Relevance of the topic of the research. Russia in accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation is a federal law-governed state. The laws of the Russian Federation form federal normative acts and normative acts of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. At the same time, the constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation play a special role in the legislative system of the Russian Federation, since they determine the status of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, and, when necessary, supplement the regulation established by federal laws. In this regard, the constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation represent a link between the different levels of legal regulation of federal relations. Due to this circumstance the special attention is given to the legal quality of the content, structure and registration of acts of constitutional (statutory) regulation.

However, the current constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation do not always reflect the characteristics of the legal quality. Some acts of constitutional (statutory) regulation contain provisions that directly contradict the requirements of federal normative acts, far from all constitutions (statutes) use the achievements of legal techniques. At the same time, the presence of poor-quality constitutions (statutes) in the legislative system of the Russian Federation is one of the main conditions destabilizing federal relations, creating a threat to state integrity and the unity of the legal space of the Russian Federation.

In this regard, the main task of state administration is to ensure the legal quality of constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. However, despite the unconditional importance of this issue, today there is no clear scientific understanding of the specific features of the legal quality of the constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation; there are no unified rules that guarantee the legal quality of constitutional (statutory) regulation of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

Above circumstances testify to the scientific relevance and practical necessity of researching the legal quality of constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

The degree of scientific elaboration of the topic. In the scientific works of such jurists as V.V. Ignatenko, V.V. Krasinski, S.V. Polenina, V.F. Prozorov, the problems of socioeconomic, political quality of normative legal acts have been studied in sufficient detail. The study of individual characteristics of legal quality is presented in the works of such well-known researchers as S.A. Avakyan, V.A. Kryazhkov, O.E. Kutafin, I.A. Konyuhova (Umnova), Yu.A. Tikhomirov.

However, to date, comprehensive, independent scientific research on the legal quality of constitutions (statutes) of constituent entities of the Russian Federation has not been carried out in the domestic legal science.

The object of the thesis is public relations that develop with the provision of the legal quality of constitutions (statutes) within the legislative process and certain types of legal activity in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation that guarantee consistency of content, optimality of structure and completeness of registration of acts of constitutional (statutory) regulation.

The subjects of the thesis are:

• scientific and theoretical provisions that reveal the essence and specificity of the legal quality of normative legal acts;
• acts of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation expressing an official opinion on certain aspects of the legal quality of constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation;
• constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation as integral normative acts;
• federal normative acts and normative acts of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation regulating certain types of activities aimed at ensuring the legal quality of acts of constitutional (statutory) regulation of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

Aims and objectives of the thesis research. The purpose of the research is to determine the specific features of the legal quality of constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and to formulate proposals for ensuring the legal quality of the relevant acts.

To achieve the purpose, the following main tasks were identified and solved:

• definition of features of the functional purpose, subject and limits of legal regulation of constitutions (statutes) as conditions that determine the specific nature of the legal quality of the relevant acts;
• definition of the nature of the legal quality of the constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation;
• determination of requirements, the implementation of which ensures the legal quality of acts of constitutional (statutory) regulation;
• identification of the role of expertise and monitoring in ensuring the legal quality of constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

The methods of the philosophical (primarily the dialectical method), general scientific (methods of synthesis, analysis, induction, deduction, analogy) and of the private scientific level were used as the methodological basis of the study. The tasks of the study have led to the application of such private scientific methods as the comparative legal method, the method of historical and legal analysis, theme-structural and special-legal (regulatory dogmatic) methods, the method of analyzing of legal texts and other methods.

The theoretical basis of the research consists of the scientific works devoted to the constitutions (statutes) as the specific normative acts, of such legal scientists as S.A. Avakyan, S.S. Alexeev, N.V.  Vitruk, R.V. Engiboryan, M.F. Kazantseva, A.I. Kovalenko, I.A. Kravets, V.A. Kryazhkov, E.I. Kozlova, I.A. Konyuhova (Umnova), O.E. Kutafin, V.V. Lazarev, A.V. Malko, N.I. Matuzov, T.N. Rakhmanina, V.N.  Rudenko, M.B. Smolenski, D.L. Surkov, E.V. Tadevosyan, Yu.A. Tikhomirov, T.Ya. Khabrieva, A.F. Cherdantsev, B.S. Ebzeev et al.

