Responsibility of the president and the prosecutor's office for the integrity and security of the state

Abstract

The subject. The evolution of regulation of prosecutor’s activity in Russian Constitution as well as the role of Prosecutor's Office in provision of national security and integrity are being considered.The purpose of the article is to confirm or disprove hypothesis that the preservation of the Prosecutor's Office made it possible to prevent the destruction of the Russian Federation and protect the country's security from significant threats.The methodology. The authors use a dialectical method as well as analysis and synthesis. An important role is given to formal legal interpretation of Russian Constitution and legal acts.The main results, scope of application. The question of who saved the Russian Prosecutor's Office from the attempt to liquidate it in the autumn of 1993 is being covered in detail. There was not even a mention of the Prosecutor's Office in the draft Constitution of the Russian Federation. The Prosecutor's Office was supposed to be replaced by the institution of authorized representatives of the President in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Chapter 7 of the Russian Constitution was called "Judicial Power" until 2014, and it lacked the word "prosecutor's office", which caused a lot of bewilderment in the scientific and educational literature and turned the content of Chapter 7 into a kind of mystery. The article reveals the role of Alexander I. Kazannik in preserving the Russian Prosecutor's Office. The authors of the article name the main threats to state security: duplication of the powers of the federal government and the lack of effective legal guarantees of their responsibility, asymmetry of Russian federalism. Asymmetry leads to uneven implementation of citizens' rights and freedoms and distrust of power. The criteria for assessing the scientific activities of universities established in 2013 also pose a threat to state security.Conclusions. President Vladimir Putin has preserved the integrity and sovereignty of Russia, enforced the principle of the supremacy of federal law and strengthens Russia's security with the help of the Prosecutor's Office. The authors propose measures to strengthen Russia's security: (1) introduce a competitive selection procedure for the post of Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation with the participation of civil society institutions, which would have the right to present candidates to the Federation Council; (2) adopt a federal law on the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation to avoid duplication of powers with the Russian Government and other authorities; (3) change the criteria for assessing the scientific activity of universities, established by the Ministry of Science of the Russian Federation.