The Constitution of the Russian Federation (Article 92) provides for several grounds for termination of the powers of the President of the Russian Federation.

IN as usual The President of the Russian Federation ceases to exercise his powers with the expiration of the term for which he was elected, at the moment the newly elected President of the Russian Federation takes the oath. The powers of the President of the Russian Federation may be terminated early:

1) on the initiative of the President of the Russian Federation himself - in the event of his resignation;

2) for reasons beyond the will of the President of the Russian Federation - in the event of a persistent inability of the President of the Russian Federation for health reasons to exercise his powers;

3) on the initiative of the Federal Assembly - if it makes a decision to remove the President of the Russian Federation from office.

Under resignation According to generally accepted state legal practice, the voluntary resignation of the head of state from his post is understood. Procedure for termination of powers of the President of the Russian Federation as a result of persistent inability for health reasons to exercise their powers also requires detailed legal regulation in the federal law, where it is necessary to indicate: which body and how establishes the fact of the presence of permanent inability, what are its criteria, etc.

Detachment The removal of the President from office is a procedure for holding the head of state legally accountable. For the first time, such a procedure called “impeachment” was established by the US Constitution, * and then by the constitutions of many other states.

The procedure for removing the President of the Russian Federation from office consists of three stages.

1. The State Duma brings charges against the President of the Russian Federation for his removal from office. The initiative to make such a decision must come from at least one third of the State Duma deputies.

A proposal to bring charges against the President of the Russian Federation must contain specific indications of the signs of a serious crime that is charged against the President of the Russian Federation.

A proposal to bring charges against the President of the Russian Federation is sent by the State Duma for the conclusion of a special commission formed by the chamber to assess compliance with procedural rules and the factual validity of the charges.

The proposal to bring charges against the President of the Russian Federation and the conclusion of the special commission are considered at a meeting of the State Duma. Based on the results of the discussion, the State Duma, by two-thirds of the votes of the total number of deputies of the chamber, adopts a resolution to bring charges against the President of the Russian Federation of high treason or committing another serious crime in order to remove him from office. The resolution of the State Duma on bringing charges against the President of the Russian Federation is sent within five days to the Federation Council, as well as to the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation and the Supreme Court for giving an opinion.

If the proposal to bring charges against the President of the Russian Federation does not receive the support of a two-thirds majority of the total number of deputies of the chamber, the State Duma issues a resolution refusing to bring charges against the President of the Russian Federation.

2. Confirmation of the decision of the State Duma by the conclusion of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on the presence of signs of a crime in the actions of the President of the Russian Federation and by the conclusion of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation on compliance with the established procedure for bringing charges.

3. Adoption by the Federation Council of a decision to remove the President of the Russian Federation from office.

The decision of the Federation Council to remove the President of the Russian Federation from office must be made no later than three months after the State Duma brings charges against the head of state. If within this period the decision of the Federation Council is not adopted, the charge against the President of the Russian Federation is considered rejected.

The decision of the Federation Council to remove the President of the Russian Federation from office is considered adopted if at least two-thirds of the total number of members of the Federation Council vote for it, and is formalized by a resolution of the Federation Council.

If the decision of the Federation Council to remove the President of the Russian Federation from office does not receive the required number of votes, consideration of the charges against the President of the Russian Federation is terminated, which is formalized by a resolution of the Federation Council.

The resolution of the Federation Council is immediately communicated to the public through the media.

From the moment of early termination of the powers of the President of the Russian Federation on the grounds discussed above until the election of a new head of state, the corresponding state functions are temporarily performed by the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation. The acting President of the Russian Federation does not have the right to dissolve the State Duma, call a referendum, or make proposals for amendments and revisions to the provisions of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

Removal from office (impeachment) as a method of early termination of the powers of the President of the Russian Federation

Removal from office (impeachment): general characteristics and implementation procedure

Removal from office as one of the grounds for early termination of the powers of the President of the Russian Federation provides for a special order and related procedures, in which the State Duma, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, as well as the Federation Council participate. The procedure for removing the President from office is regulated by Article 93 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, Chapter XV (Articles 107 - 110) of the Federal Constitutional Law "On the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation", and the provisions of the Rules of Procedure of the chambers of the Federal Assembly. A similar procedure for removing the President and other officials from office is known in the legislation of some foreign states as impeachment. The procedure for removing the President from office can be briefly presented in the form of a diagram.

