Chapter 3. The Federal Structure

 

Article 65

 

1. The Russian Federation includes the following subjects of the Russian Federation:

 

Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 841 of July 25, 2003 included a new name of an entity of the Russian Federation - Khanty-Mansiisk autonomous area - Yugra in part 1 of Article 65 of theConstitution of the Russian Federation instead of the name the Khanty-Mansiisk autonomous area

Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 679 of June 9 9, 2001 included the new designation of an entity of the Russian Federation - the Chuvash Republic - Chuvashia - in part 1 of Article 65 of the Constitution instead of the designation the Chuvash Republic - Chavash respubliki

Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 173 of February 10, 1996 included a new designation of an entity of the Russian Federation - the Republic of Kalmykia - in paragraph 1 of Article 65 of the Constitution instead of the designation the Republic of Kalmykia - Khalm Tangch

Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 20 of January 9, 1996 included the new designation of an entity of the Russian Federation in paragraph 1 of Article 65 of the Constitution - the Republic of Ingushetia and the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania instead of the designation the Ingush Republic and the Republic of North Ossetia

the Republic of Adygeya (Adygeya), the Republic of Altai, the Republic of Bashkortostan, the Republic of Buryatia, the Republic of Daghestan, the Republic of Ingushetia, the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, the Republic of Kalmykia, the Karachayevo-Circassian Republic, the Republic of Karelia, the Komi Republic, the Republic of Marii El, the Republic of Mordovia, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, the Republic of Tatarstan (Tatarstan), the Republic of Tuva, the Udmurtian Republic, the Republic of Khakassia, the Chechen Republic, the Chuvash Republic - Chuvashia;

the Altai Territory, the Krasnodar Territory, the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the Primorie Territory, the Stavropol Territory, and the Khabarovsk Territory; the Amur Region, the Archangel Region, the Astrakhan Region, the Belgorod Region, the Bryansk Region, the Vladimir Region, the Volgograd Region, the Vologda Region, the Voronezh Region, the Ivanovo Region, the Irkutsk Region, the Kaliningrad Region, the Kaluga Region, the Kamchatka Region, the Kemerovo Region, the Kirov Region, the Kostroma Region, the Kurgan Region, the Kursk Region, the Leningrad Region, the Lipetsk Region, the Magadan Region, the Moscow Region, the Murmansk Region, the Nizhni Novgorod Region, the Novgorod Region, the Novosibirsk Region, the Omsk Region, the Orenburg Region, the Orel Region, the Penza Region, the Perm Region, the Pskov Region, the Rostov Region, the Ryazan Region, the Samara Region, the Saratov Region, the Sakhalin Region, the Sverdlovsk Region, the Smolensk Region, the Tambov Region, the Tver Region, the Tomsk Region, the Tula Region, the Tyumen Region, the Ulyanovsk Region, the Chelyabinsk Region, the Chita Region, and the Yaroslavl Region;

Moscow, St. Petersburg - cities of federal importance;

the Jewish Autonomous Region;

the Aginsk Buryat Autonomous Area, the Komi-Permyak Autonomous Area, the Koryak Autonomous Area, the Nenets Autonomous Area, the Taimyr (Dolgano-Nenets) Autonomous Area, the Ust-Ordyn Buryat Autonomous Area, the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area, the Chukotka Autonomous Area, the Evenki Autonomous Area, and the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area.

 

2. The admission to the Russian Federation and the creation in it of a new subject shall be carried out according to the rules established by the federal constitutional law.

 

See Federal Constitutional Law No. 6-FKZ of December 17, 2001 on the Procedure for Admission to and Formation Within the Russian Federation of a New Constituent Member of the Russian Federation

 

Article 66

 

1. The status of a republic shall be determined by the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the constitution of the republic.

 

2. The status of a territory, region, city of federal importance, autonomous region and autonomous area shall be determined by the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the charter of the territory, region, city of federal importance, autonomous region or autonomous area, adopted by the legislative (representative) body of the corresponding subject of the Russian Federation.

 

3. At the proposal of the legislative and executive bodies of the autonomous region or autonomous area a federal law on the autonomous region or autonomous area may be adopted.

 

4. The relations between the autonomous area within a territory or region may be regulated by a federal law or a treaty between the bodies of state authority of the autonomous area and, accordingly, the bodies of state authority of the territory or region.

 

5. The status of a subject of the Russian Federation may be changed upon mutual agreement of the Russian Federation and the subject of the Russian Federation and according to the federal constitutional law.

 

Article 67

 

1. The territory of the Russian Federation shall include the territories of its subjects, inland waters and territorial sea, and the air space over them.

