Judicial Federalism in Russia: the Newest Milestone of Constitutional Evolution

• Main Author: Alexander V. Salenko
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Philosophy and Law 2021-04-01
• Series: Антиномии
• Subjects: judicial federalism; federal system; competitive federalism; constitutional reform; russian judiciary; judicial power; constitutional court; supreme court; german judicial federalism; constitutional (statutory) justice of the subjects of the russian federation; constitutional courts; statutory courts; decentralization of the judiciary; königsberg royal castle
• Online Access: http://yearbook.uran.ru/images/files/21_1_p99_123.pdf

The main purpose of the article is to examine the content of the important element of the contemporary federal system of the Russian Federation, namely, the principle of judicial federalism, based on which the Russian Judicial System is divided into federal courts and courts of the subjects of the Russian Federation. The article analyzes the role and significance of the principle of judicial federalism, as well as its transformation in the context of the 2020 constitutional reform and following amendments in the legislation, which completely abolished constitutional and statutory justice in the subjects of the Russian Federation. The article shows the evolution of the constitutional and statutory courts of the subjects of the Russian Federation (these courts were established merely in sixteen Russian regions), as well as the political and legal process, during which, firstly, at the regional level, their competence was gradually limited, and, secondly, their final liquidation took place. The author negatively evaluates the short-term decision to completely liquidate the regional constitutional and statutory courts, because before their liquidation these institutions were an important tool of raising the level of legal awareness of society, and an essential element of judicial democracy and real judicial federalism; also, these institutes have contributed to the improvement of regional legislation and law enforcement practice in the regions of the Russian Federation by means of regional constitutional proceedings. The research shows that the second element of the Judicial Federalism in Russia is the decentralization of the Judiciary, which was expressed in the resettlement of the Constitutional Court of Russia from Moscow to St. Petersburg, as well as the fact that the move of the Supreme Court of Russia to St. Petersburg should take place soon. In this regard, the author investigates the need to concentrate two higher judicial bodies in the same subject of the Russian Federation; in the context of the competitive federalism the author considers the alternative scenarios for the decentralization of the Russian judiciary; namely, he put forward the arguments regarding the choice of the location of the Russian Supreme Court in other regions of Russia. Using the example of the Kaliningrad region, the author shows competitive advantages, as well as historical, political, and legal arguments which exist in favor of choosing another subject of the Russian Federation, for example, Kaliningrad region, instead of the federal city of St. Petersburg, for the location of the Russian Supreme Court. The author concludes that it is necessary to preserve and further develop the principle of the Judicial Federalism as the basis of the federal system of Russia, as well as the democratic tradition of the contemporary Russian Federation.