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Event

Russia’s Constitution and Democratic Transit

Date & Time

Friday
Nov. 17, 2023
9:00am – 5:00pm ET

Location

6th Floor Flom Auditorium, Woodrow Wilson Center
and Online

Overview

The current Russian Constitution did not prevent the country from turning from an emerging democracy and a rule of law state into an authoritarian militarized regime that initiated systemic political repression and war crimes in Ukraine, among other negative consequences. Russian civil society, experts, and democratic forces, together with the Western allies, are looking to prepare and pursue a strategy to empower the transformation of Russia into a democracy once such an opportunity arises. The new constitutional framework will be based on the principles of human rights, parliamentary democracy, a system of checks and balances, an independent judiciary, federalism, and autonomy of local self-government. This two-day conference aims to make an intellectual contribution to such a strategy. 

Leading experts on Russia’s constitutional law, history, civil society, and politics, together with representatives of the Russian democratic forces, will analyze the controversial origins of the Russian Constitution, its guiding principles, further amendments, and how it has entered into and influenced Russian law for the past 30 years. The participants will examine the legitimacy of Russia's constitutional order and make suggestions for policy experts and thought leaders in the audience. The discussion will be followed by forming a working group of experts to prepare a white paper on the suitability of parliamentary democracy in Russia and the constitutional parameters of the future Russian democratic transition.

The conference is co-organized by the Kennan Institute, the Institute of Modern Russia, and the Khodorkovsky Foundation US.

Conference Agenda:

9:00 - 9:15 am: Opening remarks by Pavel Khodorkovsky

9:15 - 10:45 am: Panel #1 | Russian Constitution: initial design and further development - Ekaterina Mishina, Leon Aron (Zoom), Peter Maggs, William Pomeranz

10:45 - 11:00 am: Coffee break and light refreshments

11:00 - 12:30 pm: Panel #2 | Constitutional landscape of future Russia - Vladimir Pastukhov, Irina Alebastrova (Zoom), Ilya Shablinsky (Zoom), Elena Lukyanova (Zoom), Ariel Cohen

12:30 - 1:30 pm: Lunch

1:30 - 3:00 pm: Panel #3 | Russian judiciary and the rule of law: lessons and prospects - Kathryn Hendley, Grigory Vaypan, Peter Solomon, Nikolai Bobrinsky (Zoom), Lauren McCarthy

3:00 - 3:15 pm: Coffee break

4:00 - 4:45 pm: Constitutional parameters of the future Russian democratic transit: view from the Russian democratic opposition and civil society - Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Lev Ponomarev, Alexandra Vacroux, Vasily Gatov, William Pomeranz

4:45 - 5:00 pm: Closing remarks by William Pomeranz

5:00 - 6:00 pm: Closing reception

This event will feature simultaneous translation.

Speakers

Irina Alebastrova

Irina Alebastrova

Department Head at the Russian State University of Justice
Leon Aron

Leon Aron

Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
Nikolai Bobrinsky

Nikolai Bobrinsky

Doctoral student, Law Faculty, Humboldt University of Berlin
Ariel Cohen

Ariel Cohen

Senior Research Fellow for Russian and Eurasian Studies and International Energy Policy, Heritage Foundation
Vasily Gatov

Vasily Gatov

Founder, Novosti Media Lab
Kathryn Hendley

Kathryn Hendley

Former Fellow;
Professor, Law and Political Science Departments, University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky

Mikhail Khodorkovsky

Founder, Open Russia Foundation
Elena Lukyanova

Elena Lukyanova

Professor, Moscow State University of Higher Economics; Co-rector of Free University 
Peter Maggs

Peter Maggs

Professor of Law, Clifford M. and Bette A. Carnet Chair in Law, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Lauren McCarthy

Lauren McCarthy

Former Title VIII-Supported Research Scholar;
Associate Professor of Political Science and Legal Studies, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Ekaterina Mishina

Ekaterina Mishina

Independent Legal Scholar
Vladimir Pastukhov

Vladimir Pastukhov

Visiting Fellow, St. Antony's College, University of Oxford
William E. Pomeranz

William E. Pomeranz

Senior Fellow; Former Director, Kennan Institute
Lev Ponomarev

Lev Ponomarev

Russian politician and anti-war activist
Ilya Shablinsky

Ilya Shablinsky

Professor, Free University- Riga
Peter Solomon

Peter Solomon

Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto
Angela Stent

Angela Stent

Professor Emerita of Government; Senior Advisor, Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies, Georgetown University
Alexandra Vacroux

Alexandra Vacroux

Former Senior Scholar;
Executive Director, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University
Grigory Vaypan

Grigory Vaypan

Former Galina Starovoitova Fellow on Human Rights and Conflict Resolution;
Senior Lawyer, Memorial

Introduction

Pavel Khodorkovsky

Pavel Khodorkovsky

Founder, Khodorkovsky Foundation US; President, Institute of Modern Russia; Executive Director, Sunrise 

Hosted By

Kennan Institute

The Kennan Institute is the premier US center for advanced research on Eurasia and the oldest and largest regional program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The Kennan Institute is committed to improving American understanding of Russia, Ukraine, Central Asia, the South Caucasus, and the surrounding region though research and exchange.  Read more

Thank you for your interest in this event. Please send any feedback or questions to our Events staff.