2020 amendments to the Constitution of Russia

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Since the ratification of the Constitution in 1993, only three amendments have been proposed. In 2008, in order to prolong the presidential and the State Duma terms, as well as imposing an annual report by the Prime Minister for the Duma members, four articles had been changed. In the beginning of 2014, eight more amendments were ratified and one was taken away, which resulted in abolition of the Supreme Court of Arbitration and adjustment of prosecutors assignment. In the summer of 2014, two more articles had been changed in order to allow the President to choose up to 10% (17 members) of the Federation Council.[2]

President Vladimir Putin made new proposal during his annual address to the Federal Assembly on 15 January 2020.[3]

According to the articles 136 and 108, amendments to the provisions of Chapters 3–8, require the same approval as a federal constitutional law, that is, a two-thirds supermajority vote in the State Duma, the lower house and a three-fourths supermajority vote in the Federation Council, the upper house, and come into force as they have passed the Regional legislatures of no less than two thirds of the 85 federal subjects.

The President formally submitted the bill to the State Duma on 20 January.[4] On 11 March 2020, the State Duma, dominated by pro-government parties, swiftly approved the proposal in the third reading with no objection.[5] By 13 March 2020, legislative assemblies of all 85 Federal subjects approved amendments to the Constitution.[6] On 16 March the Constitutional Court of Russia gave their approval to the amendments.[7]

According to point 3 of article 81 of the Constitution of Russia, the same person cannot hold a position of the President of the Russian Federation more than two terms in a row.[8] This means that Vladimir Putin, who was elected president in 2012 and re-elected in 2018, was not able to participate in the 2024 presidential election without additional steps.[9] In 2018 Putin said that he was not going to hold the post of president for more than two consecutive terms and denied the possibility of his participation in the 2030 election[10][11]

Amendments to the Constitution of Russia solved so-called the "2024 problem"[12] that was connected with end of Putin’s presidential powers in 2024.[13]

According to Gallup International opinion poll conducted in December 2017, if Putin was not to be on the ballot, 46% would not have known for whom to vote and 19% would have made the ballot paper invalid.[14] Valery Fedorov[15] said that the Russian population does not think about this problem,[16] while the focus group participants gathered by the Levada Center identified two main scenarios for its solution: preservation of presidential powers by Vladimir Putin and the appointment of a successor.[17] Valery Zorkin in 2018 proposed changing the constitution so Putin could remain in his office.[18] Putin said he was not going to change the Constitution in an interview with Megyn Kelly in March 2018.[19] Sergei Markov said that Putin’s repeated statements that there will be no abolition of terms of office have led discussion of possible scenarios for 2024 to a standstill.[20] As a result, despite earlier promises the restrictions that prevented Putin from remaining as president of the Russian Federation changed.[21]

According to political analyst Kirill Rogov, the constitutional design of Russian statehood remains unclear due to the unsuccessful experience of the “tandem” and the lack of institutions of distributed power.[22] In addition to the obvious conflict between Putin’s political regime and the official state system, the issue is also the impossibility for Putin to guarantee security for himself and his family if he leaves office completely and the constitution which guarantees that as an eventual certainty.[23]

In 2020, 41 articles were rewritten and five more were added. Excluding the 1st, 2nd and the 9th chapters, which can be changed only by calling together a Constituent Assembly and developing a new Constitution, around 60% of articles were altered. Essentially, after the 1st of July there is going to be a “Putin” Constitution instead of “Yeltsin” Constitution, which means a significant change in a political system that has existed for over twenty five years. The main amendments are focusing on how power is distributed between the branches of government: moving away from the super-presidential system that was established in 1993 and simultaneously creating a new one based on the principle of checks and balances.[2]

In general, the following amendments are proposed:[24][25][26][27][28]

