Chairman - Valery Zorkin

The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation is the judicial body of constitutional control that independently exercises judicial authority through constitutional proceedings.

The court handles cases dealing with the conformity of federal laws, presidential regulatory acts, Federation Council (the upper house of the parliament), State Duma (the lower house of the parliament), government, republican constitutions, charters and laws and other legislative acts related to competence or joint competence with the national Constitution upon requests from the president, Federation Council or one-fifth of its members, State Duma or one-fifth of its deputies, government, Supreme Court, Supreme Commercial Court, and legislative and executive bodies.

Further, the court verifies agreements between the government authorities and bodies of constituent entities as well as international treaties of the Russian Federation not yet in effect in terms of compliance with the Constitution.

The court settles jurisdictional disputes between state bodies, handles complaints regarding violation of citizens’ constitutional rights and liberties and examines the validity of statutes that have been applied or are subject to application in a specific case upon the court’s request.

In addition, the court interprets the Constitution upon requests from the president, State Duma, government and constituent entity legislative bodies, and draws a conclusion on observing the procedure of bringing accusations against the president upon the Federation Council’s request.

The court also has the power to develop a legislative initiative regarding its competency and perform other authorities granted by federal constitutional courts.

The court has 19 judges appointed by the Federation Council after nomination by the president. The court has the right to perform its activities with at least three-fourths of its judges. The court authorities are not restricted by any specific term.

The court comprises two chambers, one with 10 judges and the other with nine.

The court’s plenary sessions are attended by all its judges, while the chambers’ sessions are attended by their respective judges.

The court’s authority, order of establishment and activities are set forth in the Constitution and Federal Constitutional Law “On the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation.”