Scientific researches on the quality of normative acts of such scientists as R.A. Gabbasov, V.V. Ignatenko, V.V. Krasinski, A.I. Kozulin, S.V. Polenina, E.V. Syrykh et al. were used.

Scientific achievements accomplished in the field of constitutionality, the legality of normative acts and their legal techniques of such researchers as L.F. Apt, V.M.  Baranov, I.N. Bartsits, M.A. Vasilyeva, N.M. Dobrynin, R.I. Elagin, V.N. Kartashova, D.A. Kerimov, A.N. Kokotov, O.I. Kulenko, Yu.P. Livshits, M.S. Matejkovich, A.V. Mitskevich, L.A. Morozova, A.S. Pigolkin, L.V. Sonina, A.N. Chertkov, A.F. Shebanov, N.A. Shtei, A.I. Shumakov et al. were used.

The empirical basis of the study consists of the provisions contained in the constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, federal normative acts and normative acts of constituent entities of the Russian Federation regulating certain activities aimed at ensuring the legal quality of acts of constitutional (statutory) regulation , as well as acts of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation expressing an opinion on the content of the legal quality of constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

The scientific novelty of the thesis research is to identify the peculiarities of both the legal quality category itself and its individual elements in relation to the constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The proposals are formulated in the thesis to ensure the legal quality of acts of constitutional (statutory) regulation of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

The main provisions for the defense:
1. The peculiarity of the legal quality of constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation is predetermined by the specificity of their functional purpose. The functions of the acts of constitutional (statutory) regulation that determine the specificity of their legal quality include: the function of the regulatory and legal complement of regulation established by federal laws; broadcasting function; function of determining the status of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation; regulatory function; legal and organizational function.

2. The legal quality of constitutions (statutes) of constituent entities of the Russian Federation is a set of legislatively defined characteristics of the content, structure, design, and the procedure for the adoption of such acts.

From the content point of view, the legal quality of constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation is a characteristic of their compliance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, consistency with federal laws, compliance with the formalized rules of legal writing in the evaluated acts, and also the characterization of the will of the participants in the legislative process for the adoption of an act of constitutional (statutory) regulation.
3. The presence of the legal characteristics of quality that the constitutions (statutes) of constituent entities of the Russian Federation have is achieved through the implementation of requirements of constitutionality and legality of their content, the legitimacy of their consideration and adoption, as well as the requirements of compliance with the rules of legal technique.
4. The content of the requirement of constitutionality of acts of constitutional (statutory) regulation of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation form the rule of need for literal and semantic conformity of the constitutions (statutes) to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, as well as the rule of necessity of establishing in the constitutions (statutes) provisions that individualize the status of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, as defined by the federal Constitution.

The fulfillment of the requirement of constitutionality ensures that constitutions (statutes) of constituent entities of the Russian Federation have such a characteristic of legal quality as their compliance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation.
5. The requirement of legitimacy of the contents of the constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation form the rule of the need for literal and semantic conformity of acts of constitutional (statutory) regulation to the provisions of federal laws, as well as the rule of necessity for supplementing of the regulation with the constitutions (statutes) at the federal level in accordance with the direct instructions of federal laws.

The fulfillment of the requirement of legitimacy of content ensures that constitutions (statutes) of constituent entities of the Russian Federation have such a characteristic of legal quality as their consistency with federal laws.

6. The content of the requirement of the legitimacy of consideration and adoption of constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation form the rules for the need to comply with the procedures for the introduction, discussion and approval of draft acts of constitutional (statutory) regulation of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

Compliance with the requirement of legitimacy of consideration and adoption of constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation ensures such a characteristic of legal quality as the presence of will of the participants in the legislative process to adopt an act of constitutional (statutory) regulation.
7. The content of the requirements of legislative technique form the formalized rules for the presentation, structuring and registration of constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

The fulfillment of this requirement ensures that the constitutions (statutes) of constituent entities of the Russian Federation have such legal quality characteristics as their accessibility, ease of application, and the proper identification of acts of constitutional (statutory) regulation in the legislative system of the Russian Federation.
8. The legal quality of the constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation is guaranteed by the consistent application of such legal means as legal monitoring and examination of the legal quality of the constitutions (statutes) and their projects.

