Islam Gadiev (LDPR), chairman of the committee for state-building and legislation of the People's Assembly of Ingushetia (LDPR), introduced a draft law "On the abolition of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Ingushetia" for consideration by the deputies. In accordance with changes in federal legislation, constitutional courts will be abolished in the country’s republics from 2023.
“As far as I know, the deputies received a protest from the republican prosecutor’s office, demanding that some provisions of the republican Constitution be brought into line with the Constitution of Russia. In accordance with Article 118 of the federal Constitution, regional constitutional courts are not included in the country's judicial system,” says representation of the human rights centre "Memorial" (the Russian authorities recognized "Memorial" as a foreign agent, the organisation does not agree) Timur Akiev.
Akiev noted that the Deputy Gadiev introduced the bill as the head of the relevant committee and that in the future, the parliament should make the Constitution of Ingushetia consistent with other government bodies.
"The abolition of the Constitutional Court of Ingushetia will not particularly affect the legal life of the region for the simple reason that the authorities have ignored its decisions in recent years. We are talking about the decision on the border agreement with Chechnya, which ran counter to the official position of the authorities, as well as the decision on internally displaced persons from Chechnya to Ingushetia. It exists, but Ingush officials consider it unnecessary for implementation” Akiev concluded.
Constitutional courts operate in Adygea, Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria, Ingushetia, North Ossetia, and Chechnya. The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation has the right to verify the constitutionality of regional laws that have already been considered by local constitutional (charter) courts. The parliament of a constituent entity can challenge the decision of the regional Constitutional Court and submit a request to the Constitutional Court of Russia.
In December 2020, a federal constitutional law was passed ordering the abolition of regional constitutional courts. The bill was introduced to the State Duma by the President in connection with amendments to the Constitution. Instead of constitutional courts in the republics, constitutional councils are created at legislative assemblies, but their functions are not defined. It is noted that this abolition will affect federalism since the regions will lose another basis of their independence.
