Unrestricted human rights and freedoms: Legal positions of the Constitutional Court of Russia (1995–2022)
Introduction. The Constitution of the Russian Federation of 1993 in several articles provides for the right of the state to restrict the rights and freedoms of man and citizen in order to achieve certain goals. Part 3 of Article 55 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation establishes the general conditions for the restriction of all rights and freedoms of the individual. However, this constitutional norm does not give an answer to the question of whether there are rights and freedoms of an individual that cannot be limited. Theoretical analysis. Part 3 of Article 55 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation is a kind of “general part” of the institution of restrictions on the rights and freedoms of the individual; and in this “general part” there are no exceptions in the form of unrestricted rights and freedoms. In the scientific literature, they often refer to part 3 of article 56 when they state the existence of unrestricted rights and freedoms. In our opinion, Article 56 is of a special nature - it establishes the foundations of the state of emergency, including the rules for restricting rights and freedoms in a state of emergency. However, unlimited rights and freedoms of the individual exist – their list was formed by the decisions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. Empirical analysis. Since 1995, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation in more than 40 decisions, as well as in definitions, has substantiated the presence of certain unrestricted human rights and freedoms in the Constitution of the Russian Federation. The possibility of singling out this group of rights and freedoms is explained mainly by the fact that these human rights and freedoms cannot conflict with the constitutional goals of restricting rights and freedoms. Results. It is concluded that the legal positions formed by the Constitutional Court of Russia regarding the existence of unrestricted human rights and freedoms have practical consequences, primarily for the federal legislator, since they establish the framework for his / her law-making activities. These positions are the basis for developing federal laws and the basis for correcting existing federal laws. They can also be criteria for determining the constitutionality of federal laws in the exercise of preliminary or subsequent constitutional review.
- 1. The Constitution of the Russian Federation (adopted by the popular vote of 12.12.1993) (amended by Federal Constitutional Law 6-FKZ of 30.12.2008, Federal Constitutional Law 7-FKZ of 30.12.2008, Federal Constitutional Law 2-FKZ of 05.02.2014, Federal Constitutional Law 11-FKZ of 21.07.2014, Federal Constitutional Law 1-FKZ of 14.03.2020). Sobranie zakonodatel’stva RF [Collection of Laws of the Russian Federation], 2014, no. 31, art. 4398; 2020, no. 11, art. 1416 (in Russian).
- In the case of checking the constitutionality of Articles 220.1 and 220.2 of the RSFSR Code of Criminal Procedure in connection with a complaint by citizen V. A. Avetyan. Resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation no. 4-P of May 3, 1995. Sobranie zakonodatel’stva RF [Collection of Laws of the Russian Federation], 1995, no. 19, art. 1764 (in Russian).
- In the case of checking the constitutionality of Articles 1 and 21 of the Law of the Russian Federation of July 21, 1993 “On State Secrets” in connection with complaints from citizens V. M. Gurdjiyants, V. N. Sintsova, V. N. Bugrov and A. K. Nikitin. Resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation no. 8-P of March 27, 1996. Sobranie zakonodatel’stva RF [Collection of Laws of the Russian Federation], 1996, no. 15, art. 1768 (in Russian).
- In the case of the review of the constitutionality of Art. 6 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the RSFSR in connection with the complaint of citizen O. V. Sushkova. Resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation no. 18-P of October 28, 1996. Sobranie zakonodatel’stva RF [Collection of Laws of the Russian Federation], 1996, no. 45, art. 5203 (in Russian).
- In the case of checking the constitutionality of Part 5 of Art. 325 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the RSFSR in connection with the complaint of citizen V. V. Shaglia. Resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation no. 21-P of July 6, 1998. Sobranie zakonodatel’stva RF [Collection of Laws of the Russian Federation], 1998, no. 28, art. 3394 (in Russian).
- In the case of checking the constitutionality of the provisions of the first part of Article 47 and the second part of Article 51 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the RSFSR in connection with the complaint of citizen V. I. Maslova. Resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation no. 11-P of June 27, 2000. Sobranie zakonodatel’stva RF [Collection of Laws of the Russian Federation], 2000, no. 27, art. 2882 (in Russian).
- In the case of checking the constitutionality of the provision of paragraph 8 of the Decree of the State Duma of May 26, 2000 “On the announcement of an amnesty in connection with the 55th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945” in connection with the complaint of citizen L. M. Zaporozhets. Resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation o no. 7-P of April 24, 2003. Sobranie zakonodatel’stva RF [Collection of Laws of the Russian Federation], 2003, no. 18, art. 1748 (in Russian).
- On the refusal to accept for consideration the complaints of citizen Alexander Alexandrovich Varlakov about the violation of his constitutional rights by part two of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, part one of Article 240 and Article 285 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation. Ruling of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation no. 601-O-O of April 8, 2010. Biulleten’ notarial’nogo vestnika [Bulletin of the Notarial Messenger], 2010, September (in Russian).
- In the case of checking the constitutionality of the fi rst part of Article 320, the second part of Article 327 and Article 328 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation in connection with the complaints of citizen E. V. Aleinikova and Limited Liability Company “Three K” and inquiries of the Norilsk City Court of the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Central District Court of the city of Chita. Resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation no. 10-P of April 21, 2010. Sobranie zakonodatel’stva RF [Collection of Laws of the Russian Federation], 2010, no. 19, art. 2357 (in Russian).
- In the case of checking the constitutionality of the provisions of Articles 38 and 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation in connection with the complaint of citizen V. V. Chensky. Resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation no. 30-P of November 21, 2017. Sobranie zakonodatel’stva RF [Collection of Laws of the Russian Federation], 2017, no. 49, art. 7528 (in Russian).
- In the case of checking the constitutionality of Article 151 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation in connection with the complaint of citizen S. F. Shilovsky. Resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation no. 45-P of October 26, 2021. Sobranie zakonodatel’stva RF [Collection of Laws of the Russian Federation], 2021, no. 45, art. 7615 (in Russian).
- In the case of checking the constitutionality of the second paragraph of the third part of Article 445 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation in connection with the complaint of citizen I. N. Eliseev. Resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation no. 10-P of March 10, 2022. Sobranie zakonodatel’stva RF [Collection of Laws of the Russian Federation], 2022, no. 12, art. 1949 (in Russian).
- In the case of checking the constitutionality of part one. 1 of Article 110 and Article 389.2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, as well as the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation “On Medical Examination of Suspects or Accused of Committing Crimes” in connection with the complaint of citizen N. I. Murgina. Resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation no. 16-P of April 19, 2022. Sobranie zakonodatel’stva RF [Collection of Laws of the Russian Federation], 2022, no. 18, art. 3187 (in Russian).
- Zorkin V. D. Konstitutsionnoe pravosudiye: protsedura i smysl (Constitutional Justice: Procedure and Meaning). St. Petersburg, Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, 2021. 154 p. Available at: http://www.ksrf.ru/ru/News/Speech/Pages/ViewItem.aspx?ParamId=91 (accessed 10 May) (in Russian).