 

See also Federal Law No. 155-FZ of July 31, 1998 on the Internal Sea Waters, Territorial Sea and Adjacent Zone of the Russian Federation

 

2. The Russian Federation shall possess sovereign rights and exercise jurisdiction on the continental shelf and in the exclusive economic zone of the Russian Federation according to the rules established by federal law and the norms of international law.

 

See Federal Law No. 191-FZ of December 17, 1998 on the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Russian Federation

See Federal Law No. 187-FZ of November 30, 1995 on the Continental Shelf of the Russian Federation

 

3. The borders between the subjects of the Russian Federation may be changed upon their mutual consent.

 

Article 68

 

1. The Russian language shall be the state language on the whole territory of the Russian Federation.

 

See Federal Law No. 53-FZ of June 1, 2005 on the State Language of the Russian Federation

 

2. The Republics shall have the right to establish their own state languages. In the bodies of state authority and local self-government, state institutions of the republics they shall be used together with the state language of the Russian Federation.

 

3. The Russian Federation shall guarantee to all of its peoples the right to preserve their native language and to create conditions for its study and development.

 

Article 69

The Russian Federation shall guarantee the rights of the indigenous minority peoples according to the universally recognised principles and norms of international law and international treaties and agreements of the Russian Federation.

 

On guarantees of rights of indigenous minority peoples of the Russian Federation, see Federal Law No. 82-FZ of April 30, 1999

 

Article 70

 

1. The state flag, coat of arms and anthem of the Russian Federation, their description and rules for official use thereof shall be established by the federal constitutional law.

 

See Federal Constitutional Law No. 1-FKZ of December 25, 2000 on the National Flag of the Russian Federation

See Federal Constitutional Law No. 2-FKZ of December 25, 2000 on the National Emblem of the Russian Federation

 

2. The capital of the Russian Federation is the city of Moscow. The status of the capital shall be determined by federal law.

 

Article 71

The jurisdiction of the Russian Federation includes:

a) adoption and amending of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and federal laws, control over their observance;

b) federal structure and the territory of the Russian Federation;

c) regulation and protection of the rights and freedoms of man and citizen; citizenship in the Russian Federation, regulation and protection of the rights of national minorities;

 

On the interpretation of Item (d) of Article 71 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation see Decisionof the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation No. 2-P of January 27, 1999

d) establishment of the system of federal legislative, executive and judicial bodies, the rules for their organisation and activities, formation of federal bodies of state authority;

e) federal state property and its management;

f) establishment of the principles of federal policy and federal programmes in the sphere of state, economic, ecological, social, cultural and national development of the Russian Federation;

 

See the Fundamentals of the Legislation of the Russian Federation on Culture approved by Law of the Russian Federation No. 3612-1 of October 9, 1992

g) establishment of the legal basis for a single market; financial, currency, credit, and customs regulation, money issue, the principles of pricing policy; federal economic services, including federal banks;

h) federal budget, federal taxes and dues, federal regional development funds;

i) federal power systems, nuclear power-engineering, fissionable materials, federal transport, railways, information and communication, outer space activities;

j) foreign policy and international relations of the Russian Federation, international treaties and agreements of the Russian Federation, issues of war and peace;

k) foreign economic relations of the Russian Federation;

l) defence and security; military production; determination of rules of selling and purchasing weapons, ammunition, military equipment and other military property; production of poisonous substances, narcotic substances and rules for their use;

m) determination of the status and protection of the state border, territorial sea, air space, exclusive economic zone and continental shelf of the Russian Federation;

n) judicial system, procurator's office, criminal, criminal procedural and penal legislation, amnesty and pardoning, civil, civil procedural and arbitration procedural legislation, legal regulation of intellectual property;

o) federal law of conflict of laws;

p) meteorological service, standards, metric system, horometry, geodesy and cartography, names of geographical units, official statistics and accounting;

q) state awards and honourary titles of the Russian Federation;

r) federal state service.

 

Article 72

 

1. The joint jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and the subjects of the Russian Federation includes:

a) providing for the correspondence of the constitutions and laws of the republics, the charters and other normative legal acts of the territories, regions, cities of federal importance, autonomous region or autonomous areas to the Constitution of the Russian Federation and federal laws;

b) protection of the rights and freedoms of man and citizen; protection of the rights of national minorities; ensuring the rule of law, law and order, public security and the border zone regime;

c) issues of possession, use and disposal of land, subsoil, water and other natural resources;

d) delimitation of state property;

e) utilization of natural resources, protection of the environment and ensuring ecological safety; specially protected natural territories, protection of historical and cultural monuments;

f) general questions of upbringing, education, science, culture, physical culture and sports;

g) coordination of issues of health care; protection of the family, maternity, paternity and childhood; social protection, including social security;

h) carrying out measures against catastrophes, natural calamities, epidemics, elimination of their aftermath;

i) establishment of common principles of taxation and dues in the Russian Federation;

j) administrative, administrative procedural, labour, family, housing, land, water, and forest legislation; legislation on subsoil and environmental protection;

k) personnel of the judicial and law enforcement agencies; the Bar, notary offices;

l) protection of the traditional habitat and way of life of small ethnic communities;

m) establishment of common principles of organisation of the system of bodies of state authority and local self-government;

