Facts about the constitution that you did not know yet. Interesting facts about the constitution of the Russian Federation 25 years of the constitution of the Russian Federation interesting facts

December 12 is the Constitution Day in Russia. Until 2005, Constitution Day was a public holiday and a public holiday. After 2005, this day was included in the memorable dates. Since the date is memorable, we decided today to recall some interesting facts about the basic law of the country and share them with readers

The history of the birth of the new Constitution, adopted by popular vote (referendum) on December 12, 1993, lasted 3.5 years, or 42 months, or 168 weeks. The Constitution of the Russian Federation had more than a thousand authors.

Between November 1991 and December 1992, more than 400 amendments were made to the Constitution.

President Boris Yeltsin personally introduced 15 amendments to the finished draft of the Constitution, approved by the Constitutional Conference, in particular: the president has the right to chair government meetings, issue regulatory (that is, having the force of law) decrees, the Federation Council of the Russian Federation includes one representative from each region from “representative and executive body of power”.
Yeltsin also removed from the Constitution the right to run anywhere from the age of 18.

To complete the drafting of the Constitution, on June 5, 1993, a Constitutional Conference was convened in Moscow, which lasted until October 1993. The meeting was attended by 931 participants, as well as experts. Among them were Anatoly Sobchak, Oleg Rumyantsev, Sergei Shakhrai, Yuri Kalmykov, Mikhail Mityukov, Marat Baglai.

It is known that the version of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, developed by the Constitutional Conference, was changed before being submitted to a referendum. Chairman of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation Valery Zorkin commented on this fact:

“... I noticed the differences between what was approved at the very last moment of the Big Meeting, and the text that was submitted to the referendum. But I would not say that these changes fundamentally changed the structure of the Constitution. The question is what was changed and what was added. It's one thing, after all, to change a republic to a monarchy, and another thing to rearrange the comma. Yes, certain nuances have changed… The people have voted, the referendum has passed. So, I think, now this topic is already the property of historians.”

54.8% of citizens came to the popular vote on December 12, 1993. Of these, 58.4% were in favor of the adoption of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, 41.6% were against. On December 25, 1993, the text of the Constitution of the Russian Federation was officially published, and it entered into force.

Upon taking office, the President of the Russian Federation takes an oath to the people on a copy of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. The text of the oath is enshrined in Article 82 of the Constitution.

The binding of the special copy of the Constitution is made of the thinnest leather (lizard) of red color, on the cover there is an applied silver coat of arms of Russia and the inscription “Constitution of Russia” embossed in gold. An official description of this attribute has never been claimed.

In the Constitution of the Russian Federation there are no foreign language expressions such as “speaker”, “parliament”, “senators”, “impeachment”.

Instead of the world-famous triad - “everyone has the right to freely seek, receive and disseminate information in any legal way”, the Constitution of the Russian Federation uses the wording “...seek, receive, transmit, produce and disseminate information ...”.

The constitution is the basic law of the state, which determines not only the structure of power, but also prescribes the rights and freedoms of a citizen. In the history of the USSR alone, there were as many as three such documents: 1924, 1936, 1977. With the collapse of the Union and the emergence of Russia as an independent state, a new fundamental law was required. On December 12, 1993, the Constitution of the Russian Federation was adopted. Until 2005, this day was a holiday, equated to the weekend. By this date, I propose to get acquainted with 8 interesting facts about the Constitution of the Russian Federation .

1. The history of the creation of the new Constitution lasted 3.5 years, or 42 months, or 168 weeks. The authors of the approved project were S.M. Shakhrai, A.A. Sobchak and S.S. Alekseev. But in the process of discussion, amendments were made to it. 15 corrections were added by the then President B.N. Yeltsin.

2. The current Constitution of the Russian Federation was adopted by referendum. 54.8% of citizens came to the popular vote on December 12, 1993. Of these, 58.4% were in favor of the adoption of the main law of the country, 41.6% were against. On December 25, 1993, the text of the Constitution of the Russian Federation was officially published, and it entered into force. December 12 has been declared a public holiday since 1994. And 10 years later, the State Duma made adjustments, deciding to consider this day a memorable date. Since 2005, this is a normal working day.

3. In Constitution of the Russian Federation there are no foreign language expressions like "speaker", "parliament", "senators", "impeachment".
4. Upon taking office, the President of the Russian Federation takes an oath to the people on a copy of the Constitution of the country. The text of the oath is enshrined in Art. 82 of the Constitution.

