Reflections on Some Imperfections of the 2020 Constitutional Innovations in the Justice System

Part 3 of Art. 118 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation (as amended in 2020), which establishes the structure of the judicial system of the Russian Federation, does not include military courts. Federal constitutional legislation classifies them as courts of general jurisdiction. The paper proves that this is not the case; military courts, like arbitration courts, are courts of special jurisdiction, and courts of general jurisdiction do not consider cases assigned by law to the jurisdiction of military courts. The system of military courts itself is almost identical to the system of arbitration courts, which is also specialized. Another imperfection of the constitutional innovations of 2020 is also considered – the assignment to the Federation Council of quasi-judicial functions to terminate the powers of a number of categories of judges for committing serious offenses.