” of the Federal Law “On the Bodies of the Judicial Community in the Russian Federation” The Arbitration Procedure of the Russian Federation “On the Enforcement of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation ” The Code of the Russian Federation “On ensuring access to information on the activities of courts in the Russian Federation” of the Federal Law “On the federal budget for 2013 and for the planning period of 2014 and 2015” of the Federal Law “On the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation” |

The main intrigue: will the Institute of Arbitration Courts be completely destroyed or only its supreme body (you)? Deputy Ageev shared with The New Times Inside: a decision was made to complete the merger of the courts. “Only higher authorities are drained by amendments to the Constitution, but with the final development of documents it is supposed to combine everything into one structure. Court cases will now be divided into criminal, economic and administrative, ”says Ageev. According to the deputy, who is part of the working group under the Ministry of Justice, the word "arbitration" will generally disappear from the legal vocabulary. However, useful developments, such as, for example, audio recording of meetings and electronic submission of documents, is supposed to be preserved. They will not pull the reform with the end. “Until the New Year, the law should be finally adopted,” says Ageev. And again he shares the details: “The chairman of you Ivanov, feeling his uselessness, no longer goes to the presidium of the court. Seven judges of the Arbitration Court resigned. Therefore, the reform will be carried out very quickly to avoid uncertainty and chaos. ”

Quantity and quality

Another question is - what will now become with the constitution itself? Will the current amendments be the reason for its further redrawing?

“The constitution is always a system. If any part of it is touching, it is quite possible that the old norms will begin to contradict new ones and also require editing, ”says Mikhail Krasnov, professor of the Higher School of Economics.

“The direction in which the Constitution is being edited is in doubt: the general line for strengthening the vertical vertical, while we need political competition and the separation of powers,” adds one of the developers of the 1993 Constitution, a former deputy from the Yabloko faction Viktor Sheinis. - In the bill, the main thing is not so much the merger of courts as the establishment of the president’s control over the prosecutor's office. In my opinion, this enhances authoritarian trends. ”

Meanwhile, making the current amendments may really not limit himself. According to the media last week with reference to a source in the Kremlin administration, the President will create a constitutional council that will develop new amendments to the basic law. True, the press secretary of the President Dmitry Peskov has denied information about the preparation of such changes, recalling that Putin has repeatedly spoke about the impossibility of "shred the constitution to please the current moment." But on November 7, at a meeting with university teachers of constitutional legal disciplines, the president said something else. Namely: Putin believes that the discussion under the Constitution is useful and new amendments can be quite useful if “the number of these proposals goes to the appropriate quality” and the society “matures for some serious changes” in the Constitution, then, “you can probably go for it”.

What are these changes, experts are difficult to say. “Since the whole elite, thanks to the same constitution, has become a single bureaucracy, and we don’t have politicians, I doubt that these amendments will be reasonable,” says Professor Krasnov. If the Constitution needs to be edited, then this should be done through an independent social structure, and not through the advice under the President, which acts in the interests of the head of state, says Viktor Sheinis. “If I ruled the constitution, I would return the four -year term of the president, remove the word“ contracted ”, allowing this post to take this post only twice, returned the election of the Federation Council and clearly defined the functions of the presidential administration,” Sheinis dreams. “So that she is not like the Central Committee of the CPSU.”

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Photos: Andrey Stenin/RIA Novosti, Alexey Druzhinin/RIA Novosti