The history of Russia’s 1993 Constitution goes back
Authors: YOU XIAOHONG 
Published: September 2021

The research on Russia’s 1993 Constitution by the Chinese constitutional circles mainlyfocuses on constitutional norms and constitutional systems, with rare historical attention. In order tohave a complete and profound understanding of the current Constitution of Russia, it is not enough tofocus solely on the constitutional system, but also to know “where the 1993 Constitution came from”. Russia’s current constitution, which was adopted and entered into force in 1993, was enacted at a special historical time. At that time, Russia’s economic situation was unstable, and a new political order was in the process of forming. During this period, the revision of the 1978 Constitution and the enactment of a new Constitution were carried out simultaneously. According to the amended 1978 Constitution, there are elected presidents and elected people’s congresses, and the government is accountable to both the people’s congresses and the president. This form of regime organization is different from the typical form of political organization in other countries of the world. To some extent, there are two power centers in Russia: the president and parliament.The President and the Parliament were deeply divided on economic policy. As times goes on, the political disputes between the two become more and more intense, affecting not only the revision of the old constitution, but also the formulation of the new constitution. Both the president and parliament want a new constitution that strengthens their position and power. In April 1992, the Sixth People’s Congress adopted the basic provisions of the new draft constitution. However, the President proposed amendments to the Constitutional Council, which is responsible for formulating the draft constitution. In the draft constitution later published by the Constitutional Council, the Powers of the President were expanded. The Parliament was very dissatisfi ed with this. In determining the schedule of the Seventh People’s Congress, only the agenda of the old Constitution had been amended and the draft new Constitution had not been discussed.In December 1992, the Seventh People’s Congress was held and the Parliament weakened the President’s powers by amending the old Constitution. The president believes that the people’s congress attacks the policies of the president and the government, and that the authoritarianism of legislative power is also dangerous. The president proposed holding a referendum in Russia to resolve the power struggle between the president and parliament. After the victory of the President in a general referendum held on 25 April 1993, the President’s side published the draft constitution of the Presidential version and convened a "constitutional assembly". At this point, the parliamentary side also submitted its own draft constitution. In July 1993, the Constitutional Assembly produced a compromise version of the draft constitution, however, did not settle the power struggle between the President and parliament. In September 1993, with the promulgation of Presidential Decree No. 1400, the confl ict between the two sides quickly intensifi ed and eventually turned into an armed confl ict. On 12 December 1993, a draft constitution was adopted by a referendum in Russia, which was formally adopted in 1993.Despite the irreconcilable differences between the President and the Parliament during the 1993 constitution- making process, there are also some commonality in the draft constitutions of the two sides, namely, the recognition and adherence to the concepts of "rule of law" and "civil society". The process of formulating the 1993 Constitution is tortuous, but it may be understood if it is analyzed and examined in such a grand historical context as the transformation of Russian society