List of judges of the Constitutional Court of Russia
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| Judge of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation | |
|---|---|
| Судья Конституционного Суда Российской Федерации (Russian) | |
 Coat of Arms of Russia | |
 | |
| Constitutional Court of Russia | |
| Style | Honorable Court, Honorable Judge |
| Status | Judge |
| Member of | Judiciary of Russia |
| Seat | Saint Petersburg |
| Nominator | President of Russia |
| Appointer | Federation Council |
| Term length | Mandatory retirement at age 70 for regular judges and at age 76 for Deputy President of the Court |
| Constituting instrument | Constitution of Russia Federal Constitutional Law "On the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation" |
| Formation | 12 July 1991 |
| Website | Official English website |
The Constitutional Court of Russia is one of two highest courts in court system of the Russian Federation. It is composed of eleven Judges of the Constitutional Court (Russian: Судьи Конституционного Суда), with one of them being the 'President of the Court' (Russian: Председатель Конституционного Суда) and one being Deputy President of the Court (Russian: Заместитель Председателя Конституционного Суда). The exact number of the Judges of the Constitutional Court is determined by article 125 of the Constitution of Russia.
By article 9 of the Federal Constitutional Law "On the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation", the Federation Council shall consider the question of the appointment of the Judge of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation in no event later than fourteen days after the receipt of the submission of the President of the Russian Federation.[1] Proposals regarding candidates for offices of Judges of the Constitutional Court may be introduced to the President by Senators and by deputies of the State Duma, as well as by legislative bodies of federal subjects of Russia, supreme judicial bodies and federal legal departments, all-Russia law associations, legal research and educational institutions.
According to article 8 of the Federal Constitutional Law "On the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation", in order to become a Judge of the Constitutional Court a person must be a citizen of Russia, at least 40 years of age, have legal education, have served as a lawyer for at least 15 years and have "recognized high qualification" in law.
The rules for the term of office of a judge of the Constitutional Court have differed in various versions of the Constitutional Court Law.
The RSFSR Law "On the Constitutional Court of the RSFSR" settled the number of 15 judges, all appointed by the Congress of People's Deputies of Russia without an exact tenure, but with an age limit of 65. The law mentioned positions of Court President, Deputy President, and Judge-Secretary.
The 1993 Constitution of Russia originally settled 19 judges of the Constitutional Court, all appointed by the Federation Council with President's nomination. Between 1993 and 1994, the legislation did not include any specific term length beside the age limit.
The first version of the Federal Constitutional Law "On the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation", approved in 1994, determined the term length to be 12 years, and age limit to be 70. The judges would elect Court President, Deputy President, and Judge-Secretary from among themselves, for a term of 3 years (renewable).
The 2001 amendments increased the term length from 12 to 15 years and completely dismissed the age limit. In the end of the same year, the age limit of 70 was restored.
In 2005, the tenure length was dismissed.
In 2009, the position of Judge-Secretary was dismissed, and position of the second Deputy President was established. The new term of office for all judges was then 6 years long.
Since 2010, the President of the Constitutional Court has been exempted from the age limit of 70.
Since 2018, the age limit for the Deputy President of the Constitutional Court has been increased to 76 years old.
The 2020 amendments to the Constitution of Russia decreased the number of judges from 19 to 11 and abolished the position of the second Deputy President of the Court.
Current Judges
Below table is list of current Judges of the Constitutional Court of Russia.[2]
| Name | Tenure / Current Length | Nominated by | Previous service before court appointment |
Education |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valery Zorkin (b. 1943) President |
October 29, 1991 / 34 years, 143 days | Congress of People's Deputies of Russia | Professor of Constitutional Law at the Higher Correspondence School of Law of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (1986–1991) | Moscow State University, Institute of State and Law |
| Lyudmila Zharkova (b. 1955) Deputy President |
June 11, 1997 / 28 years, 283 days | Boris Yeltsin | Judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Karelia (1994–1997) | Saint Petersburg State University, RANEPA |
| Sergey Knyazev (b. 1959) |
October 15, 2008 / 17 years, 157 days | Dmitry Medvedev | Chair of the Election Commission of Primorsky Krai (1995–2008) | Far Eastern State University, Saint Petersburg State University |
| Aleksandr Kokotov (b. 1961) |
March 3, 2010 / 16 years, 18 days | Dmitry Medvedev | Head of Constitutional Law Department of the Ural State Law University (1998–2010) | Ural State Law University |
| Andrey Bushev (b. 1966) |
June 8, 2022 / 3 years, 286 days | Vladimir Putin | Associate Professor of Commercial Law at the Saint Petersburg State University (since 2000), arbitrator of the International Commercial Arbitration Court at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (2000–2022) | Saint Petersburg State University, University of East Anglia |
| Vladimir Sivitsky (b. 1974) |
June 21, 2023 / 2 years, 273 days | Vladimir Putin | Head of the Constitutional and Administrative Law Department of the HSE campus in Saint Petersburg (2008–2023), Head of the Secretariat of the Constitutional Court (2015–2023) | Moscow State University |
| Mikhail Lobov (b. 1971) |
September 25, 2023 / 2 years, 177 days | Vladimir Putin | Judge of the European Court of Human Rights (2022) | MGIMO, University of Strasbourg, Columbia University |
| Aleksandr Konovalov (b. 1968) |
April 16, 2025 / 339 days | Vladimir Putin | Presidential Plenipotentiary Representative in the Constitutional Court (2020–2025) | Saint Petersburg State University, Saint Tikhon's Orthodox University |
| Konstantin Kalinovsky (b. 1971) |
July 16, 2025 / 248 days | Vladimir Putin | Head of Criminal Procedure Department of the Russian State University of Justice (2013–2025) | Saint Petersburg University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia |
| Yevgeny Taribo (b. 1976) |
July 16, 2025 / 248 days | Vladimir Putin | Head of the Secretariat of the Constitutional Court (2023–2025) | Ural State Law University |