• Remove the "in a row" clause from the article regulating the maximum number of presidential terms, discounting previous presidential terms before the amendment enters into force.
• Nullify the number of presidential terms served by the current President (Vladimir Putin) or former President (Dmitry Medvedev) to allow either to serve his first term if elected to the presidency in 2024.
• The Russian Constitution should take precedence over international law;
• The State Duma (the lower house of Parliament) should have the right to approve the Prime Minister's candidacy (currently it only gives consent to his appointment), the State Duma will also be able to approve the candidates of Deputy Prime Ministers and Federal Ministers, the President will not be able to refuse their appointment, but in some cases will be able to remove them from office;
• Persons who hold "important positions for ensuring the country's security" (President, Ministers, judges, heads of regions) should not have foreign citizenship or residence permit in other countries, either at the time of their work in office or, in the case of the President, at any time before;
• A presidential candidate must live in Russia for at least 25 years (currently 10 years) and may not have ever in their life held foreign citizenship or residency (with no possibility of renouncing foreign citizenship to become eligible to be president);
• The Federation Council (the upper house of Parliament) will be able to propose that the President dismiss Federal judges; in some cases, the Federation Council, on the proposal of the President, will have the right to remove judges of the Constitutional and Supreme courts;
• Particular ministers who are the heads of law enforcement agencies must be appointed by the President in consultation with the Federation Council;
• The minimum wage cannot be lower than the subsistence minimum;
• Regular indexation of pensions;
• Consolidation of the status and role of the State Council (at present it is only an advisory body and is not prescribed in the Constitution);
• Granting the Constitutional Court the ability to check the constitutionality of laws adopted by the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation at the request of the President before they are signed by the President;
• Defining marriage as a relationship between one man and one woman.[28][29][30]

Along with the redistribution of power initiatives, the first draft included a couple of social- and economically directed amendments. Specifically, Putin has suggested to require the minimum wage to be above the poverty line and to guarantee an annual increase in pension payments. The amendments from this block were developed by a special group consisting of parliament members, scientists and public representatives. As a result of their work, the Constitution was supplemented by articles imposing a distinct government attitude towards such things as public health, science, culture, voluntary work and young people. In addition, the amendments have a few innovations, such as regarding the Russian language as a “language state-forming people”, protecting “historical truth” and mentioning faith in God in regards to heritage. Most of these amendments do not embody new concepts, but rather duplicate norms that are already found in federal laws.[2]

The amendments have been put to a national vote initially called for April 2020 but later postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They have been rescheduled for 1 July (with early voting allowed from 25 June).

The voting procedure was decided on already during the development process. Before that there was no concept of a “nationwide voting”. The approved procedure is noticeably different from a regular voting or a referendum: just a month of preparation instead of 90-100 days; the observers can be only from the Public Chambers, which are formed by federal and regional authority; “informing the public” regarding the content of the amendments instead of agitation; no minimum voter turn-out; an online-voting option.[2]

With 98% of the ballot counted, and with 78% voting in favor versus 22% against, the amendments easily passed.

The amendments were seen as allowing President Vladimir Putin to serve as president after 2024. Under the previous version of the constitution, Putin would have been required to step down in 2024.[31]

The main debates around the whole arrangement were caused by the change of the amending procedure of the Constitution itself (which are stated in the chapter 9). A new three-step procedure was imposed. After being approved by federal and regional parliaments, only the third article was enacted, describing the procedure of the change coming into force. After the Constitutional Court had validated the document, the second article was enacted, which regulated the nationwide voting procedure. The first article, which consists of all the amendments, can be enacted only when approved by the majority of the voters.[2]

Content-related critique was directed at the amendments, which contradict with the first and the second chapters of the Constitution. Particularly, the ones about the superiority of the Constitution above the interstate authority decisions, the President’s right to resign judges, including local authority into one “single public authority system” and the one regarding religion. However, after carefully examining these pretensions, as well as the one regarding the discounting previous presidential terms before the amendment enters into force, the Constitutional Court has not found anything contradicting.[2]

The New York Times wrote that the proposed prohibition of same-sex marriage was "an effort to raise turnout for a constitutional referendum that could keep him in power and has stirred big enthusiasm among Russians".[28]

The Guardian wrote that "[t]he move, announced by Putin in January, was initially seen as a way for him to hold on to power after 2024, when as things stand he will no longer be able to serve as president because of term limits."[29] The Guardian further noted that "Putin's direct support for the amendments makes it likely they will go through. He has taken an increasingly conservative turn in his fourth term as president".[29]

Will Partlett has written that the amendments "follow the recent 'populist' trend toward state-building grounded on constitutional centralism, anti-institutionalism, and protectionism".[32]

• Russia under Vladimir Putin