Legal monitoring is one of the most effective auxiliary tools for ensuring the legal quality of constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Conducting the legal monitoring on regular basis guarantees timeliness, comprehensiveness and objectivity of expertise of the legal quality of constitutions (statutes) and their projects.

In order to ensure the legal quality of constitutions (statutes) of constituent entities of the Russian Federation, legal monitoring solves the following tasks: facilitating the identification of inconsistencies in the constitutions (statutes) of constituent entities of the Russian Federation with federal normative acts; determination of the scope of implementation and degree of regulation of the constitutional (statutory) normative powers of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation; generalization of the constitutional (statutory) experience of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

Expertise of legal quality is the main and most effective means of ensuring the legal quality of constitutions (statutes) and their projects. In this regard, the main tasks of this legal remedy are to ensure the requirements of constitutionality and legitimacy of the content of the constitutional (statutory) regulations envisaged for adoption, as well as the identification of inconsistencies in the provisions of the constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation with the requirements of federal normative acts.
9. In order to ensure the proper implementation of the requirements of the legitimacy of consideration and adoption, as well as legislative technique in relation to the constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, it is proposed to supplement the Federal Law 184-FZ, dated October 6, 1999, "On the General Principles of the Organization of Legislative (Representative) and Executive Bodies of State Power of the Constituent Entities of the Russian Federation"[1] (hereinafter - the Federal Law of October 6, 1999 No. 184-FZ) with a number of articles. The proposed amendments to the federal legislation are intended, first, to strengthen the clearer procedure for the introduction, discussion and approval of draft acts of constitutional (statutory) regulation, and second, to reflect the features of the presentation, structuring and formalization of constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation as independent statutory acts occupying a special place in the legislative system of the Russian Federation.

[1] Rossiyskaya Gazeta [Russian Newspaper]. October, 19, 1999.

Theoretical and practical significance of the thesis research. The theoretical significance of the research lies in the fact that the provisions formulated therein contribute to the scientific understanding of the specific features of the legal quality of constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

The practical significance of the thesis research is that the author has developed recommendations, compliance with which in the constitutional (statutory) legislative process, as well as within the framework of legal monitoring and relevant expertise, will ensure the legal quality of constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation .

Approbation of the results of the thesis research. The thesis was prepared at the Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law of the Baikal State University of Economics and Law, where a discussion of its provisions was held. The results of the research were repeatedly presented at various scientific events at the regional, interregional and all-Russian levels.

Scientific conclusions obtained during the preparation of the thesis research were used in the law-making work of the Irkutsk Regional State Research Institution "The Institute of Legislation and Legal Information named after M.M. Speransky."

The structure of the thesis. The thesis research consists of an introduction, three chapters combining nine paragraphs, conclusions, a bibliographic list and an appendix.

In the introduction, the relevance of the topic is substantiated, the degree of elaboration of the problems is determined, the object and the subject, the goals and tasks of the work are identified, its methodological and theoretical bases are developed, the provisions that are to be defended are formulated, the theoretical and practical significance of the research are determined.

Chapter 1 "The Constitution (Statute) of a Constituent Entity of the Russian Federation as a Normative Legal Act" contains three paragraphs.

In the first paragraph "Functions of Constitutions (Statutes) of the Constituent Entities of the Russian Federation", attention is drawn to the fact that the constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation perform various functions. At the same time, certain functions, as separate manifestations of the appointment of acts of constitutional (statutory) regulation, determine the specifics of certain characteristics of the legal quality of these acts. This is primarily due to the fact that the functional purpose of the constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation predetermines the content of a significant number of their positions within the various subjects of reference. At the same time, it is the content of acts of constitutional (statutory) regulation that is evaluated from the point of view of the presence or absence of a number of characteristics of legal quality.

