The message reads, in part:
“First of all, I would like to express gratitude for the comprehensive effort to the group of legal experts who have prepared this publication, the latest general-audience commentary on the Constitution of the Russian Federation that takes into account the amendments made to it during the nationwide voting in 2020.
The Constitution has a special significance for our country, just as for all modern democracies. It is the Fundamental Law of the state, a directly applicable act with the highest legal status, ensuring the basic conditions of citizens’ lives. It is the embodiment of the power and potential of the state and the law, their fundamental values.
Adopted nearly 30 years ago on December 12, 1993, our Constitution has proved its effectiveness to everyone’s satisfaction and will remain a reliable legal basis of the country for many decades ahead. On the other hand, it is not a stilted set of canons but a living document that should be consistent with the times. It must be a contemporary document serving the requirements and needs of the people.
Major constitutional changes took place in Russia in 2020. They reflected the consolidated will of the Russian people and have become a befitting response to the current challenges and an expression of the general aspirations and hopes connected with the present and future of our Fatherland. The preparation of the amendments not only took into account international experience and modern development trends in the field of constitutional law, but also included a broad discussion used to streamline and consolidate the main initiatives of our citizens, who were actually the main authors and architects of the amendments.
The renewed Constitution defined the fundamental principles of our state: historical continuity, the moral pillars of society, reliable social and legal guarantees of citizens’ rights, and a balance between all branches of power based on the preservation of a strong presidential republic. This creates up-to-date conditions for the sustainable development of Russia as a democratic, sovereign and social state where human rights and freedoms and people’s dignity and wellbeing are the supreme values. Moreover, it has offered new prospects for strengthening the prestige of government institutions and enhancing the role of civil society during the preparation of the most important state decisions.
Of course, the Constitution now makes it more possible to deal with the current requirements of the people, which is why it is not only necessary to have a notion of constitutional norms but also to know and clearly understand their essence. Obviously, our Fundamental Law will only be really effective if the citizens, government agencies and civil society institutions actively apply and implement the constitutional imperatives.
I hope that this commentary will facilitate a more thorough understanding of the renewed Constitution and will help make its norms and principles as clear and useful and possible.”