Unrestricted human rights and freedoms: Legal positions of the Constitutional Court of Russia (1995–2022)

Abstract

Introduction.The Constitution of the Russian Federation of 1993 in several articles provides for the right of the state to restrict the rights and freedoms of man and citizen in order to achieve certain goals. Part 3 of Article 55 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation establishes the general conditions for the restriction of all rights and freedoms of the individual. However, this constitutional norm does not give an answer to the question of whether there are rights and freedoms of an individual that cannot be limited. Theoretical analysis. Part 3 of Article 55 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation is a kind of “general part” of the institution of restrictions on the rights and freedoms of the individual; and in this “general part” there are no exceptions in the form of unrestricted rights and freedoms. In the scientific literature, they often refer to par 3 of article 56 when they state the existence of unrestricted rights and freedoms. In our opinion, Article 56 is of a special nature - it establishes the foundations of the state of emergency, including the rules for restricting rights and freedoms in a state of emergency. However, unlimited rights and freedoms of the individual exist – their list was formed by the decisions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. Empirical analysis. Since 1995, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation in more than 40 decisions, as well as in defi nitions, has substantiated the presence of certain unrestricted human rights and freedoms in the Constitution of the Russian Federation. The possibility of singling out this group of rights and freedoms is explained mainly by the fact that these human rights and freedoms cannot confl ict with the constitutional goals of restricting rights and freedoms. Results. It is concluded that the legal positions formed by the Constitutional Court of Russia regarding the existence of unrestricted human rights and freedoms have practical consequences, primarily for the federal legislator, since they establish the framework for his / her law-making activities. These positions are the basis for developing federal laws and the basis for correcting existing federal laws. They can also be criteria for determining the constitutionality of federal laws in the exercise of preliminary or subsequent constitutional review.

Keywords

• the constitution of the russian federation
• restriction of rights and freedoms of man and citizen
• unrestricted rights and freedoms
• constitutional court of russia