 

On the general principles of the organization of the legislative (representative) and executive bodies of state power of the subjects of the Russian Federation see Federal Law No. 184-FZ of October 6, 1999

n) coordination of international and foreign economic relations of the subjects of the Russian Federation, fulfillment of international treaties and agreements of the Russian Federation.

 

See Federal Law No. 4-FZ of January 4, 1999 on Coordination of International and Foreign Economic Relations of the Subjects of the Russian Federation

 

2. The provisions of this Article shall be equally valid for the republics, territories, regions, cities of federal importance, autonomous regions or autonomous areas.

 

Article 73

Outside the limits of authority of the Russian Federation and the powers of the Russian Federation on issues under joint jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and the subjects of the Russian Federation, the subjects of the Russian Federation shall possess full state authority.

 

Article 74

 

1. In the territory of the Russian Federation it shall not be allowed to establish customs borders, dues or any other barriers to the free flow of goods, services and financial resources.

 

2. Limitations on the transfer of goods and services may be introduced according to federal law, if it is necessary to ensure security, protect the life and health of people, protect nature and items of cultural values.

 

Article 75

 

1. The monetary unit in the Russian Federation shall be the rouble. Money issue shall be carried out exclusively by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. Introduction and issue of other currencies in Russia shall not be allowed.

 

2. Protecting and ensuring the stability of the rouble shall be the major task of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, which it shall fulfil independently of the other bodies of state authority.

 

3. The system of taxes paid to the federal budget and the general principles of taxation and dues in the Russian Federation shall be established by federal law.

 

4. State loans shall be issued according to the rules established by federal law and shall be floated on a voluntary basis.

 

Article 76

 

 

On the interpretation of Part 1 of Article 76 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation see Decision of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation No. 2-P of January 27, 1999

1. On the issues under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation federal constitutional laws and federal laws shall be adopted and have direct action in the whole territory of the Russian Federation.

 

2. On the issues under the joint jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and subjects of the Russian Federation federal laws shall issued and laws and other normative acts of the subjects of the Russian Federation shall be adopted according to them.

 

3. Federal laws may not contradict the federal constitutional laws.

 

4. Outside the limits of authority of the Russian Federation, of the joint jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and the subjects of the Russian Federation, the republics, territories, regions, cities of federal importance, autonomous region or autonomous areas shall exercise their own legal regulation, including the adoption of laws and other normative acts.

 

5. The laws and other legislative acts of the subjects of the Russian Federation may not contradict the federal laws adopted according to the first and second parts of this Article. In the case of a contradiction between a federal law and an act issued in the Russian Federation the federal law shall be applied.

 

6. In the case of a contradiction between a federal law and a normative act of a subject of the Russian Federation adopted according to the fourth part of this Article, the normative legal act of the subject of the Russian Federation shall be applied.

 

Article 77

 

1. The system of bodies of state authority of the republics, territories, regions, cities of federal importance, autonomous region or autonomous areas shall be established by the subjects of the Russian Federation independently and according to the principles of the constitutional system of the Russian Federation and the general principles of the organisation of representative and executive bodies of state authority established by federal law.

 

2. Within the limits of jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and the powers of the Russian Federation on the issues under the joint jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and the subjects of the Russian Federation the federal bodies of executive authority and the bodies of executive authority of the subjects of the Russian Federation shall make up a single system of executive power of the Russian Federation.

 

Article 78

 

1. The federal bodies of executive power in order to exercise their powers may create their own territorial bodies and appoint corresponding officials.

 

2. The federal bodies of executive power by agreement with the bodies of executive power of the subjects of the Russian Federation may transfer to them the fulfillment of a part of their powers, if this does not contradict the Constitution of the Russian Federation and federal laws.

 

3. The bodies of executive power of the subjects of the Russian Federation by agreement with the federal bodies of executive power may transfer to them the fulfillment of a part of their powers.

 

4. The President of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Russian Federation shall ensure, according to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the implementation of the powers of federal state authority in the whole territory of the Russian Federation.

 

Article 79

The Russian Federation may participate in interstate associations and transfer to them part of its powers according to international treaties and agreements, if this does not involve the limitation of the rights and freedoms of man and citizen and does not contradict the principles of the constitutional system of the Russian Federation.