In the system of institutions of state power, the highest place, formally or in reality, belongs to the head of state, who represents the given state both inside the country and outside it. The theory of the state, depending on the criterion of the plurality of the subject of the head of state, is known in two forms: individual and collegial. The most common form of head of state is the sole form, which is expressed either as a hereditary monarch or as an elected president. The collective heads of state are also juntas in the form of military or military-revolutionary committees, which are established in countries as a result of military coups by Cherkasov, A.I. The head of state and government in the countries of the modern world [Text] / A.I. Cherkasov. - SPb .: Delo, 2008. -p. 247-280.

The real status and role of the head of state is largely determined by the forms of the state, primarily by the form of government and the state-political regime of Yengibaryan, R.V. Comparative constitutional law: Textbook [Text] / R.V. Yengibaryan. - Rostov n / D .: Phoenix, 2007. -С411-420 .. With all the difference in the place and role of heads of state in different countries, a number of their common functions and powers can be distinguished. So, for the powers of the head of state, regardless of whether he is a monarch or a president, it is characteristic to grant him the right to convene parliament sessions, postpone its sessions, promulgate and publish laws, and often also the right to dissolve parliament, the right of a suspensive or absolute veto, the right to appeal to body of constitutional control, etc. The head of state usually forms the government or takes part in its formation, has the right to dismiss the government and its ministers or participate in this process, the right to appoint judges or participate in the formation of judicial bodies, the right to grant, restore citizenship, grant asylum, pardoning convicts, awarding state decorations, the right to conclude international treaties and agreements, their ratification and denunciation, appointment and recall of diplomatic representatives, acceptance of credentials and letters of recall of foreign diplomatic representatives, etc. Usually chapter d The state is also the supreme commander-in-chief of the country's armed forces with all the ensuing powers.

The specific volume, ways and forms of exercising the powers of the head of state in individual countries depend both on the form of government and the state-political regime in a given country, and on other provisions of its constitution. At the same time, the head of state exercises some powers independently, while others (especially in parliamentary republics and monarchies) - by prior decision of other state bodies (parliament, government), i.e. in the order of countersignature. On this basis, let us now consider the features of the constitutional and legal status of the two main types of the head of state - the monarch and president Chirkin, V.E. Constitutional law of foreign countries [Text] / V.E. Chirkin. - M., 1997 - from 374 ..

Features of the constitutional and legal status of the monarch

Monarchy is a form of government in which the supreme state power is wholly or partially owned by the sole head of state - the monarch (king, emperor, sultan, etc.), who usually receives this power by inheritance and for life and transfers it in order inheritance.

The general powers of the head of state under a monarchical form of government are: a) the sole supreme state power and b) obtaining this power and transferring it according to the principle of blood, by inheritance. Occurring in history and modernity, individual rare deviations from these norms cannot call into question the fundamental significance of these legal signs of the monarchy Tikhomirov L.A. Monarchical statehood [Text] / L.А. Tikhomirov. - S-Pb .: 1992 .-- S.668. In the same way, the fact that in many monarchies the real supreme state power does not belong to the head of state, since the country is actually governed by other state bodies, cannot abolish the fact that nominally it is the monarch who personifies the supreme power. At the same time, the constitutions of various monarchical countries in different ways fix the corresponding form of government in each of them and the constitutional and legal status of the monarch. This to a decisive extent depends on what kind of monarchy we are talking about Chirkin, V.E. Fundamentals of Comparative State Science [Text] / V.E. Chirkin. - M .: 1997. - S. 132 ..

Absolute monarchy -- this is a form of state government when all the fullness of state power is concentrated in the hands of the monarch himself, who uses it without any restrictions, without sharing this power with anyone. There is no need to talk about any system of checks and balances or a balance between the branches of government, because this form of government in its very essence denies the essential principles of democracy and real constitutionalism. Possession of supreme spiritual authority further enhances the authority of such a monarch.

Dualistic monarchy - an early type of limited monarchy, within which there is a certain separation of the legislative branch from the monarch, who retains the entirety of the executive branch. In such monarchies there is a constitution and a parliament, legislative power in its essence belongs not to the monarch, but to the elected parliament. But at the same time, the monarch, firstly, has an absolute veto, which cannot be rejected by parliament; and secondly, the monarch often reserves the right to issue extraordinary decrees that have the force of law. It is also important that in such monarchies the king usually has an unlimited opportunity to dissolve parliament and thereby turn the dualistic monarchy into an absolute Mishin, A.A. Constitutional (state) law of foreign countries [Text] / А.А. Mishin. - M .: Phoenix, 1996. - P. 78 .. The government in such monarchies is responsible only to it and is not accountable to parliament, which is able to influence the government's activities only through the use of its right to approve the state budget. On the whole, in dualistic monarchies, the predominance of the power of the monarch over the representative power is quite obvious.

