Russian Federation 1993 Constitution (reviewed 2014) - Page 2 of 10

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 2. HUMAN AND CIVIL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS

Article 17

In the Russian Federation human and civil rights and freedoms shall be recognized and guaranteed according to the universally recognized principles and norms of international law and this Constitution.
Basic human rights and freedoms shall be inalienable and shall be enjoyed by everyone from birth.
The exercise of human and civil rights and freedoms must not violate the rights and freedoms of other people.

Article 18

Human and civil rights and freedoms shall have direct force. They shall determine the meaning, content and implementation of laws, the functioning of legislative and executive authority and of local self-government, and shall be guaranteed by law.

Article 19

All persons shall be equal before the law and the court.
The State guarantees the equality of human and civil rights and freedoms regardless of sex, race, nationality, language, origin, material and official status, place of residence, attitude to religion, convictions, membership of public associations, or of other circumstances. All forms of limitations of human rights on social, racial, national, language or religious grounds shall be prohibited.
Men and women shall enjoy equal rights and freedoms and equal opportunities to exercise them.

Article 20

Everyone shall have the right to life.
Capital punishment until its complete abolition may be established by federal law as an exclusive form of punishment for particularly grave crimes against life, and the accused shall be granted the right to have his case examined by a court with the participation of a jury.

Article 21

Human dignity shall be protected by the State. Nothing may serve as a basis for its derogation.
Nobody should be subjected to torture, violence, or other severe or humiliating treatment or punishment. Nobody may be subjected to medical, scientific or other experiments without voluntary consent.

Article 22

Everyone shall have the right to freedom and personal inviolability.
Arrest, detention and keeping in custody shall be permissible only under a court order. A person may not be detained for more than 48 hours without a court order.

Article 23

Everyone shall have the right to the inviolability of his (her) private life, personal and family privacy, and protection of his (her) honour and good name.
Everyone shall have the right to privacy of correspondence, of telephone conversations and of postal, telegraph and other communications. This right may be limited only on the basis of a court order.

Article 24

Collecting, keeping, using and disseminating information about the private life of a person shall not be permitted without his (her) consent.
State government bodies and local self-government bodies and their officials shall be obliged to provide everyone with access to documents and materials directly affecting his (her) rights and freedoms, unless otherwise envisaged by law.

Article 25

The home shall be inviolable. Nobody shall have the right to enter a dwelling place against the will of those residing therein, except in those cases provided for by federal laws or on the basis of a court order.

Article 26

Everyone shall have the right to determine and declare his (her) nationality. Nobody shall be forced to determine and declare his (her) nationality.
Everyone shall have the right to use his (her) native language and to a free choice of the language of communication, upbringing, education and creative work.

Article 27

Everyone who is legally present on the territory of the Russian Federation shall have the right to travel freely and freely to choose the place of temporary or permanent residence.
Everyone may freely leave the Russian Federation. Citizens of the Russian Federation shall have the right freely to return to the Russian Federation.

Article 28

Everyone shall be guaranteed freedom of conscience and religion, including the right to profess individually or collectively any religion or not to profess any religion, and freely to choose, possess and disseminate religious and other convictions and act in accordance with them.

Article 29

Everyone shall be guaranteed freedom of thought and speech.
Propaganda or agitation, which arouses social, racial, national or religious hatred and hostility shall be prohibited. Propaganda of social, racial, national, religious or linguistic supremacy shall also be prohibited.
Nobody shall be forced to express his thoughts and convictions or to deny them.
Everyone shall have the right freely to seek, receive, transmit, produce and disseminate information by any legal means. The list of types of information, which constitute State secrets, shall be determined by federal law.
The freedom of the mass media shall be guaranteed. Censorship shall be prohibited.

Article 30

Everyone shall have the right of association, including the right to establish trade unions for the protection of his (her) interests. The freedom of activity of public associations shall be guaranteed.
Nobody may be compelled to join any association or to stay there.

Article 31

Citizens of the Russian Federation shall have the right to assemble peacefully, without weapons, hold rallies, mass meetings and demonstrations, marches and pickets.

Article 32

Citizens of the Russian Federation shall have the right to participate in managing State affairs both directly and through their representatives.
Citizens of the Russian Federation shall have the right to elect and be elected to State government bodies and local self-government bodies, as well as to participate in referendums.
Citizens who are recognized as incapable by a court, and citizens who are kept in places of imprisonment under a court sentence, shall not have the right to elect and be elected.
Citizens of the Russian Federation shall enjoy equal access to State service.
Citizens of the Russian Federation shall have the right to participate in administering justice.

Article 33

Citizens of the Russian Federation shall have the right to appeal in person and make individual and collective appeals to State bodies and local self-government bodies.

