10. Russian Federation

Abstract

Article 15 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation grants superior legal force to the generally recognized international principles and international agreements of the Russian Federation. It provides that when national legal rules contradict international instruments, the international law prevails. In the development of this rule, Decree no. 5 of the Plenum of the Supreme Court on Applying by the General Jurisdiction Courts of the Generally Recognized Principles and Rules of International Law and International Agreements of the Russian Federation specifies that only mandatory international rules shall override national laws (dated 10 October 2003). International principles expressed in international declarations or political statements that have only advisory legal force do not create a legal rule in the country. Russia is a party to over eighty international environmental instruments, including those that were ratified by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics before 1991. Federal Law no. 101-FZ on International Agreements of the Russian Federation sets the legal framework for the Russian Federation reaching international agreements (dated 15 June 1995). Under the law, concluding, discontinuing, and suspending international agreements within the Russian Federation territory falls within the exclusive competence of the Russian Federation, meaning that member units of the Russian Federation, of which there are eighty-three, are not empowered to participate in international agreements. The law also outlines the correlation between the national Russian law and international agreements by establishing that the international agreements that do not require enactment of national legislation for their implementation are to be enforced directly. Otherwise, necessary internal legislation shall provide due implementation of international commitments of the Russian Federation.