Judiciary of Russia

The Judiciary of Russia interprets and applies the law of Russia. It is defined under the Constitution and law with a hierarchical structure with the Constitutional Court and Supreme Court at the apex. The district courts are the primary criminal trial courts, and the regional courts are the primary appellate courts. The judiciary is governed by the All-Russian Congress of Judges and its Council of Judges, and its management is aided by the Judicial Department of the Supreme Court, the Higher Qualification Board of Judges, and the Ministry of Justice, and the various courts' presidents. And although there are many officers of the court, including jurors, the Prosecutor General remains the most powerful component of the Russian judicial system.

The judiciary faces many problems and a widespread lack of confidence. There have been serious violations of the accepted separation of powers doctrine, systematic attempts to undermine jury trials, problems with access to justice, problems with court infrastructure, financial support, and corruption.

Courts

Russia has a trifurcated court system, with constitutional, ordinary (including military and non-military), and other courts. The Constitutional Court of Russia is considered a separate, independent court. The district courts are the primary criminal trial courts, and the regional courts are the primary appellate courts.

+Courts of the Russian Federation Constitutional court Ordinary courts Arbitration courts Disciplinary courts Non-military ordinary courts Military courtsCategories of cases Cases relating to the conformity with the Constitution of Russia of federal and regional laws and regional constitutions (Constitutional Court of Russia). Criminal cases and cases of administrative offences, administrative cases, civil cases within their jurisdiction Criminal cases and cases of administrative offences, administrative cases, civil cases within their jurisdiction Civil cases, administrative cases, cases of administrative offences within their jurisdiction Appeal decisions of the Higher Qualification Board of Judges of the Russian Federation and qualification boards of judges of federal subjects of Russia relating to the disciplinary offences committed by judges Federal courtsCourt of higher jurisdiction (judicial review) Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation Supreme Court of the Russian Federation (the presidium of the court)Courts of IV jurisdiction(second cassation review) — The Judicial Chamber on Criminal Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the Judicial Chamber on Administrative Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the Judicial Chamber on Civil Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian FederationAside from cassation review, it hears as the court of original jurisdiction the cases which should be heard by Supreme Court of the Russian Federation as the court of original jurisdiction. The Military Chamber of the Supreme Court of the Russian FederationAside from cassation review, it hears as the court of original jurisdiction the cases relating to the military personnel which should be heard by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation as the court of original jurisdiction. The Judicial Chamber for Commercial Disputes of the Supreme Court of the Russian FederationAside from cassation review, it hears as the court of original jurisdiction the cases relating to the economic disputes which should be heard by Supreme Court of the Russian Federation as the court of original jurisdiction. —Courts of III jurisdiction(first cassation review) — Cassation ordinary courts Cassation military courts Arbitration circuit courts Court of intellectual rightsIt carries out the cassation procedure on the cases relating to the copyrights, patents, trademarks, trade secrets which were heard by arbitration courts of the federal subjects as the court of original jurisdiction. Aside from cassation review, it hears as the court of original jurisdiction some administrative and civil cases relating to the copyrights, patents, trademarks, trade secrets. The cases which were heard by Court of intellectual rights as the court of original jurisdiction could be reviewed in cassation procedure by the presidency of Court of intellectual rights only (appellate procedure is not provided). —Courts of II jurisdiction(appellate review) — The judicial chambers on criminal cases of regional courts (supreme courts of republics, krai courts, oblast courts, courts of federal cities, court of autonomous oblast, courts of autonomous okrugs), the judicial chambers on administrative cases of regional courts (supreme courts of republics, krai courts, oblast courts, courts of federal cities, court of autonomous oblast, courts of autonomous okrugs), the judicial chambers on civil cases of regional courts (supreme courts of republics, krai courts, oblast courts, courts of federal cities, court of autonomous oblast, courts of autonomous okrugs)Aside from appellate review, it hears as the court of original jurisdiction some criminal, administrative and civil cases. Appellate ordinary courtsIt hears on appeal the cases which were heard by regional courts (supreme courts of republics, krai courts, oblast courts, courts of federal cities, court of autonomous oblast, courts of autonomous okrugs) as the court of original jurisdiction. The Appellate Chamber of Supreme Court of the Russian FederationIt hears on appeal the cases which were heard by the Judicial Chamber on Criminal Cases of Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the Judicial Chamber on Administrative Cases of Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the Judicial Chamber on Civil Cases of Supreme Court of the Russian Federation as the court of original jurisdiction; the further review of such cases is carrying out by the presidency of Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on cassation. Military courts of military districts and military fleetsAside from appellate review, it hears as the court of original jurisdiction some criminal, administrative and civil cases relating to the military personnel. Appellate military courtsIt hears on appeal the cases which were heard by military courts of military districts and military fleets (1-st military court of Eastern Military District, 2-nd military court of Eastern Military District, 1-st military court of Western Military District, 2-nd military court of Western Military District, military court of Baltic Fleet, military court of Northern Fleet, military court of Pacific Fleet, military court of Central Military District, military court of Southern Military District) as the court of original jurisdiction. Arbitration appellate courts The Appellate Chamber of Supreme Court of the Russian FederationCourts of I jurisdiction(first instance/original jurisdiction) — District courts (town courts and raion courts) Garrison military courts Arbitration courts of subjects of the Russian Federation The Disciplinary Chamber of Supreme Court of the Russian Federation Regional courts — MagistratesIt hears some criminal cases and cases of administrative offences, administrative cases, civil cases as the court of original jurisdiction. The appeal review of acts of magistrates is carried out by district courts, and the cassation review – by cassation ordinary courts. — — — Notes:

Constitutional Court

The Constitutional Court of Russia () is responsible for cases concerning conformity with the Constitution, judicial disputes between 2 or more federal bodies, between a federal body and a member of the Federation, and between members of the Federation. As such, it practices "constitutional review" (as differentiated from judicial review) and decides whether federal laws, presidential decrees and directives, and regional constitutions, charters, and laws comply with the federal constitution, as well as treaties between the national government and a regional governments and between regional governments.

It is composed of 11 judges (with the quorum of 8), and sits in plenary sessions. The President of the Court presides over the sessions. Constitutionality of laws, disputes concerning competence of governmental agencies, impeachment of the President of Russia, and Constitutional Court's proposals of legislation must be dealt with by the plenary session. The Constitutional Court may also submit to the plenary session any other issue at its discretion.

In general, the court hears cases referred by the President, the Federation Council, the State Duma, one-fifth of the members of either chamber of the Federal Assembly, the Government, the Supreme Court, or other bodies of legislative or executive authority. It also hears complains by citizens of allegations of constitutional rights violations.

Former constitutional (charter) courts of federal subjects

Constitutional courts of republics of Russia and charter courts of other Russia's federal subjects used to hear cases relating to conformity with regional constitutions or charters of laws adopted by regional legislatures and governors' decrees, and in this category of cases constitutional and charter courts were courts of single instance. Courts of this type were disestablished by the 2020 Constitutional amendments.

As for 2020, only twelve republics had their own constitutional courts, while two oblasts(Sverdlovsk and Kaliningrad) and one federal city (Saint Petersburg) had charter courts. Two republics (Buryatia and Tuva) and one oblast (Chelyabinsk) had abolished their constitutional/charter courts before 2020. In the republics of Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, and Sakha, the disestablished constitutional courts were transformed into constitutional councils without any judicial powers.

Constitutional and charter courts were completely independent and were not subordinate courts to the Constitutional Court of Russia. They were independent and had their own jurisdiction.

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of Russia () is the highest court, and supervises inferior courts of general jurisdiction. It occasionally sits as a court of first instance in cases where important interests of state are at issue; in this case it normally consists of a judge and a jury, but occasionally consists of three judges.

There are 115 members of the Supreme Court. At plenary sessions the Supreme Court studies the judicial decisions of lower courts on various topics and adopts resolutions, which establish recommendations on the interpretation of particular provisions of law for lower courts for uniform application.

The Presidium of the Supreme Court () represents Russia's final court of appeal. The Presidium consists of thirteen judges: the Chief Justice, its first deputy, its six deputies and five other Supreme Court judges. Only the Prosecutor General has the right to appeal to the Presidium, and as a result, very few criminal cases reviewed by the three-judge panels of the Supreme Court make it to the Presidium. Only 0.4% of criminal cases in 1998 ended with an acquittal in the Presidium.

The court is divided into several chambers or collegia (), and each chamber normally sits with three judges:

civil (); criminal (); administrative (); for commercial disputes (); military (); and appeals (; formerly the cassation panel or ), which can review decisions of the other chambers (if only other chambers acted as first instance courts).

There are several entities attached to the Supreme Court. The Academic Consultative Council () assists the court in various legal and academic matters and comprises members of the Supreme Court itself, academics, practicing lawyers, and law enforcement officers. The members of the Academic Consultative Council are elected at plenary sessions of the Supreme Court. The Judicial Department is responsible for administration of the courts.