Valery Zorkin was born on February 18, 1943 in the village of Konstantinovka, Primorsky Krai. The boy grew up in a military family. Later he moved to Moscow with his parents. After leaving school he served in the army. In 1964 he graduated from the Faculty of Law of Lomonosov Moscow State University with a degree in jurisprudence. Then, from 1964, for three years he worked at the Faculty of Law of Moscow State University named after Mikhail Lomonosov as a teacher, then as a senior lecturer. In 1967 he received an associate professor's degree and studied the history of legal doctrines.

In 1970, Zorkin joined the Communist Party, remained a member of the party until it was abolished. In March 1990, he ran for the people's deputies of Russia in the Kalinin district of Moscow. According to the voting results, he took third place: after the democratic business executive Mikhail Bocharov and the commander of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, General Yuri Shatalov.

In November 1991, Valery Zorkin was elected to this post of Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Russia. After the October shooting of the White House in 1993, he resigned and soon his membership in the Constitutional Court was terminated. In 1994, the powers were restored. In February 2003, he was re-elected head of the Constitutional Court, and was re-elected in February 2006. The Federation Council for the first time gave powers for six years under a new procedure, in accordance with the law “On the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation”. At the end of February 2012, he was again reappointed as Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Russia.

By decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated May 19, 2008, Zorkin is a member of the Council under the President of Russia for Combating Corruption.

In his speeches and lectures, Valery Zorkin very often spoke about the complete priority of Russian law over international law. In particular, he pointed out that the provision of the Russian Constitution on the priority of international treaties over Russian laws does not mean the delegation of sovereignty, and that this priority cannot be extended to the Russian Constitution.

Valery Dmitrievich on January 31, 2018 was again re-elected Chairman of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation for a six-year term. During this period, he took part in the development of a number of constitutional and legal doctrines that formed the basis of the legal positions of the Constitutional Court of Russia. In particular, the doctrine of the protection of human rights formulates the principles of maintaining citizens' confidence in the law and the actions of the state, the principle of legal certainty and reasonable stability of legal regulation, the principle of predictability of legislative policy. The Russian doctrine of the sources of law substantiates the precedent value of the decisions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation and the European Court of Human Rights.

Zorkin is the author of a number of monographs, including the books "Power and Law" and "Legal State". He is an Honored Lawyer of Russia, a member of the Presidium of the Association of Lawyers of Russia, a member of the European Commission "For Democracy through Law" from the Russian Federation.

Valery Zorkin's awards

Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", II degree (October 19, 2011) - for a great contribution to strengthening the constitutional foundations of Russian statehood and the development of constitutional justice

Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" III degree (February 18, 2008) - for his great contribution to the development of constitutional justice in the Russian Federation and many years of fruitful activity

Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" IV degree (July 4, 2016) - for his great contribution to the development of constitutional justice in the Russian Federation and many years of fruitful activity

Order of Alexander Nevsky (February 12, 2018) - for great merits in the development of constitutional justice in the Russian Federation and many years of conscientious work

Honored Lawyer of the Russian Federation (March 23, 2000) - for merits in strengthening the rule of law and many years of conscientious work

Certificate of Honor of the President of the Russian Federation (December 12, 2008) - for active participation in the preparation of the draft Constitution of the Russian Federation and a great contribution to the development of the democratic foundations of the Russian Federation

Gratitude of the President of the Russian Federation (February 2, 2013) - for merits in strengthening the constitutional foundations of the Russian statehood and many years of fruitful work

Medal of P. A. Stolypin, I degree (January 28, 2013) - for merits in the formation and development of constitutional justice and many years of fruitful state activity

Order of the Polar Star (September 18, 2014) - for his contribution to the development of bilateral relations between Russia and Mongolia

Order of Friendship (Armenia, 2016)

Order of St. Sergius of Radonezh II degree (February 21, 2008) - for labors for the benefit of the Fatherland

Scientific works of Valery Zorkin

From the history of bourgeois-liberal political thought in Russia in the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries: B. N. Chicherin. - M. : Publishing House of Moscow State University, 1975. - 173 p.

Positivist theory of law in Russia. - M.: Publishing House of Moscow University, 1978 - 270 p.

Muromtsev / Resp. ed. V. S. NERSESYANTS - M.: Legal literature, 1979. - 128 p.

Chicherin / Resp. ed. P. S. Gratsiansky. - M.: Legal literature, 1984. - 112 p. - (From the history of political and legal thought).

The Constitutional Court of Russia in the European Law Landscape =The Constitutional Court of Russia in the European legal field /Hrsg. R. Waldburger, C. M. Baer, ​​U. Nobel, B. Bernet. -Bern: Stämpfli Verlag AG, 2005. -S. 1095 - 1115.

Russia and the Constitution in the 21st century: A view from Ilyinka / -M. : Norma, 2007. -400 s.

Russia and the Constitution in the XXI century / -2nd ed. -M.: Norma, 2008. -592 p.

Constitution and Human Rights in the 21st Century: On the 15th Anniversary of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights / -M.: Norma, 2008. -224 p.

Axiological Aspects of the Russian Constitution / -Den Haag: Eleven International Publishing, 2010. -P. 169 - 185.

The modern world, law and the Constitution / -M.: Norma, 2010. -544 p.

Constitutional and legal development of Russia / -M.: Norma; Infra-M, 2011. -720 s.

Law in the context of global change / -M.: Norma, 2013. -496 p.

Legal way of Russia / -M., 2014. -158 p.

Civilization of law and development of Russia / -2nd ed., corrected. and additional -M.: Norma; Infra-M., 2016. -416 p.

Civilization of law and development of Russia / -2nd edition. -M.: Norma, 2016. -450p.