Article 34

Everyone shall have the right to use freely his (her) abilities and property for entrepreneurial and other economic activity not prohibited by law.
Economic activity aimed at monopolization and unfair competition shall not be permitted.

Article 35

The right of private property shall be protected by law.
Everyone shall have the right to have property and to possess, use and dispose of it both individually and jointly with other persons.
Nobody may be deprived of property except under a court order. Forced alienation of property for State requirements may take place only subject to prior and fair compensation.
The right of inheritance shall be guaranteed.

Article 36

Citizens and their associations shall have the right to possess land as private property.
Possession, utilisation and disposal of land and other natural resources shall be exercised by the owners freely provided that this is not detrimental to the environment and does not violate the rights and lawful interests of other people.
The conditions and procedure for the use of land shall be determined by federal law.

Article 37

Labour shall be free. Everyone shall have the right freely to use his (her) labour skills and to choose the type of activity and occupation.
Compulsory labour shall be forbidden.
Everyone shall have the right to work in conditions, which meet safety and hygiene requirements, and to receive remuneration for labour without any discrimination whatsoever and not below the minimum wage established by federal law, as well as the right of protection against unemployment.
The right of individual and collective labour disputes with the use of the methods for their resolution, which are provided for by federal law, including the right to strike, shall be recognized.
Everyone shall have the right to rest. For those working under labour contracts the duration of work time, days of rest and public holidays and annual paid leave established by federal law shall be guaranteed.

Article 38

Maternity, childhood and family shall be protected by the State.
Care for children and their upbringing shall be the equal right and duty of parents.
Able-bodied children over 18 years of age must take care of disabled parents.

Article 39

Everyone shall be guaranteed social security for old age, in case of illness, disability and loss of the breadwinner, for the bringing up of children and in other cases specified by law.
State pensions and social benefits shall be established by law.
Voluntary social insurance, the creation of additional forms of social security and charity shall be encouraged.

Article 40

Everyone shall have the right to a home. Nobody may be arbitrarily deprived of his (her) home.
State government bodies and local self-government bodies shall promote housing construction and create conditions for exercising the right to a home.
Low-income citizens and other citizens mentioned in law who are in need of a home may receive it either free of charge or for an affordable payment from State, municipal and other housing funds according to the norms established by law.

Article 41

Everyone shall have the right to health protection and medical care. Medical care in State and municipal health institutions shall be rendered to citizens free of charge at the expense of the appropriate budget, insurance premiums and other proceeds.
In the Russian Federation federal programmes for the protection and improvement of the health of the public shall be financed, measures shall be taken to develop State, municipal and private healthcare systems, and activities shall be encouraged which contribute to the improvement of human health, the development of physical education and sport, and ecological, sanitary and epidemiological well-being.
The concealment by officials of facts and circumstances, which pose a threat to the life and health of people, shall result in liability according to federal law.

Article 42

Everyone shall have the right to a favourable environment, reliable information on the state of the environment and compensation for damage caused to his (her) health and property by violations of environmental laws.

Article 43

Everyone shall have the right to education.
General access and free pre-school, secondary and secondary vocational education in State and municipal educational institutions and at enterprises shall be guaranteed.
Everyone shall have the right to receive on a competitive basis free higher education in State and municipal educational institutions and at enterprises.
Basic general education shall be compulsory. Parents or guardians shall ensure that children receive a basic general education.
The Russian Federation shall establish federal State educational standards and shall support various forms of education and self-education.

Article 44

Everyone shall be guaranteed the freedom of literary, artistic, scientific, technical and other types of creative activity and teaching. Intellectual property shall be protected by law.
Everyone shall have the right to participate in cultural life and use cultural establishments, and the right of access to cultural valuables.
Everyone shall be obliged to care for the preservation of the cultural and historical heritage, and to protect monuments of history and culture.

Article 45

State protection of human and civil rights and freedoms in the Russian Federation shall be guaranteed.
Everyone shall have the right to protect his (her) rights and freedoms by all means not prohibited by law.

Article 46

Everyone shall be guaranteed protection in court of his (her) rights and freedoms.
Decisions and actions (or inaction) of State government bodies, local self-government bodies, public organisations and officials may be appealed against in court.
Everyone shall have the right in accordance with international treaties of the Russian Federation to appeal to interstate bodies for the protection of human rights and freedoms if all available internal means of legal protection have been exhausted.

Article 47

Nobody may be deprived of the right to have his (her) case heard in the court and by the judge within whose competence the case is placed by law.
Any person accused of committing a crime shall have the right to have his (her) case examined by a court with the participation of a jury in the cases envisaged by federal law.