Thus, the specificity of certain content characteristics of the legal quality of acts of constitutional (statutory) regulation is a consequence of the fulfillment of special functions by the constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

The functions that predetermine the specific features of the legal quality of acts of constitutional (statutory) regulation include: the function of regulatory development of federal normative acts on the territory of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation; broadcasting function, the essence of which is that the constitutions (statutes) adopt the prescriptions of federal acts by direct reception of normative provisions and their interpretation; function of replenishment of the status of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, i.e., the determination of the specific features of the legal status of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation; the regulatory function, the essence of which lies in the fact that these acts establish the formal grounds for the emergence of new social relations; organizational and legal function, that is, such acts are the legal basis for the legislation of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

In the second paragraph "Subject and Limits of the Legal Regulation of Constitutions (Statutes) of Constituent Entities of the Russian Federation", attention is drawn to the fact that the specifics of the legal quality of constitutions (statutes), along with functions, is also predetermined by the features of the subject and the limits of constitutional (statutory) regulation.

The subject and scope of acts of constitutional (statutory) regulation differ from the subject and limits of legal regulation of other regional normative acts. According to federal normative acts, only certain types of social relations can be the subject of constitutional (statutory) regulation. The limits of possible constitutional (statutory) regulation are determined in federal normative acts by establishing specific constitutional (statutory) normative powers of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

In this connection, the correct correlation between the volumes of federal and regional regulations and the organization of normal interaction of federal normative acts and constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation depend on the correct establishment of the subject and limits of constitutional (statutory) regulation, which underlies providing such characteristics of the legal quality of constitutions (statutes) as their conformity with the Constitution of the Russian Federation and consistency with federal laws.

The subject of legal regulation of constitutions (statutes) is formed by two groups of social relations:

• social relations included in the subject of joint jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and its constituent entities;
• social relations that constitute the subject of "exclusive" conduct of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

The subject and limits of constitutional (statutory) regulation within the framework of joint jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and the constituent entities of the Russian Federation are determined by the direct indication of federal laws on public relations subject to constitutional (statutory) regulation. This logic is enshrined in the federal Constitution, which consistently highlights the constitutions (statutes) in the system of legislation of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

The subject of constitutional (statutory) regulation within the "exclusive" jurisdiction of constituent entities of the Russian Federation form the powers of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, individualizing their legal status, as enshrined in the federal Constitution.

The limits of constitutional (statutory) regulation within the "exclusive" jurisdiction of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation can be different. In view of the fact that the constitutions (statutes) are acts of a fundamental nature, it can be concluded that the limits of constitutional (statutory) regulation should be determined on the basis of the necessity to create conditions for the development of the current legislation of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

In the third paragraph "The essence and structure of the legal quality of constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation", the nature of the legal quality of constitutions (statutes) is considered. In the modern legal literature, the essence of legal quality is determined in different ways. Most often, the legal quality is considered as a set of inherent attributes, properties of normative acts.

At the same time, it seems that it is advisable to understand the legal quality of constitutions (statutes) not as a set of permanent signs of normative acts, but as a complex of characteristics of content, structure, design, and the procedure for the development and adoption of such acts. In other words, normative legal acts, including the constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, may not be characterized as qualitative from a legal point of view.  However, this does not mean that these acts lose their essential attributes.

The presence of characteristics of the legal quality of constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation is ensured through the fulfillment of a number of legislatively defined requirements.

The legislation stipulates the following requirements, the implementation of which ensures the legal quality of acts of constitutional (statutory) regulation:

• requirement of constitutionality of acts of constitutional regulation. The implementation of this requirement ensures that constitutions (statutes) of constituent entities of the Russian Federation have such a characteristic of legal quality as compliance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation;
• requirement of legitimacy of the contents of constitutions (statutes). The implementation of this requirement ensures that the constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation have such a characteristic of legal quality, as consistency with federal laws;
• requirement of legitimacy of consideration and adoption of constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The fulfillment of this requirement ensures that the constitutions (statutes) have the following characteristics of legal quality: the presence of the will of the participants in the legislative process to establish the appropriate legal regulation;
• requirement of the legislative technique of constitutions (statutes). The realization of this requirement ensures that the constitutions (statutes) of constituent entities of the Russian Federation have such legal quality characteristics as their accessibility, ease of application, and the proper identification of acts of constitutional (statutory) regulation in the legislative system of the Russian Federation.