It should be noted that when the post of President of the RSFSR was introduced in 1991, the Constitution provided for the possibility of his removal from office if he violated the Constitution of the RSFSR, the laws of the RSFSR and the oath taken. The current Constitution of the Russian Federation has established such grounds for raising the question of dismissal under which it is practically impossible. According to Article 93 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the President can be removed from office by the Federation Council only on the basis of charges brought by the State Duma of high treason or committing another serious crime. “The responsibility of the President for committing a serious crime is legal (the basis for legal responsibility is an offense), and not political, as, for example, the Government has before the Parliament. The political responsibility of the head of state is extremely rare and does not have serious significance in the light of the relations between the branches of government” 11 See Barkhatova E.Yu. Decree. publications. P. 95. .

The definition of high treason is contained in Article 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, according to which “high treason” is understood as “espionage, giving out state secrets or otherwise providing assistance to a foreign state, foreign organization or their representatives in carrying out hostile activities to the detriment of the external security of the Russian Federation, committed by a citizen of the Russian Federation.” Federation". It is interesting that at the time of the adoption of the Constitution, such a crime as high treason was absent in the criminal legislation - it appeared only in 1996 with the adoption of the new Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. As a result, many have formed the opinion that supposedly in order to remove the President of the Russian Federation from office, the State Duma must prove the presence in his actions not only of signs of a crime, but also determine the elements of the crime itself.” 22 See Korovnikova E.A. Removal of the President from office as a form of parliamentary control // Constitutional and municipal law. - 2007. - N 17. - P. 60. . The impeachment procedure was thus mistakenly identified with the investigation and trial procedure. Although, in fact, it was only about the opinion of the State Duma regarding the presence of signs of a crime for initiating a criminal case, which could only be sanctioned by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.

In my opinion, it will be very difficult to qualify the President’s actions as treason in practice. Firstly, negative consequences, which are expressed in damage to the integrity, territorial integrity, state security or defense capability of the Russian Federation, may lag significantly in time from the moment the President commits the act that entailed them. Secondly, “despite the personification of the position of the President as the sole head of state, it is difficult to assume that decisions containing elements of a crime such as high treason are prepared and adopted by him alone” 11 See Degtev G.V. Formation and development of the institution of presidency in Russia: theoretical, legal and constitutional foundations. M., 2006. P. 154.. It seems that the legislator needs to reconsider the grounds for removal from office of the President of the Russian Federation more carefully.

In my opinion, the term “other serious crime” is also very problematic, which was reflected exclusively in the Criminal Code of Russia, which was in force at the time of the adoption of the Constitution of the Russian Federation in 1993. It had a special article 7.1, which listed all serious crimes. The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation of 1996 provides a new classification of crimes. According to Article 15 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, crimes are divided into: crimes of minor gravity, crimes of medium gravity, serious crimes and especially serious crimes, depending on the nature and degree of public danger. Formally, it turns out that “the President can be accused of committing only serious crimes (imprisonment term - from five to ten years), but not especially serious ones (imprisonment term - over 10 years). However, high treason, which is discussed in Article 93, in the current Criminal Code refers to particularly serious crimes. It is clear that the wording of Part 1 of Article 93 after the entry into force of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in 1996, first of all, implies high treason as a particularly grave crime and, apparently, some other particularly grave crimes” 11 See Barkhatova E.Yu. Decree. publications. P. 96. . In connection with the above, I consider it advisable to agree with the opinion of A.E. Yakubov 22 See A.E. Yakubov. Once again about the removal of the President of the Russian Federation from office and criminal law // Constitutional and municipal law. - 2009. - N 7. - P. 15., proposing to include in the content of Part 1 of Article 93 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation an indication of a particularly serious crime that poses a greater public danger in comparison with a serious crime.