Parliamentary (parliamentary) monarchy - it is a kind of limited monarchy, within which the constitutional and legal status, powers and real power of the monarch are seriously limited by the constitution, adopted on a democratic basis, elected by the parliament, which concentrates the legislative power, and the government responsible only to the parliament, which administers the country. Formally, even in such monarchies, the king retains the status of the head of state and usually appoints the government, but in fact he most often rules the country by a government formed by parliament and is responsible only to it in its activities. In parliamentary monarchies, the central and decisive role in the system of relations between the highest bodies of state power, the monarch - parliament - government belongs to parliament. The monarch, as the legal head of state, does not take part in the real government of the country, remaining most often only a symbol of the unity of the nation Monarchy [Electronic resource] / Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia. - Access mode: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki Date of access: 05/12/2011. - Title from the screen.

Features of the constitutional and legal status of the president

The term "president" comes from the Latin "praesidens", which literally means "sitting in front." In the era of antiquity, presidents were called persons who presided over various meetings. In the modern sense, the president is an official elected by citizens, parliament or an electoral collegium with the participation of parliament for a specified term. The homeland of the institution of the presidency is the United States Sakharov, N.A. Institute of presidency in the modern world [Text] / N.А. Sakharov. - M .: Jurid. lit., 1994. - 176 c .. The most typical powers of the president are as follows: the president personifies his country in relations with other states and international bodies and organizations, signs international treaties, participates in resolving issues of war and peace, appoints and recalls diplomatic representatives, accepts credentials from ambassadors of other states; he may have his representatives in the regions of the country. In other words, the president is the highest representative of the entire country.

In the area of ​​executive power, the president either independently or on the proposal of the leader of the parliamentary majority party appoints the prime minister, accepts his resignation, appoints and dismisses ministers on his own initiative or at the suggestion of the prime minister, appoints a number of other top officials A.A. Kotenkov. President - Parliament: Formation of Relationships in the Legislative Process [Text] / А.А. Kotenkov // State and Law. - 1998.- No. 9. - S. 21-25. In some countries, he can lead the government himself or convene it and preside over its meetings. It is the president who is the supreme commander-in-chief of the armed forces, the chairman of the national security council, appoints the top military leadership, confers the highest military ranks. He has the right to declare a state of emergency, martial law or a state of siege with the subsequent approval of such a decision by parliament, the right to impose presidential rule and implement federal intervention. The President awards badges of distinction, confers honorary titles, resolves issues of admission and withdrawal from citizenship of the country, granting asylum to foreigners, pardons, etc. Kosopkin, A.S. President, Congress, Legislation [Text] / A.S. Kosopkin // State and Law. - 2008. - No. 1. - S. 4-12. ...

In the legislative field and other rule-making activities, the president usually has the right to initiate legislation, sign, promulgate and publish laws, may have the right to refuse to sign laws adopted by the parliament and the right to appeal to the constitutional control body regarding the constitutionality of legislative and other legal acts Yengibaryan, R.V. ... Comparative constitutional law: Textbook [Text] / R.V. Yengibaryan. - Rostov n / a .: Phoenix, 2007 .-- 543 p.

p.411. With regard to parliament, the president usually sets the date for parliamentary elections, convenes it at a session, has the right to early dissolution of parliament or its lower house, to address parliament with a message on the program of legislative activity in the country and other issues.

In the area of ​​the judiciary, the president appoints or nominates judges of the highest courts, and sometimes other courts, has the right to pardon and mitigate punishment, and, with the consent of parliament, can often declare amnesty. The same applies to the appointment and nomination of prosecutors.

Depending on the model of presidential power existing in states with a republican form of government, there are presidential, semi-presidential (mixed) and parliamentary republics. States with presidential and semi-presidential forms of government have a strong president with real powers in the exercise of state power. In states with a parliamentary form of government, the president does not have real power, he exercises his powers in agreement with the government Chirkin V.E. Presidential power [Text] / V. E. Chirkin. // State and law. 1997. - No. 5.- С 27 - 31 ..

Features of the status of the president in a presidential republic:

1) the president is elected by the population independently of parliament (by direct or indirect voting); 2) the president combines the powers of the head of state and head of government; 3) the government as a collegial body usually does not exist. Each minister is individually appointed and dismissed by the president, but ministerial candidacies must be approved by parliament; 4) the government of the president does not bear political responsibility before parliament for the policy pursued by him. Parliament cannot dismiss the government. The President, in turn, has no right to dissolve parliament and call early elections Kuvaldin V.B. Presidential and parliamentary republics as forms of democratic transit [Text] / V.B. Kuvaldin // Police. 1998. - No. 5.- P. 42 - 48 ..

