MOSCOW, February 22 - RAPSI. The Federation Council reappointed on Wednesday Valery Zorkin as chairman of the Constitutional Court.

After Zorkin's tenure expired on February 20, he was nominated for the post by President Dmitry Medvedev.

Zorkin has worked for the Constitutional Court since its establishment in 1991. During his 21-year service, he has headed the court for 11 years (in 1991-1993 and from March 2003), and was reelected three times to the position.

His nomination was supported by 141 senators. One senator abstained from voting and no one voted against.

Zorkin enjoys uncontested authority thanks to his long "adherence to the spirit and letter of the Constitution and the public defense of its principles, including before the European Court of Human Rights," according to the council.

Federation Council speaker Valentina Matviyenko called Zorkin an "ethical touchstone of Russian society."

Under newly adopted legislation, the president proposes for approval a candidate to chair the Constitutional Court to the parliament's upper house. The chairman is elected for a six-year term. Previously, the court's judges elected their chairman by secret ballot for three years.