The Constitutional Court of Russia: Doctrine and practice / -M.: Norma, 2017. -592 p.

Law Against Chaos: Monograph / -2nd ed., Rev. and additional -M.: Norma, Infra-m, 2018. -368 p.

Zorkin Valery Dmitrievich, whose biography is inextricably linked with jurisprudence, has been the chairman of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation for many years. A brilliant specialist, professor, doctor - this person has many awards. He owns a huge number of scientific works. His many years of intense work had a huge impact on the development of the judicial system in our country.

Youth

On February 18, 1943, Valery Dmitrievich Zorkin was born in the Primorsky Territory in the village of Konstantinovka. His family moved to the capital almost immediately. Therefore, he reasonably considers himself a Muscovite. The future chairman of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation studied quite well. He was even allowed to complete the school program in an accelerated course.

By his turn of mind, the young man was more of a humanitarian, therefore, despite the desire of his father, a military man, he did not follow in his footsteps. After graduating from school, Zorkin Valery Dmitrievich was drafted into the army. Returning two years later, he enters the Faculty of Law at Moscow State University. Five years later, he brilliantly defended his diploma and received the specialty of a lawyer.

Biography

Valery Dmitrievich Zorkin remains at his native university. From 1964 to 1977 he taught at Moscow State University. The young scientist chooses a scientific topic related to the history of legal doctrines. It covers two eras - the early Christian and the Renaissance. Having defended his Ph.D. thesis in 1967, Zorkin, already being an assistant professor, continues to teach. The young scientist was incredibly interested in the legal aspects of Machiavelli, the Italian philosopher and thinker of the Renaissance.

In 1976 he completes his doctoral dissertation. The theme of the monograph, according to Zorkin, was incredibly relevant. He tried to present the positivist theory of law in Russia in it, but the dissertation council of Moscow State University voted against it. As a result, Valery Dmitrievich Zorkin did not receive a degree.

Formation

This was the reason that the future chairman of the Constitutional Court left MSU. He went to work at the Institute of State and Law. In 1978, he manages to defend his doctoral dissertation. A year later, Zorkin Valery Dmitrievich goes to work at the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It is here that a year later he turns to his main vital interest - constitutional law, with which he connects his entire future life. In 1986, Zorkin moved to the Higher Correspondence Law School under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR. Here he worked for four years.

Political activity

In 1970, Zorkin Valery Dmitrievich joined the ranks of the CPSU, a member of which he remained until its ban - November 1991. In March 1990, the future chairman of the Constitutional Court ran for deputies in the Kalinin district of the capital. He is in third place after the representative of the Democrats Bocharov and General Yu. Shatalov.

In October 1991, the Congress of People's Deputies of the RSFSR supported the proposal of the deputies of the Communists for Democracy faction and elected him a member of the Constitutional Court. Already at the first meeting, Zorkin was elected its chairman. As an expert of the relevant commission, he actively participates in the preparation of the draft Constitution of our country.

Integrity is the main character trait

Support for Yeltsin's course and successful work as an expert in creating the draft Constitution led to a new appointment. Since November 1, 1991, Zorkin Valery Dmitrievich has been the chairman of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. Having headed this branch of power, this brilliant lawyer began work on the complete reform of the judicial institution, consistently defending the ideas of building a rule of law state in our country.

This greatly helped Valery Dmitrievich to study the legal features of our country even more deeply in order to be able to competently implement the country's fundamental law. The work was the start of his main field of activity. During this period, Zorkin Valery Dmitrievich manifests himself as a principled lawyer and an active supporter of the presidential republic.

During the coup, he played a significant role. Together with his colleagues, members of the constitutional commission, Zorkin signed a document stating that the activities of the State Emergency Committee are, in fact, nothing more than an attempted coup. This statement was widely voiced by Western media. It was this, according to bibliographers, that became significant for Zorkin's subsequent career advancement.

It was he who in 1993 stood between the president and Khasbulatov. Thanks to the active work of Zorkin, the conflict between Yeltsin and the Congress of Deputies was overcome: a compromise was found. This event had rather global consequences in the issue of governing the country: as a result, Yegor Gaidar was removed from his post, and V. Chernomyrdin headed the government. Throughout his career, he was and is an active supporter of the separation of powers. In 1993, Zorkin, taking the side of parliament, called on Yeltsin to solve the problems that had arisen in strict accordance with the fundamental law of our country.

But not everything in his life went smoothly. Since the end of 1992, supporters of the president began to consider Zorkin's position as pro-parliamentary. The campaign against the then chairman of the Constitutional Court became especially powerful in the pro-presidential press after the April 1993 referendum.

In early September of the same year, the presidential guard forbade Zorkin to enter the state dacha assigned to him under the pretext that Pseudomonas aeruginosa was found in nearby water bodies. However, the president and ministers, whose mansions were also connected to the same water supply, continued to live quietly in their homes. Moreover, the guards even shot the cat Valery Dmitrievich.

Resignation and return

The conflict with Yeltsin led to the fact that Zorkin resigned the same year. However, despite his refusal from the post of chairman of the Constitutional Court, after a few months he decided to return to the court. It must be said that for a long time Zorkin was accused of excessive support and partiality to the parliament. The end of such accusations came only when, in 1993, twenty-seven orders of the speaker were immediately canceled by the Constitutional Court.

Zorkin has always tried to preserve the independence of the Constitutional Court and assert the rule of law. After working for several years as an ordinary judge, he tried not to draw much attention to his actions. In 2003, Zorkin Valery Dmitrievich was elected Chairman of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation by secret ballot. He was later re-elected to this position more than once. Since 2012, Zorkin Valery Dmitrievich has been the chairman of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, and for the fifth time.