Features of the status of the president in a parliamentary republic:

1) the president is elected by parliament or an electoral college with the participation of parliament; 2) the president is the head of state. The executive power belongs to the head of the government. The head of state usually exercises his powers with the consent and initiative of the government. In most parliamentary republics there is an institution of counter-signature of acts of the head of state by the corresponding members of the government; 3) the president appoints the head of government from among the leaders of the most influential party factions in parliament (since the government must enjoy the confidence of parliament) and, on the recommendation of the head of government, appoints other members of the government; 4) the government is politically accountable to parliament. If the parliament expresses a vote of no confidence in the government, it will be forced to resign, but the president, on the recommendation of the government, may decide to dissolve the parliament and call early elections Kotenkov A.A. President - Parliament: Formation of Relationships in the Legislative Process [Text] / А.А. Kotenkov // State and Law. 1998.-. No. 9.- С.10 - 15 ..

Features of the status of the president in a semi-presidential republic:

  • 1) the president is elected by the population independently of parliament through direct elections; 2) the president is the head of state. The president exercises executive power jointly with the head of government; 3) the government is appointed by the president, but it must enjoy the confidence of parliament; 4) the government is accountable to parliament and partially to the president. The president has the right to dissolve parliament.
  • *****

So, summarizing the above, we can conclude that the institution of the head of state exists in all modern states. The head of state occupies the highest place in the hierarchy of state bodies, ensures stability and continuity of the mechanism of state power, and exercises the supreme representation of the country in the international arena. There are two main types of head of state - the monarch and the president. Depending on the form of government, the powers of the monarch and the president differ significantly. The role and powers of the president in real government of the country also significantly depend on what kind of republican form of government we are talking about.

The state carries out its internal and external functions through certain institutions and institutions, endowed with state powers and the corresponding competence. The set of such institutions and institutions is usually called public authorities.

In order to ensure effective functioning in most modern states, the division of the system of supreme bodies of state power into three branches is practiced:

- legislative (parliament);

- executive (head of state, government);

- judicial .

This division presupposes a strict delimitation of spheres of responsibility, independence and balance of all three branches of government with the help of a system of checks and balances.

Head of state- the central and most important figure in the system of the highest authorities.

Head of state status:

Personifies the unity of the nation;

It is a symbol of the state;

Represents the country in the international arena;

Performs the most important state functions in the internal political life of the country;

Serves as a link between the highest authorities.

The head of state may be monarch, president, prime minister... The source of power, the role and powers of the head of state depend on many factors, the most important of which form of government and political regime.

V monarchies the head of state is the king, emperor, shah, etc., whose office is for life and is inherited. Monarchs play a key role in social and political life only in absolute and dualistic monarchies(UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait). In modern parliamentary monarchies the institution of the monarch is formal, representative.

V republic the head of state is usually the president... Its main difference from the monarch is that the presidential post is elective and presidential rule is limited by a time frame.

The procedure for electing a president, his powers and their duration are varied. So, in most countries, the president is elected by the people (France, Russia, Belarus), in some - by the electoral college (USA), in Germany - by a special meeting, which includes representatives of the lands and deputies of the Bundestag. The term of office of the president is also different: in the USA - 4 years, in India, Belarus - 5, in France - 7 years. In addition, in a number of countries, constitutions limit the term of office of the same person.

The powers of the head of state are determined by the constitution and depend on the form of government. V parliamentary republic the president is the head of state formally. Its functions are purely representative. In fact, all power is concentrated in the hands of the person who heads the government (prime minister, chancellor).


V presidential republics and in mixed republics the president is a key figure in the structure of the highest authorities. He is both the head of state and the head of government (in a mixed form of government).

V powers of the president includes:

Formation of the government and control over its activities;

Appeal to parliament with messages;

Dissolution of parliament in cases stipulated by the constitution (France, Russia, Belarus);

Signing and control over the implementation of laws;

The right to veto certain legislative acts;

Appointment of judges (without the right to interfere in the justice process);

The right to pardon, amnesty;

Solving issues related to the use of the armed forces, the development of the state's military policy;

Acceptance of credentials and letters of recall of foreign diplomats;

Negotiating and concluding international agreements;

The introduction of a state of emergency and martial law in cases provided for by the constitution, etc.

This chapter contains some general assumptions. It is to a certain extent schematic, but without clarifying the content of terms and concepts (and they impoverish the palette of reality and often need reservations) it is difficult, if not impossible, to analyze the common features and specific features of various heads of state, the originality of their legal status.

Terminology issues

The phrase "head of state" appeared, apparently, in ancient times in relation to the monarchs. Nowadays, this is the official term of state studies, used, for example, in monarchist capitalist Spain (Article 56 of the Spanish Constitution of 1978) and in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Article 101 of the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 1992). These two words do not always correspond to people's ideas about the person who heads the state.

