The Institute of Legislative Initiative of Citizens in the Subjects of the Russian Federation

Abstract

The author reveals the issues of the history of legal regulation of the people’s legislative initiative in the Russian Federation from the prerevolutionary period to the present. As of today, the federal legislator has not sufficiently regulated the issues of the procedure for the implementation of legislative initiatives by citizens, therefore, various legislative practices have developed in the regions. Almost all constituent entities of the Russian Federation have adopted special laws regulating the mechanism for the implementation of legislative initiatives by citizens, with the exception of a number of regions. In order to expand the possibility of citizens’ participation in regional lawmaking, a framework legal regulation of this institution at the federal level is proposed. Based on the results of the analysis of regional legislation, several forms of implementation of the legislative initiative by citizens were identified - the submission of a bill to parliament, amendments to the bill and a legislative proposal. These forms have their own specifics due to the mechanism of their implementation, therefore, it was proposed to separate the legislative proposal into an independent legal institution, and simplify the procedure for amending draft laws. The objective reasons for the lack of widespread practice of implementing the institution of legislative initiative of citizens in the regions are revealed, which lie in the cumbersome procedure for the implementation of the legislative initiative by citizens, as well as in the overestimated requirement for the number of citizens who must support the bill (amendments to the bill) at the stage of collecting signatures. The author made an attempt to determine the optimal number of signatures that must be collected by the initiative group in the implementation of this institution. The results of the study can be applied by regional legislators when improving the mechanism for the implementation of legislative initiatives by citizens, as well as in theoretical studies devoted to the consultative institution of direct democracy - the legislative initiative of citizens.

ОХУ-ын Холбооны субъектууд дахь иргэдийн хууль санаачлах институц