Table of Contents
List of Tables x
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xvi
Notes on Transliteration xvii
List of Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Foreign Phrases xviii
1 The Russian Constitutional Court in Comparative Perspective 1
Comparing constitutional courts 2
Comparative constitutional law and courts 3
Socialist law and the Soviet legacy 6
Theoretical considerations 12
What makes a constitutional court independent and powerful? 12
First stage: Why create an independent constitutional court? 13
Second stage: Why do constitutional courts become powerful? 19
2 Establishing Judicial Review in Russia 28
The USSR Constitutional Oversight Committee, 1989-91 30
Powers and jurisdiction 32
Appointments 33
The first Russian Constitutional Court, 1991-93 33
Powers and jurisdiction 36
Appointments 39
The second Constitutional Court, 1994-2010 41
Powers and jurisdiction 44
Appointments 47
Conclusions 51
3 The Politics of Judicial Review in Russia, 1989-2010: Which Politicians Use Constitutional Courts? 52
The petitioners 52
The Soviet Constitutional Oversight Committee, 1989-91 53
The first Russian Constitutional Court, Chairman Zorkin, 1991-93 55
The second Russian Constitutional Court, Chairman Tumanov, 1995-96 58
The second Russian Constitutional Court, Chairman Baglai, 1997-2003, and Chairman Zorkin, 2003-10 63
4 USSR Constitutional Oversight Committee, 1989-91: The First Failure 65
Decisions of the USSR Constitutional Oversight Committee 66
Executive-legislative relations 66
Federal relations 69
The first failure 73
5 The First Russian Constitutional Court, 1991-93: How Do Politicians Use Constitutional Courts? 75
Decisions of the first Russian Constitutional Court 76
Interbranch disputes 78
Intrabranch disputes 92
Federal relations 95
Rejected petitions 99
The second failure 100
Background: The Constitutional Debate, 1990-92 102
The March crisis 106
Constitutional Assembly: Summer 1993 112
The fall of the first Russian Republic 114
Why did the constitutional court survive? 117
6 The Second Russian Constitutional Court, 1994-2010: How Do Constitutional Courts Become Guarantors of Fair Rules of the Game? 120
Chairmanship of Vladimir Tumanov, 1995-96 121
Interpreting constitutional provisions 125
Interbranch disputes 129
Defining federal relations 140
Chairmanship of Marat Baglai, 1997-2003 144
Tenure and appointment procedures 147
Relocation to St. Petersburg 149
Chairmanship of Valerii Zorkin Redux, 2003-10 150
Procedures for appointing/dismissing the chief justice 151
Collegiality 152
Conclusion 153
7 Three Attempts to Establish Judicial Review in Russia: What Constitutes Success? 155
Appendix I Constitutional Court Justices, 1991-2010 161
Appendix II Terms of Russian Constitutional Court Justices 163
Notes 164
Bibliography 184
Index 194
