Reflections on a Secular State (in the Context of 2020 Amendments to the Constitution of Russia)

Based on the analysis of the provisions of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the constitutions of foreign states and the current legislation, as well as domestic and foreign studies, the author argues that currently several kinds of secular States exist. They significantly differ from each other in the characteristics enshrined in their constitutions and legislation. Because of that, it is hard to talk about an indefinite classic secular State. Nevertheless, the author articulates the features that are characteristic of a large number of modern democratic secular States, and proposes the optimal model of the modern secular state. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of amendments made under the Law of the Russian Federation on the Amendment to the Constitution of the Russian Federation of March 14, 2020, No 1-FKZ “On improvement of the regulation of certain issues of organization and functioning of public power” related to the secular State, especially amendments that formalize the attitude towards relations between the State and religious communities existing for centuries and developed in the territory of our Fatherland. The paper demonstrates special importance of interaction between prescriptions fixed in the constitutional provisions, constitutional legislation and moral principles enshrined in religious sources.

1. Baburin S. N. Veroispovedanie kak sterzhen politicheskogo, pravovogo i duhovnogo razvitiya gosudarstv i narodov // Gosudarstvo, cerkov, pravo: konstitucionno-pravovye i bogoslovskie problemy : materialy V mezhvuzovskoj nauchnoj konferencii, posvyashchennoj 400-letiyu dinastii Romanovyh / koll. avt. ; pod red. S. N. Baburina, A. M. Osavelyuka. — M. : Knizhnyj mir, Evropejskij institut JUSTO, 2013.

2. Baglaj M. V. Konstitucionnoe pravo Rossijskoj Federacii : uchebnik. — 10-e izd. pererab. i dop. — M. : Norma — Infra-M, 2013.

3. Zaluzhnyj A. Konceptualnye problemy vzaimootnoshenij gosudarstva i religioznyh ob"edinenij // Gosudarstvo i cerkov: konstitucionno-pravovye i bogoslovskie problemy : materialy kruglogo stola / koll. avt. — M. : Izd-vo RGTEU, 2009.

4. Kozlova E. I., Kutafin O. E. Konstitucionnoe pravo Rossii : uchebnik. — 5-e izd. pererab. i dop. — M. : Progress, 2014.

5. Osavelyuk A. M. Hristianskaya etika i svetskoe pravo // Russkij mir — 2011 : sb. statej. — M. : Magistr: Infra-M, 2011. — S. 241—252.

6. Osavelyuk A. M. Nevernoe opredelenie ponyatiya svetskogo gosudarstva — ugroza bezopasnosti gosudarstva na postsovetskom prostranstve? // Bezopasnost postsovetskogo prostranstva: novye vyzovy i ugrozy. — Lyublin-Moskva, 2014. — S. 47—54.

7. Osavelyuk A. M. Cerkov i gosudarstvo : monografiya. — M. : Prospekt, 2019. — 432 s.