The main tool in the fight against any violations of the law by high-ranking officials for modern civilized countries has been and remains the so-called impeachment or expression of no confidence. In most cases, this concept refers to the issue of the competence of the head of state.
History of the term
Impeachment or a vote of no confidence, as a rule, concerns crimes of the head of state related to high treason, violation of the country's main law - the constitution, and other serious offenses that are grounds for dismissal from office or office.
The very word "impeachment" has English roots and literally means accusation or conviction. Impeachment began in England in the 14th century, when the House of Commons was given the power to bring high officials to justice. The mechanism of such a procedure, as a rule, is spelled out in the officially acting legislation and is one of the important characteristics of any democratic country.
History of the procedure
The most common impeachment scheme is the model spelled out in the United States Constitution, where, by the way, the impeachment procedure served as the basis for the early removal of powers from President Richard Nixon.
The main acting bodies participating in the decision are the lower and upper houses of parliament, with the former only bringing charges, while the latter examines it with a subsequent verdict. In some countries, the bodies of the Supreme Court are involved in resolving such issues: in Germany and Italy - the Constitutional, in Portugal and Finland - the Supreme, in France - the High Chamber of Justice.
Distrust in Russian
In our country, the impeachment procedure takes place with the direct interaction of the State Duma, the Supreme and Constitutional Courts, which issue a final verdict on the presence or absence of the fact of committing an offense against their country. At the same time, the main requirement for the beginning of the impeachment procedure is a commission assembled from representatives of the Duma, as well as the initiative to carry out such a procedure on the part of at least a third of the deputies. In order for the mechanism to be launched, a certain quota of votes for the consideration of the case is provided, it should not be less than two thirds of the total number of representatives of each of the chambers.
Not everyone knows that in Russia a similar procedure was carried out twice, in both cases it was not completed and was applied to the then current President Boris Yeltsin. In 1993 and 1999, charges were brought against him, caused by mistrust of domestic and foreign policies imposed by a high-ranking official in the country, questions related to the military actions that were waged by our country in Chechnya, and the so-called genocide of the Russian people associated with a sharp drop in the population.
