Osavelyuk, A.M. Are the international treaties sources of the constitutional law of Russia?

Abstract: According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation (p. 4 of the Art. 15) the international treaties form part of its legal system along with the generally recognized principles and norms of the international law. The issue regarding inclusion of the international treaties into the list of sources of constitutional law is approached from various standpoints in the Russian legal literature. As a result, in this article based upon the analysis of the scientifi c literature, current constitutional legislation of Russia and foreign states, as well as the relevant provisions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, the author attempts to show the place of the international treaties within the system of constitutional law. The author considers that the issues of whether the international treaties of the Russian Federation are sources of the constitutional law of the Russian Federation, whether they are directly applicable in its territory and what their legal force is have no unambiguous solutions, which is due the fl awed formulations of part 4 of Art. 15 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, while there are references to these issues in other provisions of the Constitution (e.g., part 2 of Art. 15 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation), and there are also various types of treaties and laws. As a result, the author considers that resolution of some problems, which are directly regulated by the current legislation should take place in strict conformity with their provisions, while the issues causing confl ict of laws should be resolved individually with due regard to each specifi c situation by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation or by the courts of general jurisdiction based on their competence.

Keywords: