The transformation of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation into a super-instance: establishing of the tendency

This paper analyses the tendency of gradual transformation of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation from the constitutional review body to a body which task is to do judicial supervision on specific cases, frequently too technical, in vast spheres of law. The author demonstrates normative and doctrinal grounds for a factual check of ordinary courts decisions by the Russian body of constitutional review. Using the methods of analysis and synthesis, the author establishes the criteria for determination of instatiality of a certain judgment of the Constitutional Court and then applies them to its particular decisions. The implementation of observation and analysis as research methods allow the author to determine that the number of judgments, in which the Russian Constitutional Court, in fact, has to correct other courts’ legal mistakes, even based on constitutional norms, has been persistently high in recent years. The article demonstrates the distinctive significance of merits as a criteria of instantiality based on several most astonishing examples when the interference of the Russian Constitutional was not necessary. The implemented methods of analysis, synthesis and induction allow to make the following conclusions. Firstly, the tendency of the transformation of the Constitutional Court into a court of general jurisdiction, even if it can be called a super-instance, not only actually exists but is strengthening. Secondly, further increase in the amount of judgments in which the Constitutional Court has to correct mistakes of other courts in the cases which are not as difficult as they might seem, is a threat to its identity as a body of constitutional review and can even lead to the dismantling of this type of jurisdiction, making the unification of Supreme Court and Constitutional Court in Russia not unfeasible. Thirdly, author predicts that two discussions will continue — those on the place and role of constitutional justice in the Russian legal system and on the features of the decisions of the Russian Constitutional Court as sources of law.