In the USSR, the population correctly considered the real head of state I.V. Stalin, who concentrated enormous power in his hands, although, with the exception of a relatively short period of time, he did not hold any government posts, but was the General Secretary of the ruling (only)

The Communist Party. At one time, the leader of the new course in China, who ensured the growth of the country's economy, Deng Xiaoping held a legally not very important position (chairman of the military committee of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and at the same time the State Military Committee), but he was actually the head of state. A similar post - Chairman of the State Defense Committee of the DPRK - was held by Kim Jong Il - "the beloved leader of the Korean people" (another official title "Sun of the nation"), who was the real head of state. After his death in 2011, this high post was taken by one of his sons - Kim Jong-un, who was the real head of state. And the population of Great Britain or Japan, although they consider the monarch to be the first person in the state, does not at all consider him as the real leader of the state or as a person who concentrates the main levers of power in their hands.

There have also been changes in the legal interpretation of the concept of the head of state. The term "head of state" is used in the new constitutions in relation to monarchs who actually rule (for example, the king of Jordan, the Sultan of Oman), and to those who only reign (all monarchs in European countries, including the Grand Duke of Luxembourg and the Prince of Monaco), to presidents who, at their discretion, exercise the powers of the head of state (Brazil, Mexico, USA, Venezuela, etc.), and to those of them who do this "on the advice" of a government created by parliament (Germany, India, Italy, etc.) etc.). As a result, not only in the views of ordinary citizens, but also in the legal literature, and even in the texts of the constitutions themselves, firstly, there was a bifurcation of the concept of "head of state" (in fact, some constitutions say that a person named in the constitutions as the head of state, it really is not, which is often seen by citizens themselves), and secondly, the legal analysis of the institution of the head of state has been replaced by an actual one, which essentially became dominant not only in political science and state studies, but also in legal science.

We do not want to say that the second approach is bad, on the contrary, legal science is getting closer to real life. But such a splitting of the concept of the legal institution of the head of state is hardly fruitful, although it is caused by objective conditions. It is not only a consequence of the conservatism of legal institutions (and they are conservative in nature) and the rigidity of traditions, but also evidence of the failure of the science of constitutional law to develop a new terminology that would unite the legal structure and the phenomena of life. Therefore, despite the new realities and emerging legal constructions, we use the terminology that has developed for centuries, and no breakthrough has been observed in this regard.

True, many constitutionalists have long noted and continue to point out the existing discrepancy between the legal structure of the "head of state" and reality in some countries. Analyzing the system of state bodies in Great Britain, J. and J.-E. Zhikkeli talk about the actual powerlessness of the head of state - the queen, about the fact that the head of state is not at all the main person in him. They state that "the decision-making is centralized by the prime minister", that the royal power "inherited" the cabinet (ministers. - V. Ch.) and its head. French scholars even use the words "dictatorship of the prime minister" in this connection. “The United Kingdom is governed by a Prime Minister,” states F. Amon and M. Tropez. Not so harsh, but similar conclusions are drawn by British constitutionalists. The situation is similar in Japan, where, according to the Constitution, the monarch is powerless, in Germany, where the decisive role is played not by the president, but by the prime minister (chancellor) and which researchers sometimes call the "chancellor republic", in Italy, India and some other countries where the prime minister -minister relies on the support of parliament. The real head of state in parliamentary monarchies, parliamentary republics, and sometimes in parliamentary-presidential republics, is the prime minister rather than the president.

Noting the inconsistency of the term “head of state” with the real position of such a person in the conditions of many existing states, the researchers, however, do not put forward detailed and substantiated proposals to abandon this term or to replace it. It was not in the first republican constitutions. It appeared in monarchies and only then entered the republican constitutions, but not immediately. At first, the presidents of the republics were referred to as the heads of the executive branch. The monarch is characterized in the same way in accordance with the concept of separation of powers. At the same time, it is sometimes indicated that he, together with the parliament, exercises legislative power (such inconsistencies in legal terminology have been going on for a long time).

Until now, not all constitutions use the term "head of state" to refer to monarchs and presidents. Constitutions often use the words "king", "emir", "sultan" or "president" without such a characteristic, without indicating his place in the system of power.

In the Marxist-Leninist doctrine, the attitude towards the term "head of state" was negative. In science, it was considered the legacy of the feudal-monarchical traditions. In the USSR, the question of the head of state was discussed in JV Stalin's report on the draft Constitution of the USSR in 1936. The words "head of state" were not mentioned, it was about the inadmissibility of the office of the sole president. Therefore, the term "head of state" sometimes continued to be used in Soviet legal literature with explanations that, firstly, this is a term of the past, and secondly, the head of state in the USSR is collegial, this is the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR ("Soviet parliament") ... Later, in some foreign socialist countries, the posts of individual presidents created according to the previous tradition were replaced by a collegial presidency (the Presidium of the Republic in Hungary, the State Council in Poland, etc.), then in some countries the post of president was introduced along with a collegial body (Bulgaria, Romania and etc.). At present, the names "head of state" and "president" are used in the 1992 Constitution of Vietnam (in the Constitution of the PRC of 1982 there are no words "head of state", there is "Chairman of the republic", but the corresponding hieroglyph can be translated into Russian as " president ", although there is another hieroglyph for the president). At the same time, in both countries (SRV and PRC), along with these individual posts, there is a collegial permanent body - the Standing Committee of the Parliament. The traditional powers of the head of state are distributed between this body and the president (chairman of the republic). There is no president in the DPRK (theoretically, his place is occupied by the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly and partly by the State Defense Committee of the DPRK). It is stated that in the history of the country there was and remains the only president - the late Kim Il Sung. There is no president in Cuba either, but the chairman of the Council of State is also the prime minister (these posts were held by F. Castro for decades until 2008, now his brother Raul holds these posts). Informally, the Council of State in Cuba is called the collegiate head of state. In a word, the attempt to exclude the term "head of state" from everyday life, even if it was in the Marxist-Leninist approach to the system of state organs, did not take place.

