The President of the Russian Federation as an Object of Public Control: Constitutional and Legal Analysis

Goncharov Vitalii Viktorovich PhD in Law Associate Professor, Dean of the Faculty of Higher Education, Polytechnic Institute (branch), Don State Technical University in Taganrog 347900, Russia, Rostov region, Taganrog, Petrovskaya str., 109a niipgergo2009@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction.

The Constitution of the Russian Federation has consolidated the legal status of the multinational people of the country as the bearer of sovereignty and the sole source of power in the country, exercising their powers both directly (in particular, through the institutions of free elections and referendums) and indirectly (for example, through the activities of public authorities and their officials). However, the constitutional principles of democracy and the participation of society in the management of state affairs need a system of legal guarantees of implementation, protection and protection, the most important of which is the institution of public control, through which Russian citizens, public associations, as well as other non-governmental non-profit organizations exercise control over the activities, acts and decisions of state authorities, local self-government bodies. local governments, state and municipal organizations, other bodies and organizations exercising certain public powers in accordance with federal laws.

The organization and implementation of public control in the Russian Federation are associated with numerous problems, one of which is the definition of an exhaustive list of objects of public control. The current legislation, in particular, Federal Law No. 212-FZ of 21.07.2014 "On the basics of public control in the Russian Federation", does not fix the definition of the concept of public control, as well as its exhaustive list. Moreover, in article 2 of this Federal Law, a number of objects of public control are removed from the subject of its jurisdiction (for example, activities in the field of national defense and security, police, courts, prosecution and investigation bodies, etc.) under the pretext of the need to resolve these issues by relevant federal laws, most of which have not been adopted for 2023.

Moreover, today, as we have noted in previous studies, ^{[2, pp. 147-169]} it is significantly difficult to organize and implement public control over certain public authorities, for example, the President of the Russian Federation, which led to the choice of this topic of scientific research, the purpose of which is not only to identify the main problems that hinder conducting public control measures in relation to the activities, acts and decisions of the head of state, but also developing proposals for their resolution.

At the same time, the main objectives of the study include: analysis of the main points of view in scientific and educational literature regarding the possibility and limits of public control over the President of the Russian Federation; identification and formalization of the main problems hindering the organization and implementation of public control over his activities, acts and decisions; development and justification of a system of measures to their resolution.

The main text.

Despite the fact that the legislation on public control does not contain prohibitions or restrictions on the organization and implementation of public control over the President of the Russian Federation, there is no consensus in the domestic scientific and educational literature on the possibility and limits of the implementation of the above-mentioned institution of civil society in relation to the head of the Russian state.

Thus, a number of authors believe that public control over the President of the Russian Federation is virtually impossible, in particular, due to the lack of appropriate legal grounds for this. In particular, V. V. Grib notes that "public control over the activities of the President of the Russian Federation is not actually carried out and, moreover, is not legally and formally fixed. In this regard, there is ... a need to expand and legally consolidate public control over the activities of the President of the Russian Federation, but with certain reservations, taking into account the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the Federal Law "On Presidential Elections of the Russian Federation" and a number of other federal laws, but without its extensive application to officials of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation." ^{[4, p. 34]} However, in our opinion, this statement is controversial, since Article 4 of Federal Law No. 212-FZ of 21.07.2014 "On the fundamentals of public control in the Russian Federation", formulating the definition of the concept of public control, establishes the possibility of its implementation in relation to the activities, acts issued and decisions taken by any state authorities. This Federal Law and other federal laws on the organization and implementation of public control, as well as the activities of its subjects, do not contain any prohibitions on exercising public control over any public authorities. In the previously mentioned article 2 of the above-mentioned Federal Law, a number of objects of public control are removed from the subject of its jurisdiction, but the same article explicitly states the need to regulate the legal foundations of the organization and implementation of public control in relation to its withdrawn objects by other federal laws. At the same time, the above-mentioned article of Federal Law No. 212-FZ of 21.07.2013 does not say anything about the removal of the activities, acts and decisions of the head of state from the subject matter of this Federal Law. Thus, it seems that the organization and implementation of public control over the President of the Russian Federation have sufficient legal grounds in the current legislation of Russia.