The procedure for removing the President from office includes several stages. According to paragraph "e" of Article 102 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the removal of the President from office is entrusted to the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly. The procedure for removal is defined in the Regulations of the Federation Council.

In accordance with Part 1 of Article 93, paragraph “h” of Article 103 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, bringing charges against the President of the Russian Federation is the prerogative of the State Duma. The State Duma forms a Special Commission, which, in accordance with the Rules of the State Duma, evaluates compliance with procedural rules and the factual validity of the accusation. At its meetings, the Special Commission hears from persons who have information about the facts underlying the proposal to bring charges, considers relevant documents, and hears from a representative of the President. The accusation is brought forward on the initiative of at least 1/3 of the State Duma deputies.

The proposal to bring charges against the President and the conclusion of the Special Commission are considered at a meeting of the State Duma. The State Duma decides to bring charges by 2/3 votes of the total number of deputies. The accusation brought by the State Duma against the President is sent to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, which issues an opinion on the presence of signs of a crime in the President’s actions that served as the basis for the accusation. failure of the president early impeachment

Compliance with the established procedure for bringing charges against the President of the Russian Federation for high treason or committing another serious crime must be confirmed by the conclusion of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. The Constitutional Court gives it at the request of the Federation Council. Thus, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation is vested with powers related only to the assessment of the procedure for bringing charges against the head of state.

In exercising this power, the Constitutional Court examines, first of all, the factual circumstances associated with bringing charges against the President. In this case, the Constitutional Court relies on the appropriate evidence base (testimony of witnesses, analysis of submitted documents and other materials). “The established factual circumstances are correlated by the Constitutional Court with the constitutional norms on the procedure for bringing charges against the President, the relevant facts are given a legal qualification, and the final decision makes a conclusion about whether the specified constitutional procedure was observed in a particular case” 11 See Brezhnev O.V. Decree. publications. P. 31. . Thus, the decision of the Constitutional Court, adopted in the exercise of this power, by its legal nature tends to be a law enforcement act.

The decision of the Constitutional Court takes the form of a conclusion. The factual circumstances established in the conclusion and their legal qualifications are mandatory and cannot be questioned either by the Federation Council, the body authorized to make a decision on the removal of the President from office, or by any other body.

The adoption by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation of the conclusion that the established procedure for bringing charges against the President has been observed legally gives grounds for the Federation Council to consider the issue of removing the head of state from office and is an indispensable condition for such consideration.

The decision of the Federation Council to remove the President of the Russian Federation from office must be made by no less than 2/3 of the votes of the total number of members of the chamber and no later than three months after the State Duma brings charges. If the decision of the Federation Council is not adopted within this period, the charge against the President is considered rejected.

In my opinion, limiting the period for consideration of charges brought by the State Duma to three months does not seem entirely justified. It is impossible to agree that “The President, accused, for example, of high treason in the form of espionage, would have the opportunity to continue to engage in his activities if the consideration of the charges exceeded the time limit established by law.” 11 See Linkov A., Trusevich S. Impeachment is not passed, but became a serious warning to the authorities // Parliamentary newspaper. 1999. May 18..

At the same time, when applying to the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation with a request to comply with the established procedure for bringing charges against the President, the Federation Council is obliged in accordance with clause 8 of part 2 of art. 37 of the Federal Constitutional Law "On the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation" to state in his appeal the legal position on the issue raised by him. “At the same time, the Federation Council may consider that the relevant constitutional procedures for bringing charges against the President by the lower house of the Federal Assembly were not observed. In this case, the Constitutional Court will consider this case in the “mode” of resolving a unique constitutional and legal dispute between the Federation Council and the State Duma” 11 See Brezhnev O.V. Decree. publications. P. 31. .

In addition, a situation is possible when the Federation Council has no doubts about compliance with the relevant constitutional procedures. But this does not relieve him of the need to appeal to the Constitutional Court, since judicial constitutional control in this case is mandatory.

