Russian Foreign Ministry wary about ideas to abrogate intl law priority
MOSCOW. March 5 (Interfax) - The Russian Foreign Ministry is wary about proposals on abrogating the constitutional provision on international law's priority over national law, ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said.
"Such initiatives have appeared increasingly more often as of late. We take such a trend with certain wariness," Lukashevich said in an interview with Interfax.
"Russia gives priority to respect and observance of international laws by all countries and itself seeks to conscientiously honor its international obligations, so making a contribution to the resolution of global problems and improving the international system's manageability. In this context, Russia consistently favors the strengthening of the legal foundations of the world order," he said.
The Russian constitution stipulates that "commonly recognized principles and norms of international law and the Russian Federation's international treaties are an integral part of its legal system."
"At the same time, in line with the constitution, an international treaty is rated above a federal law or a law of a Russian Federation entity in the hierarchy of legal norms making up the Russian legal system," he said.
"There is a great deal of sense in this legal concept. The matter is not only about the fact that the Russian constitution stipulates the primacy of international law and, consequently, the principle of voluntary implementation of international obligations, without the observance of which it is impossible to imagine international communication and the development of international cooperation in various fields. It is fundamentally important that the Russian constitution forms an efficient legal basis both for resolving issues within our state's internal purview and for its active involvement in international affairs," he said.
"It is not a secret that there are fields of activity in which, they are international by definition and which can be regulated on the national level only to a very limited degree. For instance, these include the use of modern information communication technology and outer space, disarmament and combat against international terrorism, human rights and environmental protection," Lukashevich said.