Präsident, Regierung und Staatsrat – Die einfachgesetzliche Umsetzung der russischen Verfassungsreform

Abstract

The article discusses the 2020 Russian constitutional reform and its implementation by legal amendments to many laws of the Russian Federation. The article focuses on the amendments to the new Law on the State Council and on the changes to the Law on the Government and the relationships of these institutions to the Russian President. The 1993 Russian constitution already gave extensive powers to the Federal President and a strong position within the power structure. The federal laws and jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court in force until 2020 further strengthened the powers of the president. That stood in contrast to a liberal interpretation of the constitution in the light of its basic principles laid down in the first section, in particular the principles of democracy and separation of powers. By the 2020 constitutional amendments, the discrepancy between the norms of the constitution on the president and the federal organs and the constitutional reality in form of federal laws with respect to the relationship between the President and the government is getting smaller. However, the constitutional reform also left open questions. The amendments to the laws partially answer these questions and again strengthen the powers of the president.