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The idea of limitation of the state power by law is embodied in Article 15, para. 1, 2. It declares that the Constitution has the supreme judicial force and that "the bodies of state authority and of local self-government, officials, private citizens and their associations shall be obliged to observe the Constitution of the Russian Federation and laws". The legality of administration is one variation of that principle (Koslova/Kutafin 2009: 122).
3. Human rights
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.
4. Democracy
One further element of pravovoe gosudarstvo is the rule by the people (Article 3). The multinational people of Russiais the bearer of the sovereignty.
In 2006, a debate on a "Russian" type of democracy was launched by the high representative of the Kremlin Administration Surkov – the "sovereign democracy". An intensive debate took place also among the legal scholars (see Kutafin, 267-286). Its obscure definition is the following: "a society's political life where the political powers, their authorities and decisions are decided and controlled by a diverse Russian nation for the purpose of reaching material welfare, freedom and fairness by all citizens, social groups and nationalities, by the people that formed it". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_democracy#cite_note-1 The idea of "sovereign democracy" can be seen as an attempt to put the interests of state above the interests of citizens and above the law and was rejected by Medvedev (being vice-president) – "democracy without any adjectives".
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The continuing consolidation of the "vertical of power" that most prominently led to the abolition of direct elections for regional leaders increases the misbalance of power in favour of the president and his administration. However, some scholars consider the authoritarianism as an element of the transitional period (so e.g. the President of the Constitutional Court Sorkin).
5. Separation of powers
According to Article 10 of the Constitution the state power is divided into legislative, executive and judicial power. But there is a significant misbalance between three branches of powers in favour of the executive power.
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Recently, the concept of precedents became the main topic in 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.
6. General principles of international law and international treaties
The pravovoe gosudarstvo is based also on general principles and rules of international law and international treaties (Article 15, para. 4). They are an integral part of the Russian legal system. If any international treaty contains a rule which is against Russian law, the international law prevails. That is a remarkable openness towards the international community. In November 2009 the Constitutional Court based the prolongation of the moratorium on death penalty on Article 18 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (decision Nr. 1344-O-R from 19.11.2009). It also based its decision from 26 January 2010 on Article 15, para. 4 and stated that judgements of the ECHR could be a ground for retrial in civil procedure (in criminal and administrative procedures explicit norm for that exist already).
7. Independent judiciary/court
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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In the end of 2009, a special Judicial Disciplinary Tribunal was created. It will review the decisions of the disciplinary councils and is supposed to approach this in a more impartial way. The new competence to review the decisions that rejected the motions of dismissal of judges is also criticised.
8. Judicial Review
One particularity of the system of judicial review in Russia is that there are two systems of court which deal with civil and commercial disputes: the ordinary court system and the commercial court system (so called arbitrazh courts). Since they both decide on the basis of the same laws and no common higher court or other mechanisms exist, informal consultations shall help to avoid a contradictory jurisprudence.
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