Guide to Foreign and International Legal Citations - New York ...

I. COUNTRY PROFILE (Civil Law)
RUSSIA
Rossiiskaya Federatsiya (Russian Federation)
Russia is a federation comprised of twenty-one Republics (respublika), six Territories
(krai), 49 Regions (oblast’), two federal cities, one Autonomous Region (avtonomnaya oblast’),
and ten Autonomous Circuits (avtonomnii okrug)—a total of eighty-nine identifiable units which
are commonly referred to as Subjects of the Russian Federation (sub’ekti Rossiiskoi Federatsii).
The official language is Russian. Russia’s legal system is based on civil law.
The Russian Constitution, which was adopted December 12, 1993, establishes the form
of government. Executive power is vested in the President and the Government. The President,
who is the head of state, is directly elected by the people to a four-year term. The President
coordinates the function and interaction of the state agencies, acts as the Chief of the Army and
appoints the Chairman of the Government. The president may enact decrees without the consent
of the legislature. The Premier, who is the head of Government, is appointed by the President
and must be confirmed by the lower house of the legislature. Other Ministers are appointed by
the President. Collectively, the Premier and other Ministers form the Ministries of Government
(or, simply, the Government).
Legislative power is vested in the bicameral Federal Assembly (Federal’noe Sobranie),
but, as noted, may also be exercised by the President. The Federal Assembly is composed of the
Federation Council (Soviet Federatsii) and the State Duma (Gosudarstvennaya Duma). Two
Members of the 178 member Federation Council are appointed by the top executive and
legislative officials of each Subject of the Russian Federation to four-year terms. Half of the 450
Members of the State Duma are directly elected by the people on the basis of proportional
representation, and the other half are directly elected by the people from single-member districts.
All Members of the State Duma serve four-year terms.
Judicial power is vested in the Courts, which include the Constitutional Court
(Konstitutsionnii Sud Rossiiskoi Federatsii), the Supreme Court (Verhovnii Sud Rossiiskoi
Federatsii), and the Superior Court of Arbitration. Judges of all courts are appointed for life by
the Federation Council on the basis of the President’s recommendations. The Constitutional
Court reviews, inter alia, the constitutionality of acts of legislative and executive branches and
disputes regarding competence. Below the Constitutional Court the judicial system is bifurcated
into courts of general jurisdiction, which deal with civil, criminal, and military matters and
arbitration courts which deal with economic matters.
The Supreme Court is the highest court of general jurisdiction. It hears cases involving
civil, administrative, criminal, and military law. The Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction
over the decisions of the intermediate appellate courts. The intermediate appellate courts for
civil and criminal matters are known as the Supreme Courts of each Subject of the Russian
Federation. These courts have appellate jurisdiction over the decisions of the District Courts,
which are the courts of first instance. The Supreme Court and Supreme Courts of each Subject
of the Russian Federation also act as courts of first instance for certain cases. There is also a
system of Justices of the Peace (mirovie sud’i) which hears civil, administrative, and criminal
cases of lesser importance.
All economic disputes are litigated in arbitration courts. The system of arbitration courts
is also three-tiered. The highest court is the Supreme Arbitration Court (Visshii Arbitrazhnii Sud
157