Titles, works and awards

In 2008, for his contribution to the development of constitutional justice and many years of fruitful activity, Valery Zorkin was awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, third degree, the Order of Friendship of Armenia, Reverend Sergius of Radonezh. He has many medals and certificates of honor.

In 2013 before. The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation Zorkin Valery Dmitrievich received gratitude from the President of the Russian Federation for his merits in the process of strengthening the constitutional foundations of our statehood.

Zorkin Valery Dmitrievich, Chairman of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation.

Born on February 18, 1943 in the village of Konstantinovka, Primorsky Krai, in a military family. Russian.

Education:
In 1964 he graduated from the law faculty of Moscow State University (MSU) with a degree in jurisprudence.
In 1967 he defended his dissertation at Moscow State University for the degree of candidate of legal sciences on the topic "B.N. Chicherin's views on the state and law."
In 1978 he defended his doctoral thesis at the Institute of State and Law on the topic "Positivist theory of law in Russia (historical and critical research)".

Professional activity:
From 1964 to 1967 he worked at the law faculty of Moscow State University as a senior lecturer.
From 1967 to 1979 he worked as an assistant professor at the Faculty of Law of Moscow State University.
From 1979 to 1986 - Professor of the Department of Constitutional Law and Theory of State and Law of the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR.
From 1986 to 1991 - Professor of the Department of State Legal Disciplines of the Higher Law Correspondence School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR.
From 1990 to 1991, he led a group of experts of the Constitutional Commission of the Congress of People's Deputies of Russia.
From 1970 to 1991 He was a member of the CPSU.
In 1990, he ran for the people's deputies of the RSFSR in the Kalinin district of Moscow.
In 1991, at the Congress of People's Deputies of the RSFSR, at the suggestion of the Communists for Democracy deputy group, he was elected a member of the Constitutional Court of Russia, and at the first meeting he became its chairman.
In 1993, he resigned from the post of Chairman of the Constitutional Court, remaining a judge of the Constitutional Court.
From 1994 to 2003 - judge of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation;
In 2003 he was elected Chairman of the CC.
In 2006, he was elected Chairman of the CC.
In 2009, he was elected Chairman of the CC.

On February 22, 2012, Valery Zorkin became the Chairman of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation for the fifth time.

Awards:
On February 18, 2008, he was awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, III degree - for his great contribution to the development of constitutional justice in the Russian Federation and many years of fruitful activity. March 23, 2000 - Honored Lawyer of the Russian Federation - for merits in strengthening the rule of law and many years of conscientious work.
December 12, 2008 - Diploma of the President of the Russian Federation - for active participation in the preparation of the draft Constitution of the Russian Federation and a great contribution to the development of the democratic foundations of the Russian Federation.

Zorkin, Valery

Chairman of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation

Chairman of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. In November 1991, he was elected to this post for an unlimited term. Being a supporter of the presidential republic, he came into conflict with the president and recognized Yeltsin's decree on the dissolution of the Supreme Soviet in the fall of 1993 as unconstitutional. After the October shooting of the White House, he resigned, and soon his membership in the Constitutional Court was terminated. In 1994, the powers of Judge Zorkin were restored. Zorkin twice, in 1994 and 1995, refused to nominate his candidacy for the presidency. In February 2003, he was re-elected head of the Constitutional Court, and then re-elected in 2006, 2009 and 2012. Honored Lawyer of Russia, member of the Presidium of the Association of Lawyers of Russia, author of a number of monographs.

Valery Dmitrievich Zorkin was born on February 18, 1943 in the village of Konstantinovka, Primorsky Krai, into a military family. Soon his family moved to Moscow. After leaving school he served in the army. In 1964 he graduated from the Faculty of Law of Lomonosov Moscow State University with a degree in jurisprudence,,. In 1964-1967 he worked at the Faculty of Law of Moscow State University as a teacher, then as a senior lecturer. He studied the history of legal doctrines, including early Christian ones,.

In 1967 he defended his dissertation at Moscow State University for the degree of candidate of legal sciences on the topic "B.N. Chicherin's views on the state and law." After the defense, he continued to work at Moscow State University (already as an assistant professor). He was engaged in political movements, according to the media, he paid special attention to the views of the Italian Renaissance thinker Nicolo Machiavelli. In 1970 he joined the CPSU (remained a member of the party until its abolition in 1991),.

From 1977 to 1979, Zorkin worked at the Institute of State and Law, where in 1978 he defended his doctoral dissertation on the topic "Positivist theory of law in Russia (historical and critical research)",. According to Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Zorkin tried to defend this dissertation, which was devoted to criticism of the positivist theory of law (the very theory that underlay the practice of the USSR prosecutor in 1935-39, Andrei Vyshinsky and his followers), back in 1976 at Moscow State University, but with the defense lacked one vote. The defense at the Institute of State and Law was successful, but relations with Moscow State University were spoiled, and Zorkin decided to leave the university.

The publication claimed that this was precisely why in 1979-1986 (according to other sources, in 1980-1986) Zorkin became a professor at the Department of Constitutional Law and Theory of State and Law of the Academy of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs. In 1986, he received the post of professor at the Department of State Legal Disciplines of the Higher Correspondence Law School of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs,.

In March 1990, Zorkin ran for the people's deputies of the RSFSR in the Kalinin district of Moscow. He took third place - after the democratic business executive Mikhail Bocharov and the commander of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, General Yuri Shatalov.