A number of authors adhere to the position that civil society should focus on the implementation of the institution of public control at the stage of the presidential elections of the Russian Federation, controlling the legality of their organization and conduct, suppressing any violations of electoral legislation. ^{[6, pp. 29-33; 8, pp. 56-60]} However, limiting the mechanism for the implementation of public control over the activities of the head The State is not justified only by the stage of electing a candidate for the post of President of the Russian Federation. Moreover, after the amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation made a few years ago, the mechanism of bringing to justice not only the current head of state, but also the President of the Russian Federation, who is retired, seems technically difficult.

A significant number of authors hold the view that the activities, acts and decisions of the head of state are subject to public control in the Russian Federation. In particular, I. M. Yapryntsev notes: "The further development of the system of public control in the Russian Federation is conditioned by the need for a clear understanding of its constituent elements, one of which is the object of public control ... the central link of which is the activity of public authorities ... on the example of the activities of the President of the Russian Federation, the inadmissibility of excluding any elements of the system of public authorities from the sphere of control by citizens is justified." ^{[10, p. 34]}

At the same time, a significant number of scientific papers are devoted in general to substantiating the need for the organization and implementation of public control over the entire system of executive authorities in the Russian Federation, ^{[1, pp. 469-477; 7, pp. 78-85]} the most important element of which is directly the President of Russia.

Some scientists pay great attention to the analysis of the issues of organization and functioning of subjects of public control created under federal executive authorities (including the head of state), ^{[9, pp. 129-133; 5, pp. 96-117]} noting their role in the implementation of daily public control over public authorities that are part of the system of executive power in the country, especially at the federal level.

However, the organization and implementation of public control over the activities, acts and decisions of the President of the Russian Federation today are associated with numerous problems, including the following:

Firstly, a significant problem in the implementation of public control measures against the President of the Russian Federation is the fact that this institution of civil society is not enshrined in the Constitution of Russia, which creates a certain conflict: can a legal institution not mentioned in the Basic Law of the country be implemented in relation to a federal public authority (the President of the Russian Federation) whose legal status and powers are defined in the Constitution of Russia itself (at the same time, there is no separate Federal Constitutional law in the legislation devoted to the basics of the legal status of the head of state, unlike, for example, the Republic of Belarus, where the powers of the President of the Republic of Belarus are fixed and detailed in the Law of the Republic of Belarus dated 21.02.1995 No. 3602-XII "On the President Of the Republic of Belarus"). In this regard, the institute of public control in the Russian Federation differs in an unfavorable light, as we have already noted in previously published works, from the institute of people's control of power, which was enshrined in the Constitution of the USSR of 1977 and the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1978, ^{[3, pp. 72-88]} which enshrined the concept of the institute of people's control of power, the mechanism of its interaction with the entire system of public administration bodies, the system of powers of the people's control bodies at all their levels was determined. In this regard, it seems that the resolution of the above-mentioned conflict in the organization and implementation of public control in relation to the activities, acts and decisions of the President of the Russian Federation is possible only by including this institution of civil society in the Constitution of Russia (with the consolidation of the definition of its concept, the implementation in all chapters of the Basic Law of the mechanism of interaction of subjects of public control with the totality of public authorities the authorities and their officials, determining the list of objects and subjects of public control, as well as the powers of the latter).

Secondly, significant difficulties in the organization and implementation of public control measures regarding the activities of the President of the Russian Federation are also created by the fact that he has broad immunity, which is generally defined in articles 91 and 93 of the Constitution of Russia. In particular, article 91 of the Constitution establishes the provision on the inviolability of the head of State. At the same time, the Basic Law of the country does not directly formulate the duties of the head of state to give an account to anyone about his activities, signed acts and decisions taken.

In this regard, it seems that without fixing the institution of public control in the Constitution of the Russian Federation and defining the mechanism of interaction of subjects of public control with the head of state, the presence of such broad immunity levels any possibility of civil society control over the President of Russia.

Thirdly, a certain problem in the organization and implementation of public control over the head of state is created by the fact that in scientific and educational literature, as well as in the practice of functioning of federal executive authorities, an attempt is being made to extend the immunity of the President of the Russian Federation to federal authorities that contribute to the exercise of his powers (the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation, affairs of the President of the Russian Federation, plenipotentiary representatives of the head of state in federal districts and in federal state authorities, etc.). As V. V. Grib rightly notes, this broad interpretation of the immunity of the head of state, its extension, in particular, to officials of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation, seems unjustified. ^{[4, p. 34-36]} In order to resolve this problem, it seems necessary to supplement the normative legal acts regulating the legal status and powers of federal public authorities that facilitate the exercise of powers by the head of state with provisions on the organization and implementation of public control over their activities, acts and decisions.

