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In the contemporary legal doctrine scholars extract the main elements of pravovoe gosudarstvo from the provisions of the Constitution, whereas the protection of human rights, the limitation of the state power by law, the primacy of the Constitution and the primacy of the law ("verhovenstvo sakona") are seen as considered to be its central aspects.
The Russian language distinguishes between pravo (Recht, jus) and sakon (Gesetz, lex). The pravovoe gosudarstvo means primarily the primacy of sakon (lex). The sakon is adopted by the legislator and is therefore the highest form of expression of the people's will as a sovereign. All other norms have to comply with the lex to guarantee that they comply with the will of the people. On the other hand, Art. 55, para. 2 provides that no "laws shall be adopted cancelling or derogating human rights and freedoms". In that respect, the primacy of law means here the primacy of jus.
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Article 2 states that "the human being, his rights and freedoms are the supreme value". The state has the obligation to protect the rights and freedoms "of men and citizens". These rights are not granted but exist ipso jure, they are natural rights. The placement of that provision at the very beginning shows the importance that the Constitution attaches to the protection of human rights (part 2 of the Constitution is devoted to the "rights and freedoms"). In that respect, the Russian concept of pravovoe gosudarstvo embodies the substantive concept of Rechtsstaatlichkeit.
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In its decisions Nr. 11-P from 30 April 1996 and Nr. 7-P from 30 April 2007 the Constitutional Court decided that the president can even issue an ukas to fill a regulatory gap on the area where the parliament is obliged to act, provided the ukas is temporarily limited and does not contradict the Constitution or federal laws. The president derives this power from his position as the guardian of the Constitution and his competence to "ensure coordinated functioning and interaction of all the bodies with state power" (Art. 80, para. 2).
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Recently, the concept of precedents became the main topic in the legal debate. The bone of contention was the position of the Higher Arbitrazh Court, that its interpretation of laws and "legal positions" given not only in "explanations" but also in concrete cases is binding on lower courts. That position was approved by the Constitutional Court (decision from 21-01-2010, N 1-P). That is seen as the establishment of case law as a source of law.
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The independence of the judiciary is crucial for a law-based state and is embodied in Art. 120 et seq. of the Russian Constitution. But in reality the independence of judges remains one of the main problems in Russia. This is even recognised by president Medvedev too, who considers the achievement of a real independence of the judicial power as a "main objective" and a "fundamental task" (speech from 20 May 2008). In that respect, Medvedev himself speaks of "pressure of various kinds, such as surreptitious phone calls and money" that undermines the independence of judges.
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The courts presidents are appointed by the Federation Council on proposal of the President or by the President on proposition proposal of the President of the Supreme Court. They are appointed for a period of 6 years, whereas the prolongation of the mandate for the next possible period is a source of pressure on "compliance". The court presidents are seen as "translators" of different administrative interests.
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Uncommon is the general competence of the public prosecution (so called "general supervision power", prokurorskii nadsor, a heritage form from soviet system) to prove the compliance e.g. of state executive organs or commercial or non-commercial organisations with human rights and freedoms "in order to assure the rule of law". Furthermore a prosecutor may institute or enter in civil proceedings on behalf of another. Having instituted or entered a proceeding, the prosecutor is not bound by the interests of the person whose rights or freedoms have been violated. That provision is seen as a constraint upon the liberal state.
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