Law of Russia
overview of the laws of Russia
The primary and fundamental source of laws in the Russian Federation is the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Statutes, such as the Russian Civil Code and the Russian Criminal Code, are the predominant legal source of Russian law.
Hierarchy
Constitutionism
Adopted by national referendum on 12 December 1993 with 54.5% of the vote, the Constitution took effect on the day of its publication – 25 December of the same year. It sets out the fundamentals of government and proclaims the rule of law, the ideological neutrality of the state, political pluralism, competitive elections, and the separation of powers, while guaranteeing fundamental human rights to the Russian people. The Constitution establishes a semi‑presidential system that encompasses strong executive power and increased independence for the president. Since its adoption in a 1993 referendum, the Russian Constitution has been considered the supreme law of the land. Article 15 of the Constitution states that it "shall have supreme legal force and have direct effect, and shall be applicable throughout the entire territory of the Russian Federation." Courts are guided by the Constitution, and it overrides federal and local laws.
Amendments
Few amendments have been made to the Constitution since its adoption. The most significant of these was enacted in 2008, when the presidential term of office was extended from four to six years.
Presidential system of the Russian Federation
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation emerged as an independent state in 1991.
“Law of Russia” enters the record as overview of the laws of Russia. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Russia, overview and laws can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Law of Russia” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Russia, overview and laws provides the most credible route into that argument.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q136810465. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1993, 2008 and 1991.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Law of Russia” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.