CCR № 6 (115) 2016

Available in Russian

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CONTENTS

CONSTITUTIONAL WATCH

OCTOBER – DECEMBER • 2016

Austria, Bulgaria, Côte d'Ivoire, Germany, Iceland, Nicaragua, Poland, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Ukraine, USA

SPECIAL REPORT

CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL OVERVIEW OF THE 2016 AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF TAJIKISTAN OF 1994

Aziz Dinorshoev

LANDSCAPES OF DEMOCRACY

AN INCONSPICUOUS CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT OR WHAT THE REPRESENTATIVES OF FEDERATION IN THE COUNCIL OF THE FEDERATION OF RUSSIA ARE FOR

Sergey Zaikin

In July 2014 a new amendment was included in the Constitution of the Russian Federation: a new category of senators was installed in the Federation Council – the representatives of the Russian Federation. But from that time everybody “forget” about it – there are no any bills on criteria applied to these members of the Federation Council, on the procedure details how the President of the Russian Federation appoints them. Trying to understand the reasons and sense of installation of the representatives of the Russian Federation in the context of the place of the Federation Council in the constitutional scheme, the author states that there is very hard to find adequate, rational or practical explanation. At the same time the institute of such representatives seems to be very logical in the mechanism of legitimation of any political and legal decisions in the context of the current political situation in Russia. The first chapter of the article is devoted to the process of introduction and adopting the constitutional amendment mentioned above.

FOCUS: INFORMATION SOCIETY AND LAW

INTRODUCTION

ALGORITHMS ARE REPLACING MEDIA MOGULS: THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON COMMUNICATION IN THE SOCIETY AND LAW

Andrey Rumyantsev

The US presidential election campaign of 2016 was an asymmetrical one: most established mass media supported Hillary Clinton. As a compensating measure, Trump’s team used extensively social media as well as other Internet platforms and resources. After losing the election, supporters of the Democratic Party provided two explanations of the success of the Republicans. First, social media disseminated fake news in favor of Trump. Second, Facebook’s news feed algorithm stimulated the segregation of voters with different political views (filter bubble).

RIGHT TO INFORMATION IN THE LIGHT OF THE SUBJECTIVE RIGHTS THEORY

Elvira Talapina

The article addresses the problem of the subjective public rights – a concept developed in the 19th century by German lawyers. In Russia this topic has caused an increased interest due to the development of administrative justice and legal questions aroused after adoption of the Code of administrative judicial procedure. The author notes the dominating civil-law bias in the Russian legal doctrine in the field of the subjective rights. It is deeply rooted in a thoroughly elaborated of subjective rights problem in civil law doctrine.

PERSONAL DATA: RUSSIAN AND GERMAN NATIONAL MODELS OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTION IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE

Maria Proskuryakova

The article addresses the problem of the subjective public rights – a concept developed in the 19th century by German lawyers. In Russia this topic has caused an increased interest due to the development of administrative justice and legal questions aroused after adoption of the Code of administrative judicial procedure. The author notes the dominating civil-law bias in the Russian legal doctrine in the field of the subjective rights. It is deeply rooted in a thoroughly elaborated of subjective rights problem in civil law doctrine.

METHODOLOGY OF COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL LAW

TOWARDS A GLOBAL CONSTITUTIONAL GENE POOL

Cheryl Saunders

This essay aims to develop the methodology of comparative constitutional law in a way that draws more comprehensively on world constitutional experience, thus maximising the possibilities of the discipline and of what might be considered to be a global constitutional gene pool. It proceeds in two stages. The first part identifies key methodological challenges for comparative constitutional law, drawing on the literature of comparative law, while taking account of the distinctive character of constitutional law. The challenges examined here are the dichotomy between similarity and difference; the approach to the task of comparison; taxonomy; the impact of culture; and pluralism. The second part of the argument considers the impact on comparative constitutional method of the conditions in which Constitutions operate in the early 21st century, including internationalisation, globalisation and advances in information technology.

PROTECTION OF RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS: INSTITUTIONAL ASPECTS

ORGANIZATIONAL UNITY WITH THE PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE AS A FEATURE OF LATIN AMERICAN OMBUDSMAN MODEL: PROBLEMS OF ENSURING THE INDEPENDENCE AND EFFECTIVENESS

Olga Gavrilova

This article provides an overview of the ombudsman in Colombia and El Salvador as a mechanism of the soft law that nowadays has a more broad understanding. Stepping up tendency of soft law is observed in the domestic law and the world spread of ombudsman is a part of that trend. Joint and served ombudsman’s work that based on collaboration is a valuable mechanism for resolving conflicts between the individual and the state. With an eye to the potential of ombudsman revealed in full, it is necessary to insure its independence. The article describes the aspects of the model when the ombudsman is merged or organization closely linked to the prosecutor’s office. A study of this issue conducted by the example of Colombia and El Salvador, where this model is used.

PRAXIS

«GOOD-BYE, COUNCIL OF EUROPE!» OR «COUNCIL OF EUROPE, WE GOT TO TALK!»

Alexander Blankenagel

The subject of the article is the Judgment of the ECtHR in the case Anchugov and Gladkov v. Russia and the corresponding decision of the Russian Constitutional Court on the issue of the non-implementation of the ECtHR Anchugov and Gladkov decision because of its contradiction to the Russian Constitution. The author shows and analyses certain weaknesses of the ECtHR decision and the efforts of the Russian Constitutional Court to find a mode of its implementation in conformity with the Russian Constitution. The article presents a comparative survey the decision of the Russian Constitutional Court with two new decisions of the German Federal Constitutional Court in which the German Court rather outspokenly underlines the priority of the fundamental principles of the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany vis-à-vis the Treaty of the European Union and the priority of German federal laws vis-à-vis international treaties. The judgments of the ECtHR, the Russian and the German constitutional courts show a structural problem of the interrelation of international and national law, especially constitutional law, to be a logical consequence of the dualist theory.

BOOK REVIEW

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW: LOOKING FOR PHILOSOPHICAL FRAMEWORKS

Alexandra Troitskaya

A collection of articles, prepared by a group of foreign researchers is reviewed, concerning a wide range of branches of knowledge, including philosophy of law, constitutional law, political philosophy, history of political and legal ideas. The work reflects in full the discussions arising about normative approach and positivism and capable, to various degrees, to solve contemporary problems of theory and practice of the constitutional law.

IN THE RUSSIAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

REVIEW OF JUDGEMENTS OF THE RUSSIAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT: NOVEMBER • 2016