In relation to other collegial bodies performing the functions of the head of state (the Federal (Federal) Council in Switzerland, the Presidium (Presidency) of Bosnia and Herzegovina), this term is also not officially used. They are not named so in constitutions. It is not used informally in Switzerland either. More often, the head of state in Switzerland is called the president, who is elected by the Union Council, who is not the head of state (he performs the functions of the presidency of the Council). We have no data on the unofficial use of the term "head of state" in relation to the Presidium of Bosnia and Herzegovina (it consists of three people - a Bosnian, a Serb and a Croat).

In relation to "dual" bodies performing the functions of the head of state, the term "head of state" is sometimes used in constitutions (it is applied to the two co-rulers of the Principality of Andorra - Art. 43 of the 1993 Constitution of Andorra and to the captains-regents of the Republic of San Marino - Art. 3 Declaration of the Rights of Citizens and the Basic Principles of the Organization of San Marino 1974).

Currently, the term "head of state" is used in constitutions and scientific literature primarily to indicate a special, superior, position of a person or a high position of a collegial body (corresponding structure) that they occupy. Theoretically, the sole head of state, collegial or structural body is second only to parliament in its position, but such officials, bodies or structures actually perform the functions of parliament between its sessions, and sometimes the importance of some of their constituent parts (for example, the leader of the state in Iran, existing alongside with the President of Iran) above the importance of parliament.

The monarch legally occupies a place in the hierarchy not lower than parliament (in those countries where there is a parliament), but at least next to parliament. Let us recall in this connection the provisions of the constitutions of some countries that legislative power is exercised jointly by the parliament and the monarch (by the way, they are extended in some cases to the president as well). The idea of ​​the supremacy (sovereignty) of parliament in Great Britain (then in some other, but not all, countries of Anglo-Saxon law) appeared later, and it is based not so much on the norms of constitutions as on the theoretical positions of legal scholars. As stated, chapters on monarchs are almost always, and chapters on presidents are often placed in constitutions before sections on parliament. In relation to the monarch, this can be explained by tradition. As for the president, this reflects the desire of the creators of constitutions to put him in the first place (France, many countries in America, but not the United States). Parliament cannot repeal acts of the head of state. They are of indisputable importance. They can be made invalid only by the constitutional court (by recognizing they are not in conformity with the constitution), but the court in the same way can stop (or prevent) the operation of laws. Exceptions in this case apply only to the collegial presidency (parliament has the right to cancel its acts), to a part of the structural presidency (standing committees in Vietnam and China) and to acts of the Iranian president in a bi-cephalous, two-headed structure of the head of state in Iran.

The head of state can abolish the law of parliament (only the monarch in certain countries, who has the right to an absolute veto) or temporarily suspend it (until the parliament overrides the veto of the head of state). Therefore, in relations between the legislative and executive branches (if, by tradition, the head of state is considered the executive branch), the situation is much more complicated than the thesis: the executive branch implements laws. Legally, in some countries, the monarch is a member of the legislative branch. This will be discussed in more detail below.

The head of state occupies a central (real or imaginary) place in the state apparatus. The monarch, the president, as well as the collegial monarch (for example, in the UAE the Council of Emirs) or collegial presidency (for example, the Federal Council in Switzerland) act as the head of this apparatus. The head of state is the center of powers of the state apparatus. He (including a collegial body) is the head of the civil service, appoints by his acts the highest civil and military officials, judges, etc. (he actually does this or only signs documents). If the head of state does not make appointments directly, in presidential, presidential-parliamentary and partly parliamentary-presidential republics, he submits candidates for appointments. Let us recall the partial reform of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation in Russia in 2009, as a result of which the President of the Court and his deputies are not elected by the Court, and their candidates are presented by the President for appointment to the Federation Council. A similar procedure existed before that when appointing the composition of the Supreme and Supreme Arbitration Courts. This practice of nominating specific persons for these positions or only for the position of the chairman of the constitutional court (another body exercising constitutional control) exists in other countries as well. In Ukraine, two leading positions of ministers in the government (ministers of defense and foreign affairs) and some other positions are reserved for presidential candidates.

