2020 amendments to the Constitution of Russia


The amendments of 2020, which were proposed in January 2020, are the second substantial amendments to the Constitution of Russia of 1993. To introduce these amendments, Vladimir Putin, president of Russia, held a national vote. They were approved on 1 July 2020 by a contested popular vote. The amendments had wide reaching impacts, including extending Presidential term limits, allowing the President to fire federal judges, and effectively banning gay marriage.
With Putin’s signing an executive order on 3 July 2020 to officially insert the amendments into the Russian Constitution, they took effect on 4 July 2020.

History

Since the ratification of the Constitution in 1993, only three amendments have been proposed. In 2008, in order to prolong the presidential and the State Duma terms, as well as imposing an annual report by the Prime Minister for the Duma members, four articles had been changed. In the beginning of 2014, eight more amendments were ratified and one was taken away, which resulted in abolition of the Supreme Court of Arbitration and adjustment of prosecutors assignment. In the summer of 2014, two more articles had been changed in order to allow the President to choose up to 10% of the Federation Council.
President Vladimir Putin made new proposal during his annual address to the Federal Assembly on 15 January 2020.
According to the articles 136 and 108, amendments to the provisions of Chapters 3–8, require the same approval as a federal constitutional law, that is, a two-thirds supermajority vote in the State Duma, the lower house and a three-fourths supermajority vote in the Federation Council, the upper house, and come into force as they have passed the Regional legislatures of no less than two thirds of the 85 federal subjects.
The President formally submitted the bill to the State Duma on 20 January. On 11 March 2020, the State Duma, dominated by pro-government parties, swiftly approved the proposal in the third reading with no objection. By 13 March 2020 legislative assemblies of all 85 Federal subjects approved amendments to the Constitution. On 16 March the Constitutional Court of Russia gave their approval to the amendments.

Proposed amendments

In 2020 41 articles were rewritten and five more were added. Excluding the 1st, 2nd and the 9th chapters, which can be changed only by calling together a Constituent Assembly and developing a new Constitution, around 60% of articles were altered. Essentially, after the 1st of July there is going to be a “Putin” Constitution instead of “Yeltsin” Constitution, which means a significant change in a political system that has existed for over twenty five years. The main amendments are focusing on how power is distributed between the branches of government: moving away from the super-presidential system that was established in 1993 and simultaneously creating a new one based on the principle of checks and balances.
In general, the following amendments are proposed:
Along with the redistribution of power initiatives, the first draft included a couple of social- and economically directed amendments. Specifically, Putin has suggested to require the minimum wage to be above the poverty line and to guarantee an annual increase in pension payments. The amendments from this block were developed by a special group consisting of parliament members, scientists and public representatives. As a result of their work, the Constitution was supplemented by articles imposing a distinct government attitude towards such things as public health, science, culture, voluntary work and young people. In addition, the amendments have a few innovations, such as regarding the Russian language as a “language state-forming people”, protecting “historical truth” and mentioning faith in God in regards to heritage. Most of these amendments do not embody new concepts, but rather duplicate norms that are already found in federal laws.

Enactment

The amendments have been put to a national vote initially called for April 2020 but later postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They have been rescheduled for 1 July.
The voting procedure was decided on already during the development process. Before that there was no concept of a “nationwide voting”. The approved procedure is noticeably different from a regular voting or a referendum: just a month of preparation instead of 90-100 days; the observers can be only from the Public Chambers, which are formed by federal and regional authority; “informing the public” regarding the content of the amendments instead of agitation; no minimum voter turn-out; an online-voting option.
With 98% of the ballot counted, and with 78% voting in favor versus 22% against, the amendments easily passed.

Controversy

The amendments were seen as a power grab by President Vladimir Putin, as they extend term limits and enable Putin to serve as leader of Russia until 2036. Under the previous version of the constitution, Putin would have been required to step down in 2024.
The main debates around the whole arrangement were caused by the change of the amending procedure of the Constitution itself. A new three-step procedure was imposed. After being approved by federal and regional parliaments, only the third article was enacted, describing the procedure of the change coming into force. After the Constitutional Court had validated the document, the second article was enacted, which regulated the nationwide voting procedure. The first article, which consists of all the amendments, can be enacted only when approved by the majority of the voters.
Content-related critique was directed at the amendments, which contradict with the first and the second chapters of the Constitution. Particularly, the ones about the superiority of the Constitution above the interstate authority decisions, the President’s right to resign judges, including local authority into one “single public authority system” and the one regarding religion. However, after carefully examining these pretensions, as well as the one regarding the discounting previous presidential terms before the amendment enters into force, the Constitutional Court has not found anything contradicting.

Foreign analysis

The New York Times wrote that the proposed prohibition of same-sex marriage was "an effort to raise turnout for a constitutional referendum that could keep him in power but has so far stirred little enthusiasm among Russians".
The Guardian wrote that "he move, announced by Putin in January, was initially seen as a way for him to hold on to power after 2024, when as things stand he will no longer be able to serve as president because of term limits." The Guardian further noted that "Putin's direct support for the amendments makes it likely they will go through. He has taken an increasingly conservative turn in his fourth term as president".
Will Partlett has written that the amendments "follow the recent 'populist' trend toward state-building grounded on constitutional centralism, anti-institutionalism, and protectionism".