Before the second round of elections, according to media reports, representatives from both sides came to Zorkin with a request for support. At the same time, Yevgeny Savostyanov, who ran for the Moscow Council, came to Zorkin with a request for support from Bocharov (later - the head of the Moscow department of the Federal Grid Company, and then the deputy head of the presidential administration), and Gavriil Popov addressed Zorkin with a request for support from Savostyanov himself. After that, Zorkin turned to his voters with a request to vote for Bocharov and Savostyanov. Both candidates supported by him won the elections, and Zorkin, despite his communist views, became close to the Moscow democrats.

In 1990-1991, Zorkin led a group of experts of the Constitutional Commission of the Congress of People's Deputies of Russia (the commission itself was headed by Boris Yeltsin) and participated in the drafting of a new Russian constitution. The press emphasized that Zorkin was almost the only serious and well-known lawyer at that time who did not support Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and agreed to write a new Russian constitution. As Zorkin later explained to journalists, the commission took the US political system as a basis, counting on a strong parliament (the lawyer even believed that the parliament could approve all ministers).

Zorkin also defended the concept of a presidential republic in Russia before his colleagues on the commission and deputies of the Supreme Soviet. On May 4, 1991, during the discussion of bills on the establishment of the post of president in the RSFSR, Rossiyskaya Gazeta published an article "Presidential Power in Russia" written by Zorkin in collaboration with Yuri Ryzhov. In an article devoted to the analysis of the shortcomings of various types of a legal democratic state, it was directly stated that Russia should make a choice in favor of a republic with a strong presidential power.

Around the same time, Zorkin became a professor in the department of state-legal disciplines at the All-Union Law Correspondence School of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs.

On August 19, 1991, during an attempt to seize power in the country by members of the State Committee on the State of Emergency, Zorkin signed a statement by a group of lawyers - members and experts of the Constitutional Commission - that the actions of the State Emergency Committee were an attempted coup. On the same day, the statement was broadcast by Western radio stations.

Partly as a result of the fact that he once again supported Yeltsin, at the V Congress of People's Deputies of Russia on October 29, 1991, Zorkin was elected a member of the Constitutional Court of Russia (the very institution of the Constitutional Court in the Russian Federation was established on December 15, 1990, and the law on it was adopted on July 12, 1991),. 757 parliamentarians then voted for Zorkin's candidacy. On November 1 of the same year, at the first meeting of the Constitutional Court, Zorkin was elected chairman of the court by secret ballot, for an unlimited period, becoming the first person to hold this position.

On October 30, 1991, the Constitutional Court began its work and, by its very first decision, issued in January 1992, recognized President Yeltsin's decree on the unification of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and state security agencies as unconstitutional. As Zorkin explained to reporters, if the president is elected by popular vote, then this only gives him a mandate for power, but not an indulgence.

The most high-profile case of the Constitutional Court of the first composition was the so-called "case of the CPSU", the consideration of which began on May 26, 1992 (communist deputies submitted to the court the question of the legality of Yeltsin's decrees to ban the CPSU and the Communist Party of the RSFSR, in response, democratic deputies led by Oleg Rumyantsev introduced the question of the constitutionality of the CPSU). The case was completed on November 30, 1992 with a decision that allowed the grassroots structures of the Communist Party of the RSFSR to recreate the central leadership of the party,. According to Zorkin, this process was "the first experience of political compromise in Russia." It was precisely such a decision, as Zorkin argued, that the country then needed.

At the same time, the media noted that the trial, which actually summed up the Soviet period of the country's development under the leadership of the CPSU (b) - CPSU, ended in nothing. The court recognized that the CPSU and the Communist Party of the RSFSR were not "parties" in the literal sense of the word, but did not dare to either ban or justify these organizations. The court also considered itself not entitled to decide what and to whom belongs from the property of the CPSU, confining itself to stating the fact that the property of the Communist Party consisted of the actual party, state and ownerless. Only in July 1996 did the Constitutional Court begin publishing the materials of the "case of the CPSU".

On December 1, 1992, the 7th Congress of People's Deputies of Russia began. Zorkin took part in its work. He addressed the deputies, declaring that all calls by the authorities to dissolve the congress are unconstitutional and illegal. At the same time, he called on both supporters and opponents of the Congress to strictly comply with constitutional norms,.

On December 9-10, 1992, the conflict between the president and the congress escalated (Yeltsin addressed the people, calling for a referendum - to determine which political course the Russians trust: the presidential one, on the transformation of society, or the congress, the Supreme Council and its chairman Ruslana Khasbulatova Yeltsin sharply criticized the congress "for curtailing reforms," ​​and after his speech he defiantly left the meeting). Then Zorkin (on behalf of all members of the Constitutional Court) proposed to immediately start consultations between Yeltsin and Khasbulatov to work out a compromise and overcome the crisis. He pledged to participate in consultations,. At the same time, Zorkin emphasized that if a compromise is not reached, then the Constitutional Court will raise the issue of the constitutional responsibility of the country's leadership,,,.

The congress supported the proposal of the head of the Constitutional Court,. As a result of the consultations organized on the initiative of Zorkin between Yeltsin and Khasbulatov, a compromise resolution "On the Stabilization of the Constitutional Order of the Russian Federation" was presented to the congress, which was supposed to stop the crisis of power in Russia. On December 12, 1992, the resolution was adopted by the congress. The consequences of the compromise reached were the resignation of Acting Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar and the appointment of Viktor Chernomyrdin as Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers, the freezing of constitutional amendments that change the balance of executive and legislative powers, and the decision to hold a referendum on the foundations of a new constitution in early 1993,,, . One of the amendments (namely, to Article 121-6 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation) played the role of a time bomb. This amendment provided for the immediate (even without the conclusion of the Constitutional Court) termination of the powers of the president, if he tries to use his powers to change the national-state structure of the Russian Federation and dissolve or suspend the activities of any legally elected bodies of state power. However, it did not say who and by what procedure ascertains the termination of the president's powers (the congress returned to the issue of adopting this amendment the following year).

