The Russian Federation Law on Constitutional Amendment stipulates the formation of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation as a single supreme judiciary body for handling civil, criminal and administrative cases, resolving economic disputes and other cases. The new Supreme Court of the Russian Federation is also called upon to supervise the work of federal courts and provide clarifications on matters of judicial practice.
The law abolishes the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation and transfers the judicial matters that were under its authority to the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.
A deadline of six months has been set for the transitional period to implement the necessary procedures.
The new Supreme Court of the Russian Federation will be composed of 170 judges.
The law also stipulates a number of amendments concerning the Prosecutor General’s Office.
The law on Constitutional Amendment has been approved by the legislative bodies of state authority in all 83 federal constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
The President also signed three laws pertaining to the merger of the Supreme Court and the Supreme Arbitration Court: On Introducing an Amendment to Federal Constitutional Law On the Judicial System of the Russian Federation; On the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation; and a law on the procedure for selecting candidates for the initial makeup of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.