Governors (prefects, etc.) of regions, subjects of the federation, autonomous formations, other parts (the governor-general in the countries of the British Commonwealth) are ultimately subordinate to the head of state (including governors-general, according to the rules of law or legal customs, to the monarch, although in parliamentary monarchies, he does not lead them). The governors of the regions (including the subjects of the federation) are often appointed by the president (India, etc.), and the heads of the subjects of the federations who hold their office in other ways (for example, in Russia) are often subordinate to them.

The central place of the head of state in the state mechanism is also due to the fact that he is almost always in his position the commander-in-chief (it does not matter that the head of state can be a woman who has never taken up arms, and that the head of state may not have the highest military rank: for example, Nicholas II in Russia was commander-in-chief in the First World War with the rank of colonel, the same rank is now held by Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain).

The special place of the head of state (for the sole head) is sometimes determined in constitutions by terminological characteristics. The 1996 Constitution of Morocco (art. 19) stated that the king is the "commander", the leader of the faithful (amir-al-munimin), in art. 245 of the 1982 Constitution of Honduras states that the president exercises "general leadership of the state."

To characterize the role of the head of state, the words “symbol”, “guarantor”, “defender”, “arbitration” (head of state), “representative of the state”, etc. are often used. Such provisions are contained both in monarchical (Spain, Morocco, 2011) and in republican constitutions (Kazakhstan, France), where the head of state exercises real power and where he actually does not have it. The similarity of some of these formulations is important for creating a general concept of the head of state.

The word "symbol" is usually used in monarchical constitutions (Spain, Japan, etc.), but sometimes it is also found in the constitutions of the republics (Article 188 of the Political Constitution of Colombia 1991). The word "symbol" is used in basic laws in general in the same sense: as a symbol of the state and the unity of the people (Japan), a symbol of national unity (Colombia), a symbol of the unity of the state and its continuity (Spain), a symbol of the unity of the state (Morocco). In the overwhelming majority of basic laws, the word "symbol" is absent, but even in them the monarch or the president is also perceived as a symbol of a certain state.

The words "guarantor" or "guarantees" are usually used in new constitutions (Bulgaria, Morocco, Russia, etc.). It is said that the head of state is the guarantor of the constitution, territorial integrity of the state, human and civil rights, etc. acts).

In few constitutions, the characterization of the head of state includes the words "arbitrator" or "arbitration". This terminology was first used in the 1958 French Constitution, which was created under the leadership of President Charles de Gaulle, who strove for personal power. The Constitution states that the President ensures the normal functioning of public authorities by his arbitration (Article 5). In the overwhelming majority of basic laws, there is no direct mention of arbitration, but the De Gaullean idea has found application. The function of the president's mediation between the branches of government is stated in the Romanian Constitution of 1991 (Article 80), while the 1987 Constitution of Haiti (Article 136) states that the President monitors the normal functioning of state institutions. This also applies to the Constitution of the Russian Federation of 1993. Like Charles de Gaulle during the crisis, Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin strove for full power and after the shelling of the parliament building he received it. The 1993 Constitution of the Russian Federation, adopted after that, states that the president "ensures the coordinated functioning and interaction of government bodies" (part 2 of article 80). The desire for a coordinating and arbitration role of the president was also indicated in the formulations of the constitutions of some other countries with elements of an authoritarian regime (Belarus, etc.). At certain periods in the development of society, in crisis conditions, this may be necessary, but the desire of the head of state to rise above other branches of government as an arbiter can hardly be accepted in a democratic society.

The constitutions say that the head of state is the representative of the state, sometimes the “high representative”. He represents the state within the country: in relations with territorial parts of the state, in relations with citizens (in the United States, claims against the state are directed against (versus) the president) and other subjects of law. The forms of such representation will be discussed below. In this case, it is only important to note that the official actions and acts of the head of state are considered as actions and acts performed by the state on its behalf.

In the legislation, the words "representative of authority" (state authority, state) are sometimes also used in relation to state officials, endowed with appropriate powers. Therefore, in order to designate a special representative role of the head of state in constitutional legislation, it may be appropriate to use the wording "high representative of the state."

Other concepts related to the head of state are also used in constitutions. In monarchies, these are "regent", "regency council", "coronation", "crowned monarch", in the republics - "vice president", sometimes "deputy president", and in legal literature and in official documents - "inauguration", " president-elect "and" acting president ".