Since that time, the media began to reproach Zorkin for partiality, and his position was considered by Yeltsin's supporters as pro-parliamentary, not pro-presidential (although Zorkin himself considered his views "centrist" and believed that for Russia "it would be ideal for citizens to move towards centrism from the flanks ") .

On December 29, 1992, Zorkin became the first laureate of the National Accord award, established by the editors of the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper and the National Accord non-governmental committee - "for a civil act committed by him on December 9-10, 1992" (the commission for awarding prizes was headed by the writer Sergey Zalygin).

On February 9-12, 1993, the Constitutional Court considered the so-called "case of the Federal Tax Service". The public movement National Salvation Front was created on October 24, 1992 by representatives of several opposition political organizations in Russia. The creators of the Federal Tax Service called it their main task to support the block of deputy factions "Russian Unity", which sought to counteract the "anti-constitutional" actions of the president and the executive power headed by him, as well as to recreate a single union state. The presidential decree to prevent the creation of the Front and the dissolution of its organizing committee was declared unconstitutional. The court regarded this decree as an intrusion of the executive power into the sphere of judicial competence. After the decision on the "case of the Federal Tax Service" in the radical democratic press, accusations against the Constitutional Court of "political unreliability" became more frequent, which began after the decision on the "case of the CPSU" .

At the end of February 1993, Zorkin organized consultations between representatives of President Yeltsin and Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation Khasbulatov. He spoke in favor of lifting the moratorium on holding a referendum, provided for by the compromise December resolution "On the Stabilization of the Constitutional Order of the Russian Federation."

In early March 1993, an extraordinary - VIII - Congress of People's Deputies was held. He canceled the December agreement of the authorities and decided to consider holding a referendum on April 11 inappropriate. On March 12, amendments to the Constitution, frozen at the 7th Congress, came into effect, limiting the power of the president: both an amendment on the immediate termination of the powers of the head of state in the event of an attempt by the president to dissolve parliament, and an amendment regarding the right of parliament to suspend the presidential decrees. In fact, the parliament had the opportunity to completely neutralize for an indefinite period all legislative acts adopted by the president as part of the reforms - that is, Russia was turning into a parliamentary republic. And although Zorkin had previously objected to this, at the congress he joined Yeltsin's opponents, even though he refrained from direct accusations against him. In one of his statements, Zorkin almost verbatim repeated the words of Khasbulatov, who announced a "return to constitutionality" in the country. Zorkin, in particular, stressed that "a bad constitution is better than none."

On March 19, 1993, the Constitutional Court of Russia for the first time canceled the orders of the leadership of the Armed Forces. The judges declared unconstitutional at once 27 orders of the head of the Russian parliament Ruslan Khasbulatov and his deputies (in particular, on the creation of a unit for the protection of the Armed Forces and the establishment of parliamentary control over the activities of newspapers). In addition, the court canceled the joint decision of the Presidium of the Supreme Court and the government on fixing prices for milk, bread and other products: this decision, according to members of the court, was an attempt by the state to interfere in market processes. Thus, according to observers, Zorkin tried to restore his reputation as an independent and objective guardian of the rule of law, which had suffered during the Eighth Congress. According to the Kommersant newspaper, thanks to the cancellation of the orders of the chairman of the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court managed to slightly increase its authority in society.

On March 20, Yeltsin signed a decree calling for April 25, 1993, a referendum on confidence in the president of the Russian Federation and at the same time voting on a draft new constitution and a draft law on elections to the federal parliament. Provisions were introduced into the text of the decree that narrowed the legal options for impeaching the president for violating the constitution. On the same day, speaking on television together with Prosecutor General Valentin Stepankov, Vice President Alexander Rutskoi and Deputy Khasbulatov Yuri Voronin, Zorkin sharply condemned President Yeltsin's decree "On a special management regime until the crisis of power is overcome."

Since that time, a campaign has been launched in the press to discredit Zorkin as "an accomplice of Khasbulatov." It began with a report that the chairman of the Constitutional Court allegedly handed the president the conclusion of the Constitutional Court directly at the funeral of Yeltsin's mother.

On March 26, 1993, the IX Congress of People's Deputies opened, at which Khasbulatov presented a draft resolution on holding early simultaneous elections of the president and congress deputies, agreed upon at a meeting between Khasbulatov and Yeltsin. The deputies did not support the speaker, and Yeltsin and Khasbulatov remained in their posts. At the same time, as a result of a referendum held on April 25, 1993, the president was unable to obtain the consent of voters to change the deputy corps.

In early June 1993, the Constitutional Court adopted a number of decisions that did not suit the president: it confirmed the legality of the appointment of the election of the head of the administration in the Chelyabinsk region (Peter Sumin won the election there, whose powers the president did not recognize - as a result, until October 1993, two administrations operated in parallel in the region ); moved the decision on the legality of the abolition of the post of president of Mordovia to the Constitutional Court of Mordovia (as a result, the popularly elected president of Mordovia, Vasily Guslyannikov, lost his post). At the same time, the state news agency ITAR-TASS refused to distribute through its channels a number of official documents of the Constitutional Court, including a commentary on the legal decision on Mordovia.

That same summer, a number of members of the Constitutional Court, including Deputy Chairman Mykola Vitruk, condemned Zorkin's behavior, deeming his statements on political issues inconsistent with the status of a judge. However, Zorkin did not change his position,. At this time, the name Zorkin gained popularity, he began to be mentioned in the list of the most real contenders for the presidency of the Russian Federation.