 

Thus, the legal quality of constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation is a characteristic of their compliance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, consistency with federal laws, compliance with formal laws of legal techniques in these acts, as well as the character of the will of the participants in the legislative process to adopt act of constitutional (statutory) regulation.

 

Chapter 2 "Requirements that ensure the legal quality of constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation" consists of four paragraphs.

In the first paragraph "Demand for the constitutionality of acts of constitutional (statutory) regulation of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation", the specificity of the requirement of constitutionality of acts of constitutional (statutory) regulation is examined. It seems that the requirement of constitutionality is the most important, and within the "exclusive" jurisdiction of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the only requirement, the fulfillment of which ensures the legal quality of the contents of the constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

According to the Article 66 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the status of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation along with the federal Constitution is determined by constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. In this regard, unlike the constitutionality of other normative acts, the proper implementation of the constitutionality requirement in relation to the constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation is achieved by the formation of constitutional (statutory) regulations that not only literally and by implication comply with the provisions of the federal Constitution, its provisions through the individualization of the legal status of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
The proper provision of such a characteristic of the legal quality of the constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation as their compliance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation is possible only on condition that the content of concepts and terms fixed in the federal Constitution is clarified, as well as formulated by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, clarification of the Constitution regulations by systemic interpretation of constitutional provisions, clarification of meaning of the constitutional (statutory) provisions taking into account the understanding laid down in them by other provisions of the same constitutions (statutes), as well as the content of the legislation of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation.

 

In the second paragraph, "Demanding the legality of the content of constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation", a special feature of the requirement of the legitimacy of the content of such acts is proved. The requirement of legitimacy of the contents of acts of constitutional (statutory) regulation is fulfilled only in relation to the provisions of the acts establishing regulation within the joint jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and their constituent entities. At the same time, constitutional (statutory) regulation within the limits of joint jurisdiction is possible only if federal (constitutional) statutory powers of constituent entities of the Russian Federation are consolidated in federal laws. This point is constructive in the implementation of the requirement of legitimacy of the content of acts of  constitutional (statutory) regulation. The condition for direct indication in the federal law of the need for constitutional (statutory) regulation distinguishes this requirement from the requirement of legitimacy of the content of other normative acts of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Thus, the bodies of state power of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in accordance with clause 3.1 of Article 26.3 of Federal Law No. 184-FZ of October 6, 1999, in order to exercise its powers within the framework of subjects of joint jurisdiction, regardless of the existence in federal laws of provisions establishing this right, have the right to adopt only laws and other normative acts of a lower legal force. In other words, the constitutional (statutory) regulation within the limits of joint jurisdiction can be established only if the corresponding normative powers are directly provided for by any federal law.

Thus, the realization of the requirement for the legitimacy of content in relation to the constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation is achieved by the formation of constitutional (statutory) regulations, which not only literally and by implication comply with the requirements of federal laws, but establish a clear, unambiguous normative supplement within the limits of constitutional (statutory) normative powers, as defined by federal laws.

Such a normative addition to the constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation can be formulated on the condition of an analysis of the concept and objectives of the federal legal act that establishes the possibility of constitutional (statutory) regulation, systematic and literal interpretation of the provisions of the relevant federal law in order to clarify the content of future constitutional (statutory) formulations, preventing the transfer to the texts of constitutions (statutes) of constituent entities of the Russian Federation of the provisions of federal laws that do not have directly related to the implementation of constitutional (statutory) normative competence.

The fulfillment of the requirement of legitimacy of content ensures that constitutions (statutes) of constituent entities of the Russian Federation have such a characteristic of legal quality as their consistency with federal laws.