The removal of the President from office on the basis of an accusation does not mean bringing him to criminal responsibility, nor does he convict him. “The conclusion of the Supreme Court confirming the accusation is a conviction of the competent court that has not yet entered into legal force. Consequently, a situation is possible when the now removed ex-president will be found by the court not guilty of committing a crime, the charge of which served as a formal basis for his removal from office. But the ex-president will not be reinstated” 22 See Barkhatova E.Yu. Decree. publications. P. 97. .

Thus, it may well turn out that the removal from office occurred without legal reasons. And, conversely, contrary to the conclusion of the Supreme Court confirming the accusation, the Federation Council, for political reasons, may not decide to remove the President from office. Finally, the State Duma can either bring or not bring charges against the President for the same political reasons, regardless of legal reasons.

On the issue of removing the President from office, I would like to turn to the legislation of foreign countries. The legal responsibility of the head of state is known in all forms of republican government. The closest thing to the Russian procedure for the responsibility of the head of state is the impeachment of the US President, since “in Italy and Germany similar processes do not have serious significance due to the parliamentary form of government, and in France a similar procedure has not yet been worked out even in legislation (for example, in the French In criminal law, the concept of “high treason” has not yet been formulated)” 11 See Barkhatova E.Yu. Decree. publications. P. 97. .

The procedure for removing the President of Russia from office is very unique and quite complicated. In my opinion, certain doubts arise that the President can generally be removed from office within the framework of this procedure, since “the current Constitution of the Russian Federation has established such grounds for raising the issue of removing the President from office under which it is practically impossible.” 22 See Avakyan S.A. President of the Russian Federation: evolution of the constitutional and legal status // Vestnik Mosk. un-ta. Ser. 11. Right. 1998. N 1. P. 36.

• 3 See Zhilinsky S.E. Our president. How he rules and how he is elected. M., 2004. P. 97.
• 4 See ibid. P. 98. This complexity does not allow the parliament to turn it into a weapon of political struggle and threaten the President with removal from office for purely political reasons. In this regard, the legal literature rightly expresses the opinion that it is necessary to simplify the process of removing the President of the Russian Federation from office and make it more transparent, which will increase the image of the head of state and the President’s responsibility for his activities. “It is advisable to involve only the chambers of the Federal Assembly in the procedure for removing the President of the Russian Federation from office, whose deputies (members), like the President of the Russian Federation, are directly or indirectly elected by all citizens. Participation in the procedure of the Constitutional and Supreme Courts of the Russian Federation, whose judges are appointed on the proposal of the President of the Russian Federation, is incorrect and does not fully harmonize with the democratic principles of the organization and activities of our state.”

Due to the fact that the exercise of the powers of the President of the Russian Federation should not be interrupted, paragraph 3 of Article 92 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation provides for a rule according to which, in the event of their early termination, the duties of the President are temporarily, that is, until the election of a new President, performed by the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation. However, the acting President of the Russian Federation is somewhat limited in the performance of presidential functions, for example, he does not have the right to dissolve the State Duma, call a referendum, or make proposals for amendments and revisions to the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

The powers of the President of the Russian Federation are terminated in the following cases:

1. expiration of the term of office;
2. resignation of the President of the Russian Federation due to the inability to exercise his powers for health reasons;
3. death of the President of the Russian Federation;
4. removal of the President of the Russian Federation from office by the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation in the prescribed manner.

With the expiration of the term of office, new elections of the President of the Russian Federation are called. This is the most natural way to terminate the powers of the President of the Russian Federation.

Even during the period of exercise of powers by the current President of the Russian Federation, elections for a new President of the Russian Federation are appointed and held. His assumption of office is associated with the end of the powers of the former President of the Russian Federation. The moment of expiration of the term of office of the President of the Russian Federation is recognized as the moment the newly elected President of the Russian Federation takes the oath of office (inauguration procedure).

