Matviyenko: Russian Constitution may be amended in exceptional cases

The Russian Constitution may be amended only in exceptional cases, as ill-defined changes are fraught with political, economic and social risks, Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko said.

She noted out that the current Russian Constitution was adopted on this day 24 years ago, so it was relatively "new". "However, events that took place in the past 24 years make it possible to say that the Russian Constitution has stood the test of history," Matviyenko wrote in her blog on the Federation Council’s website.

"The Constitution is a document that may be amended only if it is impossible to avoid that. Any other approach to constitutional innovations is fraught with huge political, economic and social risks. A thing to remember is that the Constitution should be stable so it would be possible to ensure the respect for it," TASS cited her as saying.

According to Matviyenko, in the past 24 years, the need to introduce changes in the Constitution arose only a few times.

"Our country has not yet encountered a single issue that would require radical constitutional amendments. And it comes as no surprise, since all of us, the citizens of Russia, share such principles as the priority of human rights, democracy, the separation of powers, the equality of all before the law and courts," the senate speaker stressed.

"The most important task is to ensure the use of the Constitution’s strong intellectual, political and legal potential by improving the level of legislative activities rather than changing the Constitution," the speaker concluded.