Electoral legislation of the Russian Federation in the assessments and conclusions of the Venice Commission

Abstract

Background. In the science of constitutional law in Russia in recent years, authoritative opinions of the international expert community, represented by the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission), of which the Russian Federation was a member until March 2022, have been actively attracted. The purpose of the study is to examine the constitutional right to unite in public organizations through the prism of the legal positions of the Venice Commission. Materials and methods. The implementation of the research tasks was achieved based on the analysis of the Guidelines of the Venice Commission on December 12–13, 2014, the Constitution of the Russian Federation and constitutional legislation. Hence, it seemed important to trace to what extent the doctrine of the Venice Commission on freedom of association and the right of citizens to unite in public organizations were taken into account by the federal legislator. The author used the following research methods: comparative legal, logical, institutional, formal legal, comparative legal. Results. The article examines the legal positions of the Venice Commission on Freedom of Association and the Right of Citizens to Public Associations and determines the degree to which they take it into account in federal laws. Conclusions. The Constitution of the Russian Federation and the Russian constitutional legislation in terms of freedom of association and the rights of citizens to form public organizations generally express the doctrinal principles developed by the Venice Commission.

Keywords

• venice commission
• doctrinal principles
• legal positions
• public associations
• citizens' right to association
• freedom of association