In the thesis research, special attention is paid to the problem of the legality of the content of constitutions (statutes) as the subject of judicial proceedings. Today, there is no possibility of confirming (refutation) the legitimacy of such acts in court, which, as noted by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, is due to the special legal relationship of the federal Constitution and constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation[1].

It seems that the conclusions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation are absolutely correct, but only insofar as it indicates the impossibility of verifying the implementation of the requirement of legitimacy of the content of constitutions (statutes) in terms of determining the status of constituent entities of the Russian Federation by them, i.e. within the "exclusive" jurisdiction of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. At the same time, constitutional (statutory) regulation can be established within the joint jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and its constituent entities. Thus, in many issues of constitutional regulation the constitutions (statutes) do not have direct (special) connection with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, but base their provisions on the norms of current federal legislation.

 

[1] Decision of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation dated July 18, 2003 No. 13-P "On the verification of the constitutionality of the provisions of Articles 115 and 231 of the Civil Procedure Code of the RSFSR, Articles 26, 251 and 253 of the CPC of the Russian Federation, Articles 1, 21 and 22 of the Federal Law "On the Public Prosecution Office of the Russian Federation" in connection with the requests of the State Assembly - the Kurultai of the Republic of Bashkortostan, the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan and the Supreme Court of the Republic of Tatarstan" // SZ RF (Memorandum). 2003. No. 3, article 3101.

The establishment of a differentiated approach to ensuring their compliance with federal normative acts may become a more acceptable way in comparison with an unambiguous refusal from the possibility of judicial implementation of the requirement of the legitimacy of the content of constitutions (statutes).

The main idea of this approach is the need for a normative fixing of a system of criteria, the presence of which would indicate the possibility of applying civil proceedings to ensure the implementation of the requirement of legitimacy of the content of acts of constitutional (statutory) regulation.

In this regard, the legitimacy of constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation can be assessed by the courts of general jurisdiction, if:  the assessed constitutional (statutory) provision establishes regulation within the joint jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and the constituent entities of the Russian Federation; there is a federal law that directly provides for constitutional (statutory) normative powers of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation; in relation to the federal law establishing constitutional (statutory) normative powers, the court has no doubt about its compliance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

In the third paragraph, "Demanding the legitimacy of procedures for the review and adoption of constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation", the specifics of the legitimacy of the procedures for creating acts of constitutional (statutory) regulation are disclosed. Assuming that consideration and adoption of constitutional (statutory) acts is regulated by the legislation of the Russian Federation, the corresponding requirement is a manifestation of legitimacy.

However, the requirement in question differs from the requirement of the legitimacy of the content of constitutions (statutes), which is manifested in the following: the legitimacy of the consideration and adoption of such acts is not directed at establishing any regulatory prescriptions but on the dynamics of the process of their creation; the implementation of this requirement, unlike the requirement of legitimacy of their content, is aimed not so much at ensuring consistency of constitutions (statutes) as on ensuring proper formation and coordination of the will of participants in the legislative process to adopt an act of constitutional (statutory) regulation.

The peculiarity of the requirement of legitimacy of consideration and adoption of acts of constitutional (statutory) regulation is predetermined by federal legislation and consists in the following: first, the higher quorum of votes required for the adoption of acts of constitutional (statutory) regulation is established; second, the constitutions of the republics in the Russian Federation can be adopted not only by legislative (representative) bodies, but also by other authorized bodies; third, according to paragraph 1 of Art. 6, paragraph 2 of Art. 8 of the Federal Law of October, 6, 1999 No. 184-FZ, the procedure for the development and adoption of acts of constitutional (statutory) regulation is to a large extent established by the constitutions (statutes) and laws of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. In this connection, the legislation of certain constituent entities of the Russian Federation has specific procedural rules, compliance with which is also a condition for the realization of the requirement of legitimacy of consideration and adoption of relevant normative acts.
The content of the requirement of the legitimacy of consideration and adoption of constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation form the rules for the need to comply with the procedures for the introduction, discussion and approval of draft acts of constitutional (statutory) regulation of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
In this section of the thesis research, the proposals are made to supplement the Federal Law No. 184-FZ of October, 6th, 1999, with a number of articles specifying the specifics of the implementation of the right of a constitutional (statutory) legislative initiative, the procedure for discussion and approval of acts of constitutional (statutory) regulation, their promulgation and entry into force by regional parliaments.
In the fourth paragraph, "The Requirement of Legislative Techniques for Constitutions (Statutes) of Constituent Entities of the Russian Federation", the features of the legislatively established rules for the presentation, structuring and drafting of constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the implementation of which is prerequisite for the legal quality of the relevant acts.

