The Constitutional Court will speak out on the death penalty only after an official request – Kommersant

The Russian Constitutional Court can answer the question of a possible lifting of the moratorium on the death penalty only after an official request from authorized applicants. This was stated by the chairman of the court Valery Zorkin. A moratorium on the death penalty has been in effect in Russia since 1996.

Deputies discuss the feasibility of returning the death penalty to Russia started after the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall on March 22. Answering a question from RIA Novosti whether the Constitutional Court is now ready to speak out on the issue of the death penalty, Mr. Zorkin said: “The court is ready to answer only after an official request from authorized applicants.”

The press service of the Constitutional Court clarified to the agency that, in particular, a group of State Duma deputies consisting of at least 90 people can submit an appeal to verify the constitutionality of the provisions of the normative act. Only the highest state bodies, including the State Duma as a whole, can apply to the court to interpret the provisions of the Constitution. An appeal to check the constitutionality of a bill (as a preliminary control) can only be submitted by the president.

“The basis for considering a case, as a rule, is uncertainty regarding the constitutionality of a norm or uncertainty regarding the understanding of the provisions of the Constitution. The presence of such uncertainty is determined by the Constitutional Court itself when it decides whether to accept the case for consideration,” the court’s press service added.

Mr. Zorkin in 2022 statedthat, due to the requirements of the current Constitution, the only acceptable way to return the death penalty is the adoption of a new Constitution. According to him, this cannot be done in any other way. At the same time, Valery Zorkin noted that if the death penalty is returned, Russia “will turn away from the path of humanization that it has been following in recent decades.”

Read more about discussions about the return of capital punishment in the Kommersant article. “Death suits them”.

Milena Kostereva