5. The binding of the special copy of the Constitution is made of the finest red leather, on the cover there is a laid on silver coat of arms of Russia and the inscription "Constitution of Russia" embossed in gold. An official description of this attribute has never been claimed.

6. Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of August 5, 1996 No. 1138 proclaimed this single copy of the official text of the Constitution of Russia the official symbol of presidential power. A day before taking office as President V.V. Putin in 2000 canceled this decision. But this specially made copy of the Constitution, kept in the library of the Government of the Russian Federation, appeared at both Putin's inaugurations and at the inauguration ceremony of President D.A. Medvedev. It has become a kind of tradition, although the oath can be taken by laying one's hand on any edition of the Basic Law.

7. Two copies of the Russian Constitution have been in space for a total of 329 days: twice on the Mir orbital station in 1999, and in 2005, together with the Constitution of the European Union, the Russian Constitution went on board the ISS.
8. The Constitution of the Russian Federation is published by Legal Literature. To date, four official editions of the basic law have been issued: in 1993, 1997, 2005, 2009, and the text has also been published in Rossiyskaya Gazeta. Along with the traditional version of the publication, there is the Artconstitution, the Constitution in cartoons, the Handwritten Constitution, the deluxe edition of the "Illustrated Constitution of Russia" and the special edition of the Basic Law of the country for blind people.

Documentary films have been made about the Constitution of the Russian Federation: “Constitutional Practice” by Sergey Brilev, VGTRK, 2013) and “Basic Law” (NTV, 2013).

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The Constitution of the Russian Federation is the fundamental law of the Russian Federation, a normative legal act with the highest legal force, fixing the foundations of the constitutional order, the state structure, the formation of representative, executive, judicial authorities and the system of local self-government, the rights and freedoms of man and citizen.

In 1990-1991, the USSR collapsed. All republics, including the RSFSR, adopted Declarations of their state sovereignty. The Congress of People's Deputies of the Republic adopted the Declaration on State Sovereignty of the RSFSR on June 12, 1990. For the first time, it set the task of developing a new Constitution of the RSFSR on the basis of the principles proclaimed in it, including the principle of separation of powers.

On June 16, 1990, the Constitutional Commission of the First Congress of People's Deputies of the RSFSR was formed, which began this work. O. G. Rumyantsev was approved as the secretary of the commission. At first, the commission included 102 deputies, but by November 1992 its number was reduced to 98 people, in particular, due to the fact that three members of the Constitutional Commission were elected to the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation.

On October 15, 1993, President Boris N. Yeltsin signed a decree on the nationwide vote on the draft Constitution of Russia and approved the "Regulations on the nationwide vote on the draft Constitution of the Russian Federation on December 12, 1993." According to the Regulations, the Constitution was considered approved if the majority of voters who took part in the vote voted for its adoption, provided that more than half of the number of registered voters took part in the vote. The term "popular vote" (and not "referendum") was used in order to circumvent the provision of the current Law on the referendum of the RSFSR, according to which the corresponding referendum could only be called by the Congress of People's Deputies or the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation, according to Art. 9 of the said law. The Constitution of the Russian Federation of 1993 came into force on the day of its publication in Rossiyskaya Gazeta - December 25, 1993.

