Today Russia is celebrating Constitution Day. The Basic Law was adopted on December 12th in 1993 in a national referendum, by decree of the Russian President Boris Yeltsin as of September 19th 1994 this day was declared a public holiday.
Voter turnout was officially reported as 54.4% (more than 58 million of Russians), over the 50% threshold required to validate the referendum. The new constitution was approved by 58.4% of voters, and came into force on December 25, 1993.
The structure of the supreme bodies of the state power were significantly changed in the new Constitution of the Russian Federation. It determined the principle of separation of powers and made a serious step towards the improvement of the federal structure of Russia. According to the norms of the Constitution, anyone can protect their rights, referring to the document.
The Constitution is the main law of the state that provides political stability and the key point to a decent life and development of society. Human rights and freedoms are proclaimed as the highest values of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.
The Basic Law proclaimed the President of the Russian Federation as the Head of State and made him responsible for the obligation to protect the constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens, protect the sovereignty of the Russian Federation, its independence and state integrity, as well as ensure the coordinated functioning and interaction of the state authorities.
The amendments which were proposed on December 30, 2008 extended the terms of the President of Russia and the State Duma from four to six and five years, respectively.
In March 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin submitted a treaty on Sevastopol's and Crimea's annexation by Russia and a constitutional amendment to set up two new federal subjects of the Russian Federation to the State Duma.