Due to the fact that at the federal level there is no regulation of the rules for the presentation, structuring and formalization of regional normative acts, the constituent entities of the Russian Federation are independent in the choice and formal enactment of the rules of legislative technology that are subject to mandatory application in the process of establishing a constitutional (statutory) regulation.

The fulfillment of this requirement ensures that the constitutions (statutes) of constituent entities of the Russian Federation have such legal quality characteristics as their accessibility, ease of application, and the proper identification of acts of constitutional (statutory) regulation in the legislative system of the Russian Federation.

In order to unify the requirements of the legislative technique for the constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the thesis proposes to supplement the Federal Law No. 184-FZ of October 6, 1999, with an article establishing unified rules for expressing legal content, structuring constitutions (statutes), and unified requirements to attributive characteristics of constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, as independent normative acts in the legislative system of the Russian Federation.

Chapter 3 "Means for Ensuring the Legal Quality of Constitutions (Statutes) of Constituent Entities of the Russian Federation" unites two paragraphs.

In the first paragraph "The role of monitoring in ensuring the legal quality of constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation", the legal monitoring is viewed as an effective auxiliary tool that ensures the timeliness, comprehensiveness and objectivity of the expertise of the legal quality of constitutions (statutes) and their projects.

The subject of the study of legal monitoring as a means of ensuring the legal quality of constitutions (statutes) is the federal legislation on joint jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and its constituent entities, as well as the procedure for implementing constitutional (statutory) regulations in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

Legal monitoring of constitutional (statutory) regulation is a research process. In this regard, we can distinguish the following stages of legal monitoring. First, the preparatory stage. The main tasks of this stage are to track the federal legislative process for changing the constitutional (statutory) normative powers of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, as well as to collect and demand the necessary information from the entities of compliance, implementation and application of the constitutions (statutes) of constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Second, the stage of generalization and structuring of the accumulated and received information. The process of generalization consists in revealing from the whole array of accumulated and obtained information exactly the one that meets the objectives of monitoring research. The structuring of information is expressed in the grouping of generalized information on the tasks of the study. Third, the stage of studying of generalized and structured information, characterized by a superficial analysis of the available information to identify potential inconsistencies in the constitutions (statutes) to the federal legislation, as well as studying the practice of implementing regulations in order to identify other negative legal phenomena in the constitutional (statutory) regulation. Fourth, the stage of forming conclusions and recommendations. The conclusions of the legal monitoring contain assumptions about the presence (absence) of negative legal phenomena related to the acts of constitutional (statutory) regulation of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. At the same time, the recommendations are expressed as proposal to review the constitution (statute) of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation with a view to improving their legal quality, or as proposal to the regional parliament to amend the constitution (statute) aimed at improving the legal quality.

In the second paragraph, "The Role of Legal Expertise in Ensuring the Legal Quality of Constitutions (Statutes) of Constituent Entities of the Russian Federation," it is stated that expertise is the main means of ensuring and improving the legal quality of acts of constitutional (statutory) regulation. Timeliness, comprehensiveness and objectivity of the expertise of the legal quality of constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation are provided by legal monitoring.

Expertise of legal quality should be carried out, first of all, with regard to draft acts of constitutional (statutory) regulation.  Therefore, this kind of expertise should be considered as the most important stage of the constitutional (statutory) legislative process, the task of which is to implement the requirements of constitutionality and the legitimacy of the acts supposed to be adopted.