  • The Constitution of the Russian Federation, adopted by popular vote (referendum) on December 12, 1993, consists of a preamble, 2 sections, 9 chapters, 137 articles and 9 paragraphs of transitional and final provisions.
  • The history of the birth of the new Constitution lasted 3.5 years, 42 months or 168 weeks.
  • The Constitution of the Russian Federation had more than 1000 authors.
  • Between November 1991 and December 1992, more than 400 amendments were made to the Constitution.
  • From 1990 to 1993, about 20 different projects were proposed. The most significant of them are the project of the Constitutional Commission, the project of academician Andrey Sakharov, the project of Alekseev-Sobchak and the "option zero", prepared by a working group led by Sergei Shakhrai. In 1993, the joint project of Shakhrai - Sobchak - Alekseev appeared.
  • Interestingly, the draft constitution prepared by Shakhrai's group initially included a 6-year presidential term. Alekseev-Shakhrai's draft has already been five years old, and four years are left in the final version of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.
  • To complete the drafting of the Constitution, on June 5, 1993, a Constitutional Conference was convened in Moscow, which lasted until October 1993. The meeting was attended by 931 participants plus the experts involved in its work. Among them: Anatoly Sobchak, Oleg Rumyantsev, Sergei Shakhrai, Yuri Kalmykov, Mikhail Mityukov, Marat Baglai and others.
  • President Boris Yeltsin personally introduced 15 amendments to the finished draft of the Constitution, approved by the Constitutional Conference. Among them: the president has the right to chair government meetings, issue regulatory decrees, that is, having the force of law, the Federation Council includes one representative from each region, one representative from the "representative and executive authority." Yeltsin also removed from the Constitution the right to run anywhere from the age of 18.
  • In total, more than 3,000 suggestions and comments were considered. The final version included 37 articles from the draft Constitutional Commission.
  • 54.8% of citizens came to the popular vote on December 12, 1993. Of these, 58.4% were in favor of the adoption of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, 41.6% were against. On December 25, 1993, the text of the Constitution of the Russian Federation was officially published, and it entered into force.
  • It is known that the version of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, developed by the Constitutional Conference, was changed before being submitted to a referendum. Chairman of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation Valery Zorkin commented on this fact: "... I noticed the differences between what was approved at the very last moment of the Big Meeting and the text that was submitted to a referendum. But I would not say that these changes were changed in fundamental structure of the Constitution. The question is what was changed and what was added. It is one thing to change a republic to a monarchy, and another thing to rearrange the comma. Yes, certain nuances have changed ... The people voted, the referendum passed. So, I think now this topic is already the property of historians.
  • In the Constitution of the Russian Federation there are no foreign language expressions such as "speaker", "parliament", "senators", "impeachment".
  • Instead of the world-famous triad - "everyone has the right to freely seek, receive and disseminate information in any legal way", the Constitution of the Russian Federation uses the wording "...search, receive, transmit, produce and disseminate information...".
  • Upon taking office, the President of the Russian Federation takes an oath to the people on a copy of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. The text of the oath is enshrined in Art. 82 of the Constitution.
  • The binding of the special copy of the Constitution is made of the thinnest leather (lizard) of red color, on the cover there is an applied silver coat of arms of Russia and the inscription "Constitution of Russia" embossed in gold. An official description of this attribute has never been claimed.
  • Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of August 5, 1996 No. 1138 established that a specially made single copy of the official text of the Constitution of Russia is the official symbol of presidential power.
  • A day before his inauguration, scheduled for May 7, 2000, acting President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin canceled the 1996 Decree on presidential regalia. A special copy of the text of the Constitution was deprived of the official status of a symbol of presidential power.
  • Both Vladimir Putin's inauguration ceremonies (in 2000 and 2004) and Dmitry Medvedev's inauguration ceremony (in 2008) were held using the same special copy of the Constitution. This has become a tradition, but formally it is not obligatory and is not prescribed by anything: since 2000, the President of Russia has the right to take an oath, laying his hand on any edition of the Basic Law.
  • A special copy of the Constitution of the Russian Federation is constantly stored in the library of the Presidential Administration in the Kremlin and is used only during the inauguration of the President of Russia.
  • Two copies of the Russian Constitution have been in space for a total of 329 days. In 1999, the brochure visited the Mir orbital complex. On April 4 of that year, the Progress M-41 cargo ship delivered it to cosmonaut Sergei Avdeev: he planned to get a law degree. In 2005, along with the Constitution of the European Union, the Constitution of Russia went on board the ISS.
  • Since 1994, by decrees of the President of Russia "On the Day of the Constitution of the Russian Federation" and "On a non-working day on December 12," December 12 has been declared a public holiday.
  • On December 24, 2004, the State Duma adopted amendments to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, changing the holiday calendar in Russia. Since 2005, December 12 is no longer a day off in Russia, and Constitution Day on December 12 is included among the memorable dates in Russia.
  • Official website of the constitution -

12.12.2011 / 17:11

Today, throughout Russia, the Day of the Constitution is celebrated - the basic law of the state. Exactly 18 years ago, it was adopted by popular vote. Until 2005, this day was “red” on the calendar, that is, a day off, but now it is simply considered “memorable”. Any Russian in his life at least once encountered the provisions of the main law of the country, but hardly anyone knows that, for example, more than 1,000 people worked on its creation or that two copies of the Constitution went into space. December 12 "Svoboda Street" presents 12 interesting facts about the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

1. 3.5 years, 42 months or 168 weeks, the creation of the new Constitution of Russia continued. More than 1,000 people had a hand in the main law of the country. A total of 20 projects were proposed, but in the end they chose the joint work of Sergei Shakhrai, Anatoly Sobchak and Sergei Alekseev. The then president of the country, Boris Yeltsin, independently introduced 15 amendments to the Constitution. One of them is the establishment of an age limit when running for office; before that, candidates aged 18 and over could participate in any election (even presidential ones).

