• Conference sessions take place in the Assembly Hall of the Law Faculty of the St. Petersburg State University, in St. Petersburg.

Russian constitutional principles setting out a federal system and a republican form of government are integral attributes of Russian nationality. It makes it necessary to create an adequate blend of federalism and electoral politics. Accordingly, there is a special interest in the problem of electoral federalism. It implies, together with provisions for the unity of the Russian Federation's electoral system, fundamental principles, and real opportunities for the subjects of the Federation to independently solve problems on organizing and holding elections in their territories. At least, such an approach correlates to federalism and elections at the national and regional levels and is declared in the articles of the Constitution of the Russian Federation as well as decisions of the Russian Constitutional Court.

1. Introduction (Russia as a part of Europe).

In 2006 the Russian Federation was chair of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. Our motto was: “Towards united Europe without dividing lines.” In order to make European countries closer to each other it is very important to insure unified interpretation and application of norms contained in international treaties. Such harmony between countries requires us to first consider the terms in the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

This article is a brief sketch of recent development of the doctrine and practice in Russian constitutional and administrative law. The focus is made on the controversial issues of state organization and status of individuals, as well as the realization of legal principles established by the Constitution of the Russian Federation in 1993.