First Section. Main Provisions

Chapter 1. The Fundamentals of the Constitutional System

Article 1

The Russian Federation - Russia is a democratic federal law-bound State with a republican form of government.

The names "Russian Federation" and "Russia" shall be equal.

Article 2

Man, his rights and freedoms are the supreme value. The recognition, observance and protection of the rights and freedoms of man and citizen shall be the obligation of the State.

Article 3

1. The bearer of sovereignty and the only source of power in the Russian Federation shall be its multinational people.

2. The people shall exercise their power directly, and also through the bodies of state power and local self-government.

3. The supreme direct expression of the power of the people shall be referenda and free elections.

4. No one may usurp power in the Russian Federation. Seizure of power or usurping state authority shall be prosecuted by federal law.

Article 4

1. The sovereignty of the Russian Federation shall cover the whole of its territory.

2. The Constitution of the Russian Federation and federal laws shall have supremacy in the whole territory of the Russian Federation.

3. The Russian Federation shall ensure the integrity and inviolability of its territory.

Article 5

1. The Russian Federation consists of Republics, territories, regions, cities of federal importance, an autonomous region and autonomous areas - equal subjects of the Russian Federation.

2. The Republic (State) shall have its own constitution and legislation. The territory, region, city of federal importance, autonomous region and autonomous area shall have its charter and legislation.

3. The federal structure of the Russian Federation is based on its state integrity, the unity of the system of state authority, the division of subjects of authority and powers between the bodies of state power of the Russian Federation and bodies of state power of the subjects of the Russian Federation, the equality and self-determination of peoples in the Russian Federation.

4. In relations with federal bodies of state authority all the subjects of the Russian Federation shall be equal among themselves.

Article 6

1. The citizenship of the Russian Federation shall be acquired and terminated according to federal law; it shall be one and equal, irrespective of the grounds of acquisition.

2. Every citizen of the Russian Federation shall enjoy in its territory all the rights and freedoms and bear equal duties provided for by the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

3. A citizen of the Russian Federation may not be deprived of his or her citizenship or of the right to change it.

Article 7

1. The Russian Federation is a social State whose policy is aimed at creating conditions for a worthy life and a free development of man.

2. In the Russian Federation the labour and health of people shall be protected, a guaranteed minimum wages and salaries shall be established, state support ensured to the family, maternity, paternity and childhood, to disabled persons and the elderly, the system of social services developed, state pensions, allowances and other social security guarantees shall be established.

Article 8

1. In the Russian Federation guarantees shall be provided for the integrity of economic space, a free flow of goods, services and financial resources, support for competition, and the freedom of economic activity.

2. In the Russian Federation recognition and equal protection shall be given to the private, state, municipal and other forms of ownership.

Article 9

1. Land and other natural resources shall be utilized and protected in the Russian Federation as the basis of life and activity of the people living in corresponding territories.

2. Land and other natural resources may be in private, state, municipal and other forms of ownership.

Article 10

The state power in the Russian Federation shall be exercised on the basis of its division into legislative, executive and judicial power. The bodies of legislative, executive and judicial power shall be independent.

Article 11

1. The state power in the Russian Federation shall be exercised by the President of the Russian Federation, the Federal Assembly (the Council of the Federation and the State Duma), the Government of the Russian Federation, and the courts of the Russian Federation.

2. The state power in the subjects of the Russian Federation shall be exercised by the bodies of state authority created by them.

3. The division of subjects of authority and power among the bodies of state power of the Russian Federation and the bodies of state power of the subjects of the Russian Federation shall be fixed by the given Constitution, the Federal and other treaties on the delimitation of the subjects of authority and powers.

Article 12

In the Russian Federation local self-government shall be recognized and guaranteed. Local self-government shall be independent within the limits of its authority. The bodies of local self-government shall not be part of the system of bodies of state authority.

Article 13

1. In the Russian Federation ideological diversity shall be recognized.

2. No ideology may be established as state or obligatory one.

3. In the Russian Federation political diversity and multi-party system shall be recognized.

4. Public associations shall be equal before the law.

5. The creation and activities of public associations whose aims and actions are aimed at a forced change of the fundamental principles of the constitutional system and at violating the integrity of the Russian Federation, at undermining its security, at setting up armed units, and at instigating social, racial, national and religious strife shall be prohibited.

Article 14

1. The Russian Federation is a secular state. No religion may be established as a state or obligatory one.

2. Religious associations shall be separated from the State and shall be equal before the law.

Article 15

1. The Constitution of the Russian Federation shall have the supreme juridical force, direct action and shall be used on the whole territory of the Russian Federation. Laws and other legal acts adopted in the Russian Federation shall not contradict the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

2. The bodies of state authority, the bodies of local self-government, officials, private citizens and their associations shall be obliged to observe the Constitution of the Russian Federation and laws.

3. Laws shall be officially published. Unpublished laws shall not be used. Any normative legal acts concerning human rights, freedoms and duties of man and citizen may not be used, if they are not officially published for general knowledge.

4. The universally-recognized norms of international law and international treaties and agreements of the Russian Federation shall be a component part of its legal system. If an international treaty or agreement of the Russian Federation fixes other rules than those envisaged by law, the rules of the international agreement shall be applied.

Article 16

1. The provisions of the present chapter of the Constitution comprise the fundamental principles of the constitutional system of the Russian Federation, and may not be changed otherwise than according to the rules established by the present Constitution.

2. No other provision of the present Constitution may contradict the fundamental principles of the constitutional system of the Russian Federation.