The Russian Constitution of 1993 and the Constitutionalization of Federal Legislation: Data Analysis

• Author: S. Popova - A. Yanik
• Position: Institute of Socio-Political Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow, Russia)
• Pages: 128-161

BRICS LAW JOURNAL Volume VI (2019) Issue 3

THE RUSSIAN CONSTITUTION OF 1993

AND THE CONSTITUTIONALIZATION OF FEDERAL LEGISLATION:

DATA ANALYSIS

SVETLANA POPOVA,

Institute of Socio-Political Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences

(Moscow, Russia)

ANDREY YANIK,

Institute of Socio-Political Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences

(Moscow, Russia)

https://doi.org/10.21684/2412-2343-2019-6-3-128-161

The Constitution of the Russian Federation of 1993 provided the basis and tools for

large-scale societal transformations in Russia. Still, the question of whether the results

of political and socio-economic reforms are irreversible and in line with constitutional

ideas and norms is open to discussion. This study investigates the temporality of the

process of the “constitutionalization” of Russian law using the statistics of Federal laws

and Federal constitutional laws for the period 1994–2018. The article presents the

outcome of the quantitative analysis as well as a discussion of the ndings involving

the approaches of the legal and political sciences. The research leaves open the question

of the relationship between the durability of the democratic constitution and the quality

and irreversibility of democratic transformations of the social system. Monitoring the

dynamics of the adoption of primary laws and laws on amendments gives evidence that

even a “rigid” democratic constitution can become “elastic” with age since its ideas and

meanings can often be “stretched” to apply to current cases without the need to make

any changes to existing constitutional norms. The authors propose considering the

conceptual possibilities of adaptive governance theory to explain the features of modern

Russian lawmaking (“adaptive lawmaking,” “agile lawmaking”).

Keywords: constitution; Russia; legal statistics; legal polic y; legal stability; adaptive

governance.

SVETLANA POPOVA, ANDREY YANIK 129

Recommended citation: Svetlana Popova & Andrey Yanik, The Russian Constitution

of 1993 and the Constitutionalization of Federal Legislation: Data Analysis, 6(3) BRICS

Law Journal 128–161 (2019).

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Materials and Methods

2. Results

2.1. General Statistics

2.2. Dynamics of Adoption of Laws

2.3. Dynamics of Adoption and Modication of Laws That Are Directly

Provided by Articles of the Constitution of the Russian Federation

2.4. Chronology of Modication of Several Laws Adopted in Pursuance

of Constitutional Provisions / Data on the Increase in the Number

of Laws

3. Discussion and Conclusions

3.1. Why Was the Pace of Adoption of the Laws Prescribed by the

Constitution Slow in the 1990s and Accelerating After 2000?

3.2. Why Was 2003 a Milestone After Which the Number of Annually

Adopted Laws on Amendments Began to Steadily Exceed

the Number of Annually Passed Primary Laws?

3.3. Why Is the Number of Laws on Amendments More Than Twice

the Number of Primary Laws in Current Russian Legislation?

3.4. Why Does the Total Number of Laws Increase as Well as the Length

of the Text of Primary Laws?

4. Final Remarks

Introduction

This work is par t of a study on the role of the constitution in large-scale trans-

formations of society. We understand the constitution both as a basis for the transfor-

mation of political and economic regimes and as a tool for the management of

societal changes.

It is evident that a new constitution cannot change, in an instant, the whole

existing legal framework, which was at the same time a reection, a “creator” and

a guarantor of a previous social order. The “old law” keeps functioning and directly

aects social relations. Some of the old laws may be neutral for democratic change,

but for the most part they are unable either to regulate new institutions and social

relations or to contradict the new model of society.

BRICS LAW JOURNAL Volume VI (2019) Issue 3 130

So, for social systems under transformation the time factor plays a crucial role.

This factor aects the nature and range of possible political and legal events,1 limits

the spectrum of political and legal opportunities as well as determines the choice of

options for action. Also, the time factor acts on the possibility of reaching the “point

of no return,” the transition through which ensures the irreversibility of democratic

change. For these reasons, the analysis of the dynamics of the adoption of new

(primary) laws directly prescribed by the constitution, as well as the analysis of the

timeliness of the abolition of the “old legislation,” contrary to new principles and

ideas, is of interest. This kind of research could provide evidence-based data with

which to assess the quality of social, political and economic changes boosted by

the adoption of the new democratic constitution and ensure that new legislation

renders the democracy irreversible.

Russian researchers in constitutional law do not see any particular diculties

in determining the content and periodization of the processes that took place in

the system of Russian law after the adoption of the democratic Constitution of

1993 and relate to the implementation of constitutional principles and models.

For instance, academician Taliya Khabriyeva calls the ongoing transformations “the

constitutionalization of modern Russian legislation” and identies three main stages

in this process:

During the “formation” stage, in the rst seven years of the Constitution

[’s operation] … the foundations of legislative regulation of the new socio-

economic formation were created. Codes and other legal acts were developed

that revealed the content and ensured the operation of constitutional values

and norms …

At the second – “adaptation” – stage, which covered the rst decade of the new

[i.e. twenty-rst] century, lawmaking was aimed at solving urgent problems of

political and socio-economic development and adjustment of legal regulators.

In recent years, the third – “modernization” – stage of development of

constitutional values and norms has come. At this stage, the task of the radical

transformation of the legislation has not been set longer. However, this process

is not limited to the current improvement of legislation. Modernization is

distinguished by the scale and method of solving problems, which requires

1 Ruth B. Collier & David Collier, Critical Junctures and Historical Legacies (Princeton: Princeton University

Press, 1991); Antoni Z. Kamiński, Stracony moment konstytucyjny w pokomunistycznej Polsce: skutki

dla jakości rządzenia dwadzieścia lat później in Modernizacja Polski. Struktury, agencje, instytucje

[A Lost Constitutional Moment in post-Communist Poland: Implications for Quality Management, Twenty

Years Later in Poland’s Modernization. Structures, Institutions, O rganizations] (Warsaw: Scientic and

Professional Publishing House, 2010).