GOVERNMENT
In the political system established by the 1993 constitution, the president wields considerable executive power. There is no vice president, and the legislative branch is far weaker than the executive. The bicameral legislature consists of the lower house (State Duma) and the upper house (the Federation Council). The president nominates the highest state officials, including the prime minister, who must be approved by the Duma. The president can pass decrees without consent from the Duma. He also is head of the armed forces and of the Security Council.
Duma elections were held most recently on December 7, 2003, and presidential elections on March 14, 2004. The pro-government party, United Russia, won close to half of the seats in the Duma. Combined with its allies, United Russia commands a two-thirds majority. The OSCE judged the Duma elections as failing to meet international standards for fairness, due largely to extensive slanted media bias in the campaign. Vladimir Putin was re-elected to a second four-year term with 71% of the vote in March 2004. The Russian constitution does not allow presidents to serve more than two consecutive terms. Next elections for the Duma occur in December 2007, and for President in March 2008.
Russia is a federation, but the precise distribution of powers between the central government and the regional and local authorities is still evolving. The Russian Federation consists of 89 regional administrative units, including two federal cities, Moscow and St. Petersburg. The constitution explicitly defines the federal government's exclusive powers, but it also describes most key regional issues as the joint responsibility of the federal government and the regional administrative units. In 2000, President Putin grouped the regions into seven federal districts, with presidential appointees established in Moscow and six provincial capitals. In March 2004, the Constitution was amended to permit the merger of some regional administrative units. A law enacted in December 2004 eliminated the direct election of the country's regional leaders. Governors are now nominated by the president and subject to confirmation by regional legislatures.
Judicial
System
The Russian judicial system consists of the Constitutional Court,
courts of general jurisdiction, military courts, and arbitrage
courts (which hear commercial disputes). The Constitutional Court
of the Russian Federation is a court of limited subject matter
jurisdiction. The 1993 constitution empowers the Constitutional
Court to arbitrate disputes between the executive and legislative
branches and between Moscow and the regional and local governments.
The court also is authorized to rule on violations of constitutional
rights, to examine appeals from various bodies, and to participate
in impeachment proceedings against the president. The July 1994
Law on the Constitutional Court prohibits the court from examining
cases on its own initiative and limits the scope of issues the
court can hear. The system of general jurisdiction courts includes
the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, regional level courts,
district level courts and justices of the peace.
The Duma passed a Criminal Procedure Code and other judicial reforms during its 2001 session. These reforms help make the Russian judicial system more compatible with its Western counterparts and are seen by most as an accomplishment in human rights. The reforms have reintroduced jury trials in certain criminal cases and created a more adversarial system of criminal trials that protect the rights of defendants more adequately. In 2002, the introduction of the new code led to significant reductions in time spent in detention for new detainees, and the number of suspects placed in pretrial detention declined by 30%. Another significant advance in the new Code is the transfer from the Procuracy to the courts of the authority to issue search and arrest warrants. There are rising concerns, however, that prosecutors have selectively targeted individuals for political reasons, as in the prosecution of Yukos Oil CEO Mikhail Khodorkovskiy.
In spite of the general tendency to increase judicial independence (for example, by recent considerable salary raise to judges), many judges still see their role not as of impartial and independent arbiters, but as of government officials protecting state interests. See below for more information on the commercial court/business law.
Human
Rights
Russia's human rights record remains uneven and has worsened in
some areas in recent years. Despite significant improvements in
conditions following the end of the Soviet Union, problem areas
remain. In particular, the Russian Government's policy in Chechnya
is a cause for international concern. Although the government
has made progress in recognizing the legitimacy of international
human rights standards, the institutionalization of procedures
to safeguard these rights has lagged. There are, however, indications
that the law is becoming an increasingly important tool for those
seeking to protect human rights.
The judiciary
is often subject to manipulation by political authorities and
is plagued by large case backlogs and trial delays. Lengthy pretrial
detention remains a serious problem. Russia has one of the highest
prison population rates in the world, at 685 per 100,000. There
are credible reports of beating and torture of inmates and detainees
by law enforcement and correctional officials. Prison conditions
fall well below international standards. In 2001, President Putin
pronounced a moratorium on the death penalty. There are reports
that the Russian Government might still be violating promises
they made upon entering the European Council, especially in terms
of prison control and conditions.