The expertise of legal quality should also be conducted in relation to the current constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. In this regard, this kind of expertise is the main means of identifying the presence (absence) of the characteristics of the legal quality of the relevant acts and identifying the content of contradictions in the constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

In the conclusion of the work, the results are summarized and the main conclusions of the thesis study are formulated.

In the appendix to the thesis, the model law of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation "On measures to ensure the legal quality of regulatory legal acts of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation or their projects" is given.

ON THE TOPIC OF THE THESIS RESEARCH THE FOLLOWING WORKS ARE PUBLISHED:

 

 

Khvalev S.A. Trebovanie konstitucionnosti uchreditel'nyh aktov sub"ektov Rossijskoj Federacii  [The requirement of constitutionality of constituent acts of constituent entities of the Russian Federation] // Academical law journal. 2010. No. 2. Pp. 43-47. 0.49 printed sheet. (in Russian)

Khvalev S.A. Rol' pravovogo monitoringa v obespechenii pravovogo kachestva konstitucij (ustavov) sub"ektov Rossijskoj Federacii [The Role of Legal Monitoring in Ensuring the Legal Quality of Constitutions (Statutes) of Constituent Entities of the Russian Federation] // The Modern Law. 2010. No.6. Pp. 42-47. 0.41 printed sheet. (in Russian)

Khvalev S.A. Pravovoj status sub"ektov Rossijskoj Federacii kak predmet konstitucionnogo (ustavnogo) regulirovaniya [The legal status of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation as the subject of constitutional (statutory) regulation] // Izvestiya Irkutskoj gosudarstvennoj ehkonomicheskoj akademii. 2010. No.5. Pp. 179-182. 0.26 printed sheet. (in Russian)

 

 

 

Khvalev S.A. Pravovoe kachestvo konstitucij (ustavov) sub"ektov Rossijskoj Federacii kak nauchnaya kategoriya [Legal quality of constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation as a scientific category] // Aktual'nye problemy razvitiya zakonodatel'stva sub"ektov Rossijskoj Federacii [Actual problems of development of the legislation of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation]: collection of  materials of research and practice conference. Irkutsk Institute of Legislation and Legal Information named after M.M. Speransky, 2007. Pp. 201-211. 0.58 printed sheet. (in Russian)

Khvalev S.A. Predmet i predely konstitucionnogo (ustavnogo) regulirovaniya v sub"ektah RF [The subject and limits of constitutional (statutory) regulation in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation] // Vestnik Vostochno-Sibirskogo Instituta  Ehkonomiki i Prava. 2009. No.1. Pp. 95-99. 0.26 printed sheet. (in Russian)

Khvalev S.A. Funkcii konstitucij (ustavov) sub"ektov Rossijskoj Federacii [Functions of constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation] // Academical Law Journal. 2009. No. 3. Pp. 18-28. 0.9 printed sheet. (in Russian)

Khvalev S.A. Pravovoe kachestvo konstitucij (ustavov) sub"ektov Rossijskoj Federacii: k postanovke problemy [The legal quality of constitutions (statutes) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation: the formulation of the problem] // Vestnik Instituta zakonodatel'stva i pravovoj informacii imeni M.M. Speranskogo. 2009. No.1. Pp. 19–30. 1.1 printed sheet. (in Russian)

Khvalev S.A. Ekspertiza konstitucij (ustavov) sub"ektov Rossijskoj Federacii kak sredstvo povysheniya ih pravovogo kachestva [Expertise of constitutions (statutes) of constituent entities of the Russian Federation as a means of increasing their legal quality] // Vestnik Instituta zakonodatel'stva i pravovoj informacii imeni M.M. Speranskogo.  2010. No.1. Pp. 47-51. 0.54 printed sheet. (in Russian)

Khvalev S.A. Realizaciya trebovaniya kostitucionnosti osnovnyh zakonov sub"ektov Rossijskoj Federacii v regional’nom normotvorcheskom processe [Realization of the requirement of constitutionality of the basic laws of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in the regional norm-setting process] // Gosudarstvennaya vlast’ I mestnoye samoupravleniye. 2010. No.2. Pp. 32-37. 0.78 printed sheet. (in Russian)