On September 21, 1993, Yeltsin signed a decree "On a phased constitutional reform in the Russian Federation", dissolving the Supreme Council and the Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian Federation (decree number 1400). Prior to the election of a new parliament, the country was asked to live under the control of presidential decrees and government decrees, and the legislation of the Russian Federation should be considered relevant only in the part that does not contradict the decree. On the same day, Zorkin declared the decree unconstitutional and providing legal grounds for starting the procedure for removing Yeltsin from the presidency. On September 22, 1993, the parliament declared Yeltsin's presidential powers terminated and adopted a resolution on the appointment of Rutskoy as acting president,.

Parliamentarians organized the defense of the White House. On October 3, Rutskoi urged them to start storming the mayor's office and the building of the Ostankino television center. At the same time, Yegor Gaidar, who supported Yeltsin, appealed to Muscovites to take to the streets and defend democracy. After a mob led by General Albert Makashov stormed the mayor's office, Yeltsin signed a decree releasing Rutskoy from his duties as vice president and dismissing him from the army, as well as a decree declaring a state of emergency in Moscow. On the same day, Makashov demanded that the military, who were in the Ostankino building, lay down their arms. The guards of the building refused to obey, and the supporters of the Supreme Council began shelling the TV center. Return fire was opened from the Ostankino. After reinforcements approached the defenders of the television center, Makashov gave the order to retreat to the White House. On October 4, by order of the President, troops and heavy equipment entered Moscow. After the shooting of the White House building from tank guns, Rutskoi, Khasbulatov and Makashov were arrested. According to some reports, 60 people were killed during the confrontation between the parliament and the president, including participants in the battle for Ostankino, policemen, journalists and bystanders.

On October 6, 1993, Zorkin resigned from the post of head of the Constitutional Court (under pressure from his colleagues and presidential structures), and his deputy Nikolai Vitruk began to perform the duties of chairman of the Constitutional Court,. At the same time, Zorkin himself told reporters that after the events of October 3-4, he "cannot fulfill his duties in the current conditions",.

On December 1, 1993, Zorkin's powers as an ordinary member of the court were also terminated - on charges of the judge's participation in political activities. They were restored only at a meeting of the Constitutional Court on January 25, 1994 - after the adoption of a new constitution (adopted on December 12, 1993), which, according to Zorkin, endowed the president with too much rights and powers,. Soon, by decree of President Yeltsin, the very activity of the Constitutional Court was suspended for some time (it was resumed only in February 1995),,.

On the eve of the State Duma elections of the first convocation (December 1993), various electoral associations (Agrarian Party of Russia, Russian Christian Democratic Movement) offered Zorkin to run for deputies of the Federal Assembly on their federal lists. Zorkin refused these proposals.

In mid-March 1994, Zorkin joined a group of deputies of the Federal Assembly, publicists and public figures who initiated the creation of a new patriotic movement "Consent in the name of Russia". In their "Appeal to the Citizens of Russia", the organizers of the movement promised to "restore the power of the Russian statehood, protect the national market and national capital, provide conditions for Russia's breakthrough into the post-industrial future, stop crime, prevent unemployment and hunger, and give every citizen of the country a decent standard of living" . Zorkin signed this appeal and the movement's policy statement. In addition to him, the document was also signed by Alexander Rutskoi, Aman Tuleev, Gennady Zyuganov, Pyotr Romanov, Stanislav Govorukhin and Nikita Mikhalkov.

Already on March 21, 1994, a working meeting of members of the Constitutional Court recommended Zorkin to resolve the issue of his stay on the court. In behind-the-scenes conversations, members of the court told the Kommersant newspaper that "they respect Valery Dmitrievich, but otherwise Yeltsin will not allow the court to start work." Then the acting chairman of the Constitutional Court Vitruk bluntly stated that Zorkin should resign. Sources of the publication then claimed that Zorkin himself was ready to leave the Constitutional Court and engage in political activities and, perhaps, stand as a candidate in the future presidential elections (in June of the same year, the media spoke of Zorkin's nomination as a candidate as a finally settled case).

The movement "Consent in the name of Russia", having not achieved any success, actually ceased to exist by October 1994,. February 14, 1995 Zorkin was included in the second chamber of the Constitutional Court. He joined the commission on improving the structure of the apparatus of the Constitutional Court and personnel,.

In 1995, several proposals were made to Zorkin to enter the federal list of the Derzhava movement headed by Rutsky, but he again preferred to remain a member of the Constitutional Court. A few months later, Zorkin's wife, Tamara Vasilyevna, and daughter Natalya were registered among the members of the initiative group that nominated Alexander Rutskoy as a candidate for the presidency of the Russian Federation.

In the summer of 1995, when considering the "Chechen case" in the Constitutional Court (a number of parliamentarians demanded that all acts of executive power adopted at the time of the military operation in Chechnya be declared unconstitutional), Zorkin allowed himself, disagreeing with the verdict of the Constitutional Court, to express a dissenting opinion. So, if the court as a whole recognized all the decrees of the president and the decrees of the Russian government on Chechnya as not contradicting the constitution (with the exception of decrees on the possibility of deportation from Chechnya of citizens officially residing in other regions of Russia, and the possibility of depriving journalists of the right to work in Chechnya without a court decision) , then Zorkin stated that the court did not examine enough facts to make a decision. Zorkin voted against the court order,.

In the spring of 1996, an initiative group for the nomination of candidates for the presidency of Russia (according to other sources, two groups at once) turned to Zorkina with a proposal to run for the post of head of state. The status of a judge of the Constitutional Court does not allow him to engage in any kind of political activity, so Zorkin had to choose between participation in elections and judicial powers. Zorkin chose to remain a judge,. In a statement sent to the editorial office of the RIA Novosti news agency, he explained that his nomination would "impede the unification of constructive forces and does not meet the requirements of the moment."