A crowned monarch is a monarch, that is, the heir to the throne who has reached the age of majority and has passed after that, upon accession to the throne, the coronation ceremony (a person may reach adulthood earlier, but the solemn ceremony of coronation is carried out as a sign of real gaining power). If the monarch inherited the throne as a minor, this procedure is postponed until his majority (usually up to 18 years old, in some countries up to 21 years old). Under a minor monarch, the office of a regent is established (i.e., a ruler) or a regency council is created (usually from among relatives). Acts of a minor monarch are issued on his behalf, but are signed by the regent (members of the regency council). The last case of the creation of a regency council with the inclusion of non-relatives of the monarch in Europe took place in Bulgaria in 1944, but the monarchy in Bulgaria was soon abolished. Some constitutions of the countries of the East establish that the regency council is not created from among the relatives (Thailand).

The terms "inauguration", "vice president" and others mentioned above are used in the republics. Inauguration is the solemn introduction of the president into office, accompanied by his taking the oath. Sometimes the vice-president must also take the oath (for example, Cyprus). President-elect is the name of an elected, but not yet in office, president. Sometimes constitutions establish a significant period of time between the election of the president and his inauguration (this time is necessary, in particular, for the completion of affairs by the former president and for the elected president to enter the course of state administration).

The vice president is usually the acting president during his temporary absence, short illness, surgery, etc. If such a position is not provided for in a given country (for example, Germany, Russia, France), then the acting president becomes in turn (if the person is unable for any reason to perform such duties) or the chairman of the upper house of parliament, chairman of the lower house, chairman the supreme (or constitutional) court, or the head of government, and sometimes the entire government. In Russia, such duties are assigned to the head of the Government of the Russian Federation.

  • More complex terminology is also used. For example, in Art. 82 of the 1975 Constitution of Papua New Guinea, the phrase “queen and head of state of Papua New Guinea” is used. The most diverse official terminology in relation to the head of state (president) was used in some laws of the states of Tropical Africa. The official title of the head of state included the words "liberator", "leader of the revolution" and even, for example, "a lion that gnaws any bone." In monarchist countries, the official title of the head of state (for example, in the past in Russia) sometimes includes a complete list (emperor, king, grand duke, prince, etc.) of the constituent parts of the state.
  • See: Gicquel J., Gicquel J.-Е. Droit constitutionnel et institutions politiques. 21-tone fed. P., 2007. P. 230, 238.
    • In Andorra, the co-rulers perform these functions jointly and separately.
  • The justifications spoke of the president's veto power and the need for him to sign a law in order for the law to become law.
  • Bicephalous - from lat. bis - twice and Greek. kephale - head.
  • Many countries of the British Commonwealth are republics, they have their own head of state - the president. Half of the members of the Commonwealth are monarchies. Their head of state is the British monarch. In theory, it is believed that he appoints governors-general to these states. In fact, such a person is determined by the parliaments and governments of the member states of the Commonwealth. For example, the 1975 Constitution of Papua New Guinea establishes that the governor-general is appointed for only two terms at the proposal of the country's government and is approved by 2/3 of the votes of members of the local parliament (Art. 88), and then receives a "patent" for government from the monarch from London. The British monarch can appoint or dismiss the governor-general only on the advice of the local government. He can also be dismissed by the local parliament by a majority vote (the monarch in London is obliged to comply with this decision, that is, to sign the corresponding document).
  • Acting president (English) - an interim president (not an "acting president").
Work description

The purpose of this study is to consider the institution of the head of state in the system of separation of powers, to determine his powers, to carry out a comparative analysis of the types of the head of state on the basis of Belarusian and foreign experience.
For this, the following tasks have been set in the work:
1. consider the concept of "head of state";
2. to consider the powers of the head of state;

Introduction ……………………………………………………………………… .. 3-4
Section 1. Institute of the head of state: concept, essence, purpose …… ..5-6
Section 2. Experience of functioning of the institution of the head of state in Belarus and in foreign countries ………………………………………………………… .7-14
2.1 The monarch as the head of state ............................................................. 7-10
2.2 The President as the Head of State ......................................................... 10-13
2.3 Other types of head of state …………………………… .13-14
Conclusion ………………………………………………………………… .15-16
List of used literature ……………………………………… ..17

Files: 1 file

ABSTRACT ON THE COURSE "POLITICAL SCIENCE"

TOPIC: "INSTITUTE OF THE HEAD OF STATE: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS"

Minsk, 2013

Introduction ……………………………………………………… ………………… .. 3-4

Section 1. Institute of the head of state: concept, essence, purpose …… ..5-6

Section 2. Experience of functioning of the institution of the head of state in Belarus and in foreign countries ………………………………………………………… .7-14

2.1 The monarch as the head of state ............................................................. 7-10

2.2 The President as the Head of State ......................................................... 10-13

2.3 Other types of head of state …………………………… .13-14

Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………… .15-16

List of used literature ……………………………………… ..17

Introduction

Charles de Gaulle stated his doctrine of constitutional construction in the following way: "In my opinion, it is necessary for the state to have a head, that is, a leader in whom the nation can see a person standing above the currents, authorized to decide the main thing, and the guarantor of its destinies." In this regard, the post of head of state is usually approved. It is the head of state who provides the highest representation of the country and is often a symbol of the state, the unity of the nation.