Voluntary resignation of the President of the Russian Federation is possible due to the serious physical condition of the Head of State. In this case, the President of the Russian Federation preliminarily notifies the population of the country of his resignation.

The removal of the President of the Russian Federation from his position is carried out in a manner strictly established by federal legislation. The decision on impeachment is made by the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation with 2/3 votes of the total number of members of the chamber of the Federal Assembly. This decision must be made by the Federation Council
within 3 months from the date the State Duma of the Russian Federation brought forward charges against the President of the Russian Federation. If within this period the decision of the Federation Council is not adopted, the charge against the President of the Russian Federation is considered rejected. The issue of removing the President of the Russian Federation from office is submitted for discussion to the Federation Council on the basis of charges brought by the State Duma of the Russian Federation for high treason or committing another serious crime. An accusation by the State Duma of the Russian Federation against the President of the Russian Federation is brought forward if there is a conclusion of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on the presence of signs of a crime in the actions of the President of the Russian Federation and a conclusion of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation on compliance with the established procedure for bringing charges based on the initiative of at least 1/3 of the total number of deputies of the State Duma. The decision of the State Duma to bring charges against the President of the Russian Federation is adopted by 2/3 of the votes of the total number of deputies of the State Duma of the Russian Federation.

In all cases of termination of powers (except for cases of removal from office for committing high treason or another serious crime), the former President of the Russian Federation is guaranteed:

1. immunity for opinions and actions expressed in connection with the duties performed as the President of the Russian Federation, unless they contain insults or other elements of a crime;
2. payment to the President of the established pension in an amount corresponding to his position;
3. preservation of all his personal property, with the exception of those provided to him in connection with and for the term of execution of the powers of the President of the Russian Federation;
4. other rights established by federal legislation.

In the event of the death of the President of the Russian Federation, his family and relatives are guaranteed payment of appropriate benefits and pensions, as well as the preservation of all property, with the exception of those provided to the President of the Russian Federation for the exercise of powers and for their term.

Impeachment in the Russian Federation

IMPEACHMENT, the confirmation by the legislature of charges brought against a public official with the intent to secure his conviction.

In Russian history in the 1990s, the question of impeaching President Boris Yeltsin was raised many times, but never enough votes were collected, which reasonably suggests that in reality the mechanism for an early legal change of power in the country is practically impossible.

Article 93 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation contains two main points. The first point is that the grounds for removing the President from office are defined too narrowly. They include treason, or capital crime. Thus, if the President has committed a crime, but not a serious one, then he can remain in office. The second point is that the issue must be considered within a three-month period, which greatly narrows the time frame for consideration of the issue. If the president, for example, committed high treason, then under this article, however, he can remain in office if 3 months have expired, during which the issue should have been considered and resolved.

On May 15, 1999, the State Duma considered the issue of early termination of the powers of the President of the Russian Federation B. Yeltsin. In 1998, impeachment proceedings were launched. It was based on 5 charges, including the collapse of the Soviet Union; shooting of parliament in October 1993; the outbreak of war in Chechnya; the collapse of the Armed Forces and the genocide of the Russian people. For the first time, an Impeachment Committee was formed. However, during the voting, two-thirds of the votes of the deputies were not obtained on any of the charges.

At the same time, regional parliaments several times impeached governors who caused them to distrust (for example, twice - the governor of the Altai Territory, Mikhail Evdokimov).

Impeachment in the Russian Federation. Excerpts from the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

Article 93 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation

• 1. The President of the Russian Federation may be removed from office by the Federation Council only on the basis of a charge brought by the State Duma of high treason or committing another grave crime, confirmed by the conclusion of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on the presence of signs of a crime in the actions of the President of the Russian Federation and by the conclusion of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation on compliance with the established procedure for bringing charges.
• 2. The decision of the State Duma to bring charges and the decision of the Federation Council to remove the President from office must be adopted by two-thirds of the total votes in each chamber on the initiative of at least one third of the deputies of the State Duma and in the presence of the conclusion of a special commission formed by the State Duma.
• 3. The decision of the Federation Council to remove the President of the Russian Federation from office must be made no later than three months after the State Duma brings charges against the President. If a decision by the Federation Council is not made within this period, the charge against the President is considered rejected.