In early 1997, there were reports in the media that Zorkin could again be elected to the post of chairman of the Constitutional Court (the head of the Constitutional Court was to be elected before February 24). Tamara Morshchakova (who at that time held the position of deputy chairman of the court and known for her democratic views), the representative of military justice Vladimir Strekozov and the judge of the Constitutional Court Marat Baglai, whom the press called "cautious and competent," were considered candidates for the chairpersons of the Constitutional Court, thereby opposing him to the one who received the epithet " impulsive" to Zorkin. As a result, it was Baglai who headed the court, and Zorkin remained an ordinary member of the Constitutional Court,.

According to Obshchaya Gazeta, in order to make Baglai the chairman of the Constitutional Court, Zorkin and Strekozov, whom the media called representatives of the "internal opposition", were previously taken out of the game by Baglai's supporters. By tradition, only three candidates were included in the ballot, identified by preliminary "soft" voting (when the judges are free to cast their votes not to one, but to several of their colleagues). Supporters of the election of Baglai, according to the publication, at the preliminary stage cast their votes for Morshchakova (who has repeatedly stated that she does not want to head the court) and judge Olga Khokhryakova, whom no one considered a serious competitor to Baglai. As a result, in the final vote, Baglai's rivals received three votes for two, and the rivals were not considered at all.

For several years, Zorkin worked in court, without becoming the object of close media attention. So, in 1998, the press mentioned him only as a speaker on the so-called "case of cash registers" (the Constitutional Court considered complaints from small entrepreneurs about the law on the use of cash registers, which imposed a fine of up to 350 minimum wages on a retail outlet for an undrawn check). In the report, Zorkin pointed out that the punishment provided for by this law interferes with the freedom of entrepreneurial activity enshrined in the country's basic law, and, therefore, is unconstitutional. The judge also made it clear to journalists that the Constitutional Court intends to take on the Customs Code, which provides for very harsh penalties for breaking laws. In this regard, the newspapers wrote that the Constitutional Court allegedly arrogated to itself the right not only to bring the current legislation in line with the constitution, but also to make it more humane. However, this scandal had no consequences either for the court or for Zorkin personally.

Moreover, on March 23, 2000, Acting President of Russia Vladimir Putin "for his services in strengthening the rule of law and many years of conscientious work" awarded Zorkin the title of "Honored Lawyer of Russia",,. However, Baglai again won in the election of the chairman of the Constitutional Court.

Only on February 21, 2003, Zorkin was again elected chairman of the Constitutional Court by secret ballot. In total, three candidates applied for the post of chairman in these elections: Baglai, Zorkin and Judge-Secretary of the Constitutional Court Yuri Danilov. In the first round of voting, Zorkin and Baglai received 11 votes each, and Danilov 10. Zorkin won in the second round, although most of the media predicted Baglai's victory again (he was already 72 years old, but the age limit of 70 years for judges had not yet come into force ) .

Upon taking office, Zorkin announced that he did not intend to make personnel revolutions in the Constitutional Court (indeed, even Baglai remained in his place - as an ordinary judge - until 2005). Zorkin did not change the course that the Constitutional Court had previously followed. Under him, the confrontation between the Supreme and Constitutional Courts also began. The reason for it was the question of which of the highest judicial bodies of the country has the right to cancel government regulations. The issue arose in the summer of 2002, but was resolved only in November 2003, and this time the Constitutional Court acted as the government desired (by recognizing as constitutional the decision of the cabinet of ministers canceled by the Supreme Court and indicating that the Supreme Court had exceeded its competence).

On December 15, 2003, the Constitutional Court ruled at the request of the Legislative Assembly of the Ivanovo Region. Representatives of the regional Duma asked to check the constitutionality of the provisions of the regional law "On the Municipal Service of the Ivanovo Region", which had previously been recognized by courts of general jurisdiction as contrary to the law. The Constitutional Court, however, did not find inconsistency with the constitution in the law and stressed that the final decision on the issue can only be left to it. Thus, the court put itself in the position of the first among those formally equal, which again caused dissatisfaction in the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation (on the sidelines of the Supreme Court, doubts were generally expressed about the need for such an instance as the Constitutional Court).

In October 2004, the conflict between the Constitutional and Supreme Court continued. His new stage began after Zorkin, in an interview with the daily newspaper Izvestiya, publicly acknowledged the fact of bribery in the courts, agreeing with public opinion (67 percent of Russians, according to opinion polls in 2004, considered the Russian judiciary to be corrupt). Zorkin said that "bribery in the courts has become one of the most powerful corruption markets in Russia." The Presidium of the Supreme Court in response demanded to call the head of the Constitutional Court to account. In the decision adopted by the presidium, Zorkin was asked to immediately send to the court the research materials to which he referred in his interview; information about all known facts of corruption in specific courts and in relation to specific judges; information about specific criminal cases, "collapsed" with the participation of corrupt judges. Information that the Chairman of the Constitutional Court sent such data to the Supreme Court did not appear in the press.

In October 2005, Zorkin attracted attention with a statement about the need to restore the institution of confiscation of property in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The head of the Constitutional Court stated that the abolition of such a measure of punishment was unlawful. The idea was supported by the then Prosecutor General of Russia Vladimir Ustinov and Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev. In December of the same year, the authority headed by Zorkin, contrary to its ten-year-old resolution, recognized as legitimate the approval of candidates for the post of governor on the proposal of the president instead of direct elections (Russian President Vladimir Putin submitted the corresponding bill to the State Duma shortly after the hostage-taking in the North Ossetian city of Beslan,. Shortly before adoption of this decision, Zorkin prepared the ground for him, stating that "as society develops, the legal positions of the Constitutional Court may be refined. " That is, the previous decision of the Constitutional Court remains valid, but cannot automatically be transferred to the "new situation." "This is the law of the movement of legal positions." , - Zorkin argued his point of view, backing it up with a reference to the experience of the most democratic countries

In January 2006, Zorkin made another unexpected announcement. He told reporters that fines for tax violations should be the exception, not the rule, citing the fact that often taxpayers have to answer for the fault of the legislator's work, and not for their own fault.

