Removal of the Governor by the President of the Russian Federation due to the Loss of Trust for Corruption and Improper Performance of Duties : Problems of Theory and Implementation

The paper has examined the federal legislation, as well as law enforcement related to such a measure of constitutional and legal responsibility of the head of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation as removal from the position of the governor by the President of the Russian Federation due to loss of trust. The paper analyzes the evolution of legal consolidation and application of this constitutional and legal sanction for the period from 2005, the bases and mechanism of its implementation, as well as a number of problems related to the practice of its application in Russia. The author has identified gaps and conflicts (contradiction of the grounds of this constitutional sanction to the main and basic legal principles of direct democracy and presumption of innocence), has analyzed “uncertainty” (revealed the legal fictiousness of the grounds for the loss of trust) and “amorphousness” of its application (inconsistency of the procedure of prosecution with the principles of federalism, norms of criminal procedure legislation and internal conflict of norms of law, i.e. “corruptional” grounds of the loss of trust). The author suggests a different model of application of such a sanction as removal from the position of the head of the constituent entity. Thus, he suggests that deprivation of the President of the right to remove the governor of the constituent entity due to the loss of trust for corruption contradicts the foundations of the federal system and the legal nature of the institute of higher official of a constituent entity. It is proposed to assign the right to apply this sanction to the highest representative (legislative) body of the constituent entity of the Federation, permitting the President of Russia to remove the senior officer for promulgation of legal acts that do not comply with the Constitution and federal laws (confirmed by a court decision) and failure to comply with the decisions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation.

removal of the senior officer of the constituent entity by the President, loss of trust of the President due to corruption , improper performance by the governor of the duties, facts of corruption, conflict of interests, improper performance of duties by the governor, constitutional and legal responsibility of the governor of the constituent entity, federal coercion

1. Volodko IA. Sovershenstvovanie otdelnykh mer konstitutsionno-pravovogo prinuzhdeniya [Improvement of certain measures of constitutional coercion]. Konstitutsionnoe i munitsipalnoe pravo [Constitutional and Municipal Law]. 2015;9.19—22. (In Russ.)

2. Vorotilina TV, Pershina EA. O konstitutsionnoy otvetstvennosti vysshego dolzhnostnogo litsa subekta Rossiyskoy Federatsii [On the constitutional responsibility of the highest official of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation]. Obshchestvo i pravo [Society and Law]. 2012;3(40):85—89. (In Russ.)

3. Gromov VG. Institut otresheniya ot dolzhnosti v svyazi s utratoy doveriya Prezidenta Rossiyskoy Federatsii [The institute of removal from office in connection with the loss of trust of the President of the Russian Federation]. Sovremennoe pravo. 2016;10:36—38. (In Russ.)

4. Dzidzoev RM. Institut impichmenta v Rossii [Institute of impeachment in Russia]. Moscow; 2010. (In Russ.)

5. Dzidzoev RM. K voprosu o vyborakh glav subektov Rossiyskoy Federatsii [Elections of heads of constituent entities of the Russian Federation]. Konstitutsionnoe i munitsipalnoe pravo [Constitutional and Municipal Law]. 2012;10:42—44 .(In Russ.)

6. Dzidzoev R. Prizvanie k dolzhnosti glavy subekta Rossiyskoy Federatsii: novyy format [Order to the Office of the Head of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation : a new format]. In: Avakyan SA, editor, Agapov DS, Akuev NI., et al. Constitutional Law and Politics: Proceedings of the International Scientific Conference, Faculty of Law of Lomonosov Moscow State University, March 28—30, 2012. Moscow; 2012. (In Russ.)

7. Kravtsova EA. K voprosu ob uchastii Prezidenta Rossiyskoy Federatsii v protsedure dosrochnogo prekrashcheniya polnomochiy vysshikh dolzhnostnykh lits subektov Rossiyskoy Federatsii [Participation ofthe President of the Russian Federation in the procedure of early termination of powers of senior officials of constituent entities of the Russian Federation]. Konstitutsionnoe i munitsipalnoe pravo [Constitutional and Municipal Law]. 2017;6:49—51. (In Russ.)

8. Lipatov EG., Volodin VV, editor. Kompetentsiya organov vlasti subektov Rossiyskoy Federatsii v sfere pravotvorchestva [Jurisdiction of authorities of constituent entities of the Russian Federation in the field of lawmaking]. Saratov; 2009. (In Russ.)

9. Mirzoev MG. K voprosu o konstitutsionno-pravovykh sposobakh vliyaniya federalnoy vlasti na poryadok zameshcheniya i protseduru dosrochnogo prekrashcheniya polnomochiy glavy subekta Rossiyskoy Federatsii [Constitutional Law Ways of Influence of Federal Power on the Order of Substitution and Procedure of Early Termination of Powers of the Head of the Constituent Entity of the Russian Federation]. Gosudarstvennaya vlast i mestnoe samoupravlenie [State Power and Local Self-government]. 2016;1:33—38. (In Russ.)

10. Narutto SV. Otreshenie vysshego dolzhnostnogo litsa subekta Rossiyskoy Federatsii ot dolzhnosti Prezidentom RF [Removal of the highest official of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation from the office by the President of the Russian Federation]. Lex russica. 2013;7:703—705. (In Russ.)

11. Osipyan BA. Mera uchastiya organov konstitutsionnoy yustitsii v protsedurakh vozmozhnogo rospuska organov zakonodatelnoy vlasti i otresheniya ot dolzhnosti glav rossiyskogo gosudarstva i ego subektov [The measure of participation of bodies of constitutional justice in procedures of possible dismissal of bodies of legislative power and removal from the office of heads of the Russian State and its constituent entities]. Zakonodatelstvo i ekonomika. 2009;1:8—10. (In Russ.)

12. Prokhorov VN. Pravovaya priroda ponyatiya «utrata doveriya» Prezidenta RF [The legal nature of the concept of “loss of trust” of the President of the Russian Federation]. Istoricheskie, filosofskie, politicheskie i yuridicheskie nauki, kulturologiya i iskusstvovedenie. Voprosy teorii i praktiki [Historical, Philosophical, Political and Law Sciences, Culturology and Study of Art. Issues of Theory and Practice]. 2014;12-3(50):167—168. (In Russ.)

13. Surkova IS. Otreshenie vysshego dolzhnostnogo litsa subekta Rossiyskoy Federatsii kak mera konstitutsionnopravovogo prinuzhdeniya [Removal of the highest official of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation as a measure of constitutional law coercion]. In: Petrov AA, Praskova SV, editors. Konstitutsionno-pravovoy status Irkutskoy oblasti v sostave Rossii: istoriya, sovremennoe sostoyanie, perspektivy razvitiya : materialy Vserossiyskoy nauchno-prakticheskoy konferentsii [Constitutional law status of the Irkutsk region in Russia : History, current state, prospects of development: Proceedings of the All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference]. Irkutsk; 2013. (In Russ.)