In Chechnya, there have been credible allegations of violations of international human rights and humanitarian law committed by Russian and pro-Moscow Chechen forces. Chechen rebels also have committed abuses as well as acts of terrorism. Human rights groups have criticized Russian officials concerning cases of Chechens disappearing while in custody. Chechen rebels have similarly been responsible for politically motivated disappearances. Russian authorities have introduced some improvements, including better access to complaint mechanisms, the formal opening of investigations in most cases, and the introduction of two decrees requiring the presence of civilian investigators and other nonmilitary personnel during all large-scale military operations and targeted search and seizure operations. Human rights groups welcome these changes but claim that most abuses remain uninvestigated and unpunished and may be spreading more broadly in the North Caucasus.
The Russian
constitution provides for freedom of religion and the equality
of all religions before the law as well as the separation of church
and state. Although Jews and Muslims continue to encounter prejudice
and societal discrimination, they have not been inhibited by the
government in the free practice of their religion. High-ranking
federal officials have condemned anti-Semitic hate crimes, but
law enforcement bodies have not effectively prosecuted those responsible.
The influx of foreign missionaries has led to pressure by groups
in Russia, specifically nationalists and the Russian Orthodox
Church, to limit the activities of these "nontraditional"
religious groups. In response, the Duma passed a restrictive and
potentially discriminatory law on religion in October 1997. The
law is complex, with many ambiguous and contradictory provisions.
The law's most controversial provisions distinguish between religious
"groups" and "organizations" and introduce
a 15-year rule, which allows groups that have been in existence
for 15 years or longer to obtain accredited status. Senior Russian
officials have pledged to implement the 1997 law on religion in
a manner that is not in conflict with Russia's international human
rights obligations. Some local officials, however, have used the
law as a pretext to restrict religious liberty.
Government pressure continued to weaken freedom of expression and the independence and freedom of some media, particularly major national television networks and regional media outlets. A government decision resulted in the elimination of the last major non-state television network in 2003. National press is also increasingly in government hands or owned by government officials, narrowing the scope of opinion available. Self-censorship is a growing press problem. Unsolved murders of journalists, including the killing of respected investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya in October 2006, has caused significant international concern and increased pressure on journalists to avoid subjects considered sensitive.
Enactment of a new law on foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in 2006 was criticized in many quarters as a device to control civil society. Implementing regulations appear to impose onerous paperwork reporting burdens on NGOs that could be used to limit or even suppress some of them. This law was used to shut down an NGO for the first time in January 2007 on the basis of extremism charges; however, most foreign NGOs have successfully re-registered. Domestic NGOs were not required to re-register, but are required to meeting new reporting requirements.
The constitution
guarantees citizens the right to choose their place of residence
and to travel abroad. Some big-city governments, however, have
restricted this right through residential registration rules that
closely resemble the Soviet-era "propiska" regulations.
Although the rules were touted as a notification device rather
than a control system, their implementation has produced many
of the same results as the propiska system. The freedom to travel
abroad and emigrate is respected although restrictions may apply
to those who have had access to state secrets. Recognizing this
progress, since 1994, the U.S. President has found Russia to be
in full compliance with the provisions of the Jackson-Vanik Amendment.
Principal Government Officials
President--Vladimir Putin
Prime Minister--Viktor Zubkov
The Russian Federation maintains an embassy
at 2650 Wisconsin Ave., NW,
Washington, DC 20007 (tel. 202-298-5700) and a consular section
at 2641
Tunlaw Road, Washington, DC (tel. 202-939-8907/8913/8918). Russian
consulates
also are located in New York, San Francisco, and Seattle.
Type: Federation.
Independence: August 24, 1991.
Constitution: December 12, 1993.
Branches: Executive--president, prime minister
(chairman of the government). Legislative--Federal Assembly (Federation
Council, State Duma). Judicial--Constitutional Court, Supreme
Court, Supreme Court of Arbitration, Office of Procurator General.
Political parties: Shifting. The December 2003
Duma elections were contested by United Russia, the Communist
Party (KPRF), the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR), the Homeland
(Rodina) bloc, the Union of Right Forces (SPS) and Yabloko. SPS
and Yabloko, parties favoring Western-style reforms, failed to
clear the 5% threshold to enter the Duma as a party.
Subdivisions: 21 autonomous republics and 68
autonomous territories and regions.
Suffrage: Universal at 18 years.