Unlike the “classical” branches of government (legislative, executive, judicial), the actual and legal position of the head of state cannot be unambiguously determined. In each country, the place of this official is unique and depends on historical traditions, form of government, etc. However, the most common features that characterize the institution of the head of state can be identified.

The purpose of this study is to consider the institution of the head of state in the system of separation of powers, to determine his powers, to carry out a comparative analysis of the types of the head of state on the basis of Belarusian and foreign experience.

For this, the following tasks have been set in the work:

  1. consider the concept of "head of state";
  2. consider the powers of the head of state;
  3. consider the types of the head of state, determine the procedure for filling a post;

Having clarified all of the above, one can judge the importance of the institution of the head of state in the system of the highest bodies of state power, one can consider the similarities and differences of the types of the head of state in different countries and, on the basis of this, identify the most promising variety.

1. Institute of the head of state: concept, essence, purpose

In all developed democracies, an integral part of the mechanism for exercising power is the institution of the head of state, which occupies a special place in the system of separation of powers. The head of state is a constitutional body and at the same time the highest official of the state, representing the state outside and inside the country, a symbol of the statehood of the people.

In different countries, the head of state, in accordance with their constitutions, is considered either as an integral part of parliament, i.e. legislative power, since without his signature the law is invalid (Great Britain, India), either as the head of the executive branch and at the same time the head of state (Egypt, USA), or as a person who is only the head of state and is not part of any branch of government (Germany. Italy). He can be a symbol of statehood, like a monarch in Japan, a powerful arbiter in relation to other institutions of the state, like the President of France, the sole ruler (Oman, Saudi Arabia).

Based on the foregoing, the following basic features of the head of state can be distinguished. It:

Highest place in the hierarchy of government positions;

High representation, both in domestic political life and in the international arena;

The bearer, first of all, of the executive power, exercised by him alone or jointly with the government.

The head of state, regardless of its type, has some common powers for all countries: this convocation of sessions of parliament, the publication of laws, the right to dissolve parliament (sometimes the right of veto), the formation of a government (sometimes its formal approval), the right to dismiss ministers and the government to resign, appoint judges, grant citizenship and the right of asylum, conclude and ratify certain kinds of international agreements, appoint diplomatic representatives, reward, pardon convicts, etc., but the exercise of these powers in practice depends on the form of government. In addition, under any form of government, the head of state can exercise some powers independently, while others require the consent or approval of the parliament (for example, for the appointment of ambassadors to the United States) or even the government (in a parliamentary republic).

2. Experience of functioning of the institution of the head of state in Belarus and in foreign countries

As it was clarified earlier, the source of power, the role and powers of the head of state depend on the form of government. Based on this, two main types of head of state can be distinguished: the president and the monarch.

2.1. Monarch as head of state

The most striking symbol of state power is the monarch. As a rule, the monarch (king, sultan, etc.) is the head of state and at the same time the head of the executive branch. However, all power belongs to him only in an absolute monarchy. In reality, he exercises the powers of the head of state and the head of the executive branch in a dualistic monarchy, while in a parliamentary monarchy he usually performs acts of the head of state and the head of the executive branch at the direction of the government, here the monarch rather performs the function of a symbol of the state, the unity of the nation, an example to follow.

The monarch is an inviolable person. He cannot be brought to administrative, criminal liability, a civil claim cannot be brought against him. For the actions of the monarch in the management of state affairs, his ministers bear political responsibility.

The monarch is entitled to a special title. Sometimes his official title is very long, as it includes the different possessions of the monarch. He has the right to a special treatment "Your Majesty", which cannot be used when addressing other persons in this state, except for the wife of the monarch. The monarch possesses state regalia (throne, crown, etc.), has his own court - persons engaged in serving himself and his family, but paid from the state budget. For this, the parliament annually allocates funds - a civil list.

The monarch receives and passes on his post by inheritance. There are several inheritance systems:

1) salic, when only men (primarily the eldest son) inherit the throne, and women, including daughters, are excluded from the number of heirs to the throne (Belgium, Norway. Japan, etc.);

2) Castilian, when women (daughters) inherit the throne, if the late monarch has no sons. If there is a younger son and an older sister, then the son has the advantage (Great Britain, Denmark since 1953, Spain, the Netherlands, etc.);

3) Austrian (it existed in the past), when women can inherit the throne, provided that there are no men in all generations of this dynasty (in practice, at least in recent centuries, women did not occupy the post of monarch to the system submitted to the system);

4) Swedish, according to which, according to the law of 1980, women inherit the throne on an equal footing with men. Currently, the 18-year-old daughter of the King of Sweden, who also has a younger son, is a contender for the throne and acts as a deputy king during his departure from the country (before the adoption of the 1980 law, this state was ruled by queens three times: in XIV, XVII and XV