Article 48

Everyone shall be guaranteed the right to qualified legal assistance. In the cases envisaged by law, legal assistance shall be provided free of charge.
Any person detained, taken into custody or accused of committing a crime shall have the right to use the assistance of a lawyer (counsel for the defence) from the moment of being detained, placed in custody or accused.

Article 49

Any person accused of committing a crime shall be considered innocent until his (her) guilt is proven in accordance with the procedure stipulated by federal law and is confirmed by a court sentence which has entered into legal force.
The accused shall not be obliged to prove his (her) innocence.
Irremovable doubts about the guilt of a person shall be interpreted in favour of the accused.

Article 50

Nobody may be convicted twice for one and the same crime.
In administering justice it shall not be permitted to use evidence received through violating federal law.
Any person convicted of a crime shall have the right to appeal against the verdict to a higher court in accordance with the procedure established by federal law, as well as to request pardon or mitigation of the punishment.

Article 51

Nobody shall be obliged to testify against himself, his (her) spouse or close relatives, the range of whom shall be determined by federal law.
Federal law may establish other cases where the obligation to give evidence may be lifted.

Article 52

The rights of victims of crimes and of abuses of office shall be protected by law. The State shall provide the victims with access to justice and compensation for damage sustained.

Article 53

Everyone shall have the right to State compensation for damage caused by unlawful actions (inaction) of State government bodies and their officials.

Article 54

A law, which introduces or increases liability, shall not have retroactive force.
Nobody may bear liability for an action, which was not regarded as a crime when it was committed. If, after an offense has been committed, the extent of liability for it is lifted or mitigated, the new law shall be applied.

Article 55

The enumeration in the Constitution of the Russian Federation of the basic rights and freedoms should not be interpreted as a denial or diminution of other universally recognized human and civil rights and freedoms.
In the Russian Federation no laws must be adopted which abolish or diminish human and civil rights and freedoms.
Human and civil rights and freedoms may be limited by federal law only to the extent necessary for the protection of the basis of the constitutional order, morality, health, rights and lawful interests of other people, and for ensuring the defence of the country and the security of the State.

Article 56

In the conditions of a state of emergency, in order to ensure the safety of citizens and the protection of the constitutional order and in accordance with federal constitutional law, certain restrictions may be imposed on human rights and freedoms with an indication of their limits and the period for which they have effect.
A state of emergency on the entire territory of the Russian Federation and in certain areas thereof may be introduced subject to the circumstances and in accordance with the procedure stipulated by federal constitutional law.
The rights and freedoms specified in Articles 20, 21, 23 (part 1), 24, 28, 34 (part 1), 40 (part 1), and 46-54 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation might not be restricted.

Article 57

Everyone shall be obliged to pay legally established taxes and levies. Laws, which establish new taxes or deteriorate the position of taxpayers, shall not have retroactive force.

Article 58

Everyone shall have a duty to preserve nature and the environment and to treat natural resources with care.

Article 59

Defence of the Fatherland shall be the duty and obligation of a citizen of the Russian Federation.
Citizens of the Russian Federation shall perform military service in accordance with federal law.
In the event that their convictions or religious beliefs run counter to military service and in other cases established by federal law, citizens of the Russian Federation shall have the right to replace it with alternative civilian service.

Article 60

A citizen of the Russian Federation may exercise all of his (her) rights and duties independently from the age of 18 years.

Article 61

A citizen of the Russian Federation may not be deported from the Russian Federation or extradited to another state.
The Russian Federation shall guarantee its citizens protection and patronage abroad.

Article 62

A citizen of the Russian Federation may have citizenship of a foreign state (dual citizenship) in accordance with federal law or an international treaty of the Russian Federation.
The possession of foreign citizenship by a citizen of the Russian Federation shall not diminish his (her) rights and freedoms and shall not release him from obligations stipulated for Russian citizenship, unless otherwise specified by federal law or an international treaty of the Russian Federation.
Foreign citizens and stateless persons shall enjoy rights and bear obligations in the Russian Federation on a par with citizens of the Russian Federation, except in those cases envisaged by federal law or by an international treaty of the Russian Federation.

Article 63

The Russian Federation shall grant political asylum to foreign citizens and stateless persons in accordance with the universally recognized norms of international law.
In the Russian Federation persons who are persecuted for their political convictions or for actions (or inaction) not recognized as a crime in the Russian Federation may not be extradited to other states. The extradition of persons accused of a crime, as well as the surrender of convicts to serve sentence in other states, shall be carried out on the basis of federal law or an international treaty of the Russian Federation.

Article 64

The provisions of this Chapter shall constitute the fundamental principles of the legal status of the individual in the Russian Federation and may not be changed otherwise than in accordance with the procedure which is established by this Constitution.