In July 2006, the Constitutional Court confirmed the ban on conducting election campaigning at the expense of citizens' personal funds. Zorkin made an exception only for campaigning against all candidates.

In November of the same year, Zorkin again entered into an argument with the Kremlin, speaking out against the transfer of the Constitutional Court to St. Petersburg (although the majority of the judges agreed to the move). Zorkin insisted that such a decision undermines the "independence and prestige" of the court. In the end, the chairman of the Constitutional Court secured for the judges of the Constitutional Court the right to sit both in St. Petersburg and in Moscow - the document approved by the State Duma provided for the “registration” of the Constitutional Court in St. Petersburg, however, it allowed for visiting meetings and the creation of a representative office of the court in Moscow.

In February 2009, Zorkin was again elected chairman of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. His victory, according to experts, was predictable, since "there is no real opposition to Mr. Zorkin either among the judges or in the federal authorities",,.

In the autumn of the same year, a scandal broke out in the Constitutional Court: the judge of the Constitutional Court Vladimir Yaroslavtsev gave an interview to the Spanish newspaper El Pais. In it, he criticized the Russian judicial system and, in particular, the decision of the Constitutional Court to refuse to consider the complaint of a journalist

Chairman of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. In November 1991, he was elected to this post for an unlimited term. Being a supporter of the presidential republic, he came into conflict with the president and recognized Yeltsin's decree on the dissolution of the Supreme Soviet in the fall of 1993 as unconstitutional. After the October shooting of the White House, he resigned, and soon his membership in the Constitutional Court was terminated. In 1994, the powers of Judge Zorkin were restored. Zorkin twice, in 1994 and 1995, refused to nominate his candidacy for the presidency. In February 2003, he was re-elected head of the Constitutional Court, was re-elected in February 2006 and February 2009. Honored Lawyer of Russia, member of the Presidium of the Association of Lawyers of Russia, author of a number of monographs.

Valery Dmitrievich Zorkin was born on February 18, 1943 in the village of Konstantinovka, Primorsky Krai, into a military family. After leaving school he served in the army. In 1964 he graduated from the law faculty of Moscow State University with a degree in jurisprudence. In 1964-1967 he worked at the Faculty of Law of Moscow State University as a teacher, then as a senior lecturer, in 1967-1979 as an assistant professor. Studied the history of legal doctrines.

In 1967, Zorkin defended his dissertation at Moscow State University for the degree of candidate of legal sciences, and in 1978 at the Institute of State and Law - his doctoral dissertation. In 1979-1986 (according to other sources, in 1980-1986) he was a professor at the Department of Constitutional Law and Theory of State and Law of the Academy of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs. In 1986, he became a professor at the Department of State Legal Disciplines of the Higher Law Correspondence School of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs.

In 1970, Zorkin joined the CPSU, remained a member of the party until its abolition in 1991. In March 1990, he ran for the people's deputies of the RSFSR in the Kalinin district of Moscow. He took third place - after the economic manager-democrat Mikhail Bocharov and the commander of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, General Yuri Shatalov.

In 1990-1991, Zorkin led a group of experts of the Constitutional Commission of the Congress of People's Deputies of Russia, participated in the preparation of the draft of the new Constitution of Russia. In 1991, he also became a professor at the Department of State and Legal Disciplines of the All-Union Law Correspondence School of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs.

At the V Congress of People's Deputies of Russia on October 29, 1991, Zorkin was elected a judge of the Constitutional Court of Russia. On November 1 of the same year, by secret ballot, he was elected chairman of the court for an unlimited term. However, already on October 6, 1993, after a protracted conflict with Russian President Boris Yeltsin (Zorkin recognized the presidential decree on the dissolution of the Supreme Council as inconsistent with the country's fundamental law, and also argued that the unconstitutional actions of the president give grounds for removing him from power), resigned from the post of head of the Constitutional Court.

The powers of Zorkin as an ordinary judge were also terminated, but at the beginning of 1994 they were restored. On February 14, 1994, Zorkin was included in the second chamber of the Constitutional Court, joined the commission to improve the structure of the apparatus of the Constitutional Court and personnel. February 21, 2003 Zorkin was again elected chairman of the Constitutional Court.

Upon taking office, Zorkin said that he did not intend to make personnel revolutions in the Constitutional Court. The course of the Constitutional Court has also changed little - Zorkin supported the government in its dispute with the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation (the Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional the decision of the Supreme Court, which cancels the normative acts of the Cabinet of Ministers), in 2004 he supported the decision of President Vladimir Putin to abolish direct elections of heads of subjects of the federation.

February 21, 2006 Zorkin was re-elected to the post of head of the Constitutional Court. Three years later, in February 2009, he was again elected Chairman of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation.

Zorkin is the author of a number of monographs, including the books "Power and Law" and "Legal State". Honored Lawyer of the Russian Federation. Member of the Presidium of the Russian Bar Association. Member of the European Commission "For Democracy through Law" from the Russian Federation. In the public mind, he remained as a "closer of the CPSU case" - under him, the trial in the case of the Soviet Communist Party, declared almost like a new Nuremberg trial, in 1992 ended in a formal decision that allowed the grassroots structures of the CPSU to restore the central leadership of the party (under a new name - the Communist Party of the Russian Federation).

Zorkin is a widower, he has a daughter.