2. Foreign language expressions are excluded from the Constitution of the Russian Federation. For example, such words as "speaker", "impeachment", "parliament" or "senators" will not be found there. In fraternal Ukraine, the Constitution presupposes the use of such words.

3. In Russia, there is a special copy of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, laying his hand on which the new president of the country takes an oath to the people. This version of the main law is made of genuine red monitor lizard skin, on the cover there is an applied silver coat of arms of Russia and the inscription "Constitution of the Russian Federation" embossed in gold. It is kept in the Kremlin, in the local library and is used only during the inauguration of the president.

4. A special copy has not been an official symbol of presidential power since 2000.

5. The text of the President's oath before the people is enshrined in Article 82 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

6. The President at his inauguration is free to lay his hand on any edition of the Basic Law.

7. For 10 years, December 12 was a non-working day in Russia, until in 2005 the State Duma deputies introduced amendments to the country's Labor Code that changed the country's holiday calendar.

8. In the Constitution, which was adopted in 1993, there are 18 fundamental differences from the previous main law of the USSR of 1978. Chief among them is the elimination of the system of Soviets.

10. 10 times it was necessary to amend the Constitution due to changes in the names of the regions of the country.

11. In 1999 and 2005, copies of the Russian Constitution went into space. One brochure was on the Mir station, and the other on board the ISS. The total duration of both "flights" of the main law was 329 days.

12. The Constitution of the Russian Federation consists of a preamble, two sections, nine chapters, 137 articles and nine paragraphs of transitional and final provisions. In August 2011, one of the deputies of the Regional Duma of the Yaroslavl region

© Photo by Ksenia Buletova

In Russia, December 12 is Constitution Day. According to a recent poll by the Levada Center, almost 40% of Russians have never read the Russian Constitution. At the same time, 66% of Russians are aware of the upcoming Constitution Day, which is celebrated in our country on December 12.

Reference: The Constitution is the highest normative legal act of the Russian Federation. Adopted by the people of Russia on December 12, 1993, entered into force on December 25, 1993. The Constitution has the highest legal force, fixing the foundations of the constitutional system of Russia, the state structure, the formation of representative, executive, judicial authorities and the system of local self-government, the rights and freedoms of man and citizen, as well as constitutional amendments and revision of the Constitution.

How does it work globally? Let's try to figure it out with facts.

1. Many believe that the first Constitution in the world was drafted in the USA, but this is not true. The oldest constitution is Polish. It was adopted in 1791, six months earlier than the French one.

2. The best minds of Europe worked on the Constitution of the European Union for three years. It was approved in June 2004 at a special EU summit. The document appeared immediately in 20 languages ​​and became the most extensive and comprehensive constitution in the world. However, she was not destined to contribute to the emergence of a pan-European identity - in the national referendums of European countries, she was unable to collect enough votes in her support.

3. In Israel, instead of a single constitution, there is a set of fundamental laws. And all because the contradictions between the spiritual and worldly laws of the country turned out to be too great for them all to be resolved in one document.

4. The Constitution of India was adopted in 1950. It has become the largest Basic Law in the world in terms of volume, it represents the combination of the constitutional and legal traditions of Great Britain with certain provisions of the constitutions of the USA, Ireland, Canada, Australia, the USSR, the Weimar Republic in Germany, Japan and some other countries. Since then, about 500 changes and additions have been made to it.

5. The Japanese Constitution has three main principles: the sovereignty of the people, respect for basic human rights, pacifism (renunciation of war as the sovereign right of the nation).

6. A distinctive feature of the British Constitution is the absence of any single document that could be called the fundamental law of the country.

7. The US Constitution does not mention the word "democracy". In addition, the American Constitution is record short - it consists of 4.4 thousand words.

8. The constitution of independent Uzbekistan was adopted first in the post-Soviet space.

9. Ecuador became the first country in the world to enshrine the rights of nature at the level of the Constitution.

10. The Constitution of Malta proclaims its country neutral, striving for peace.



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