Fourth, a significant problem hindering the organization and implementation of public control over the President of the Russian Federation is the lack of elaboration in the Russian scientific legal doctrine of constitutional law of provisions on specific forms, methods, principles, types of public control measures that could be used in carrying out public control measures in relation to activities, acts and decisions of the head of state.

In part, this problem is due to the fact that the institute of public control in the Russian Federation was incorporated into legislation relatively recently. In particular, the very possibility of organizing and implementing public control measures in relation to the activities, acts and decisions of federal public authorities was formalized only with the adoption of Federal Law No. 212-FZ dated 21.07.2014 "On the Basics of Public Control in the Russian Federation".

Fifthly, a certain problem in the organization and implementation of public control measures in relation to the President of the Russian Federation is the fact that it is not clear from the provisions of the legislation on public control which of the subjects of public control have the appropriate authority to organize and implement the above-mentioned measures. Whether the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation will act exclusively as such a subject of public control, or other types of subjects of public control.

In this regard, it seems that there is a need to develop and adopt a Federal Constitutional Law "On the President of the Russian Federation", one of the chapters of which should be devoted to the organization and implementation of public control measures in relation to the activities, acts and decisions of the head of state.

Sixth, a significant problem in the organization and conduct of public control measures against the President of the Russian Federation is the mechanism of formation of subjects of public control at the federal level, which could potentially carry out the above-mentioned measures. In particular, the analysis of Article 8 of Federal Law No. 32-FZ dated 04.04.2005 "On the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation" shows that this subject of public control consists of 40 members approved by the head of state, members elected by the public chambers of the subjects of the Russian Federation (1 from each region), 43 members approved by the above-mentioned members of the Public chambers of the Russian Federation based on the results of the competition from among representatives of all-Russian public associations and other non-profit organizations. Thus, public control over the President of the Russian Federation is carried out by the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, consisting of members partially approved by the head of state, which calls into question, on the one hand, the public nature of the formation of this subject of public control, and on the other hand, the objectivity and impartiality of the work of its members approved by the President of Russia.

In this regard, it seems necessary to change the order of formation of subjects of public control, excluding the possibility of appointing their members by any public authorities or their officials.

Seventh, a certain problem hindering the implementation of public control measures against the head of state is the lack of a real mechanism for holding the President of the Russian Federation accountable for possible opposition to the legitimate activities of subjects of public control. In particular, there is no possibility of bringing the head of state to administrative responsibility in principle. And it is impossible to bring the President to criminal responsibility for the above-mentioned actions due to the fact that, on the one hand, such compositions are absent in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, and on the other hand, such offenses are unlikely to qualify as serious crimes (and after all, only for their commission the head of state can be removed from office).

Conclusion.

Based on the results of the conducted scientific research , a number of conclusions can be drawn:

1. The activities, acts and decisions of the President of the Russian Federation are one of the types of objects of public control in Russia, which requires the organization and implementation of its relevant activities by subjects of public control on a permanent basis.

2. This institution of civil society should be enshrined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation, providing for the possibility of its organization and implementation in relation to the head of state as one of the most important objects of public control in the country.

3. At the same time, it is necessary to develop and adopt a Federal Constitutional Law "On the President of the Russian Federation", in which provisions should be fixed detailing the limits, methods, principles, forms and types of public control measures that need to be organized and implemented in relation to the activities, acts and decisions of the head of state.

4. The list of subjects of public control that can organize and conduct public control measures against the President of the Russian Federation requires clarification, as well as the mechanism for the formation of these subjects, which would exclude the participation of the head of state in the selection and approval of candidates for members of these subjects of public control.

5. Due to the fact that the legislation of the Russian Federation does not contain a mechanism for bringing the head of state to legal responsibility for countering the legitimate activities of subjects of public control during the organization and conduct of public control activities by the latter in relation to the activities, acts and decisions of the President of the Russian Federation, it is necessary to develop and consolidate in the Basic Law of the country the measures of responsibility of the head of state for the above counteraction, for example, by including in the list of grounds for the removal of the head of state from office repeated actions by him aimed at preventing the organization and implementation of the above-mentioned measures.