You can often hear the word “impeachment” on TV screens. What is this in simple words? Who was subjected to this procedure and in which countries?

Usually, he is remembered during a political or economic crisis. You can learn more about this from the article.

Definition of the concept

The word has English roots and is translated as “distrust.” What is impeachment? This definition implies a special judicial procedure against officials with their subsequent removal from their positions. An official means both a minister and a president.

History of origin

The meaning of impeachment originated in the fourteenth century in England. received the right to bring the king's ministers to trial by the lords. The basis was a criminal case. Previously, only the ruling monarch had the right to make such a decision.

Over time, this procedure was enshrined in US law. Judges and governors may be subject to impeachment.

In the legislation of different countries

Now it is clear what impeachment is. In simple words, this is the removal from office of a public servant. There is a similar procedure in most states. Basically, the issue of impeachment is decided at the government level. However, in Liechtenstein the procedure for removing a prince from power is carried out on the basis of a popular referendum.

In the United States, the question of impeachment is put forward in the House of Representatives. Then there must be a majority vote (two-thirds) in the Senate.

In Ukraine, the institution of impeachment relates to the office of the president. This is described in the third article of the Constitution. The Verkhovna Rada removes him from power. 226 deputies or more must vote. The reason could be another crime.

"Impeachment Parade"

To better understand what it is in simple words (impeachment), real examples should be given. In Europe, there are practically no cases of cases being completed. I can only remember 2004. Paksas was accused of granting citizenship to businessman Yuri Borisov in exchange for a donation of four hundred thousand dollars. Rolandas Paksas did not admit his guilt, but was suspended.

The situation in the countries of South America is much more interesting. So in Brazil the Senate opposed the president. Fernando Colora di Melo resigned, but the government decided to see the matter through. The president was impeached on charges of corruption.

The Venezuelan government brought a similar charge against Carlos Perez. The president was removed from power and placed under house arrest for two years.

In 1997, a trial began in Ecuador against Abdala Bucaram. He was accused of several counts: illegal use of armed forces, inappropriate behavior and corruption. As a result, the Ecuadorian “dance lover” emigrated to Panama.

In 2000, an incident occurred in Peru. The President fled the country to Japan. The reason for this was mass protests, which were provoked by corruption among Alberto Fujimori’s entourage. The leader of Peru resigned, but Congress did not accept it and brought the impeachment procedure to an end. He was accused of "persistent moral failure."

Sometimes impeachment led to a deterioration in relations with other countries. So in 2012, in Paraguay, the president was accused of improper use of his official duties. Parliament removed him, but many Latin American states considered that a coup had occurred in Paraguay and recalled their ambassadors.

In the United States, three attempts were made to remove a president: Richard Nixon. But in two cases they were acquitted by the Senate, and Nixon resigned without waiting for the government's decision.

In the legislation of the Russian Federation

In Russia there is also an institute that is difficult to understand in simple words. The procedure is described in the ninety-third article of the country's constitution. If the president has committed a crime, the State Duma brings charges against him. The Supreme Court and the Federation Council also give their confirmation.

Attempts to remove Boris Yeltsin

The meaning of impeachment lies not only in the removal of a president or a senior government official from office. It is necessary to bring him to trial. Although most often there is talk of impeachment when the president and the government cannot agree. What impeachment of a president is is also known in the Russian Federation.

In Russia, three attempts were made to carry out the removal procedure. All of them were directed against Boris Yeltsin. The first time this happened was in 1993, but by decision of a popular referendum the president retained his post. In the same year, another conflict situation arose between the leader of the state and government officials. To resolve it, we had to use weapons.

In 1998, a parliamentary commission was created under the State Duma. She prepared charges for which Yeltsin was threatened with impeachment, but none of the points received a majority of votes from deputies.

Every removal from power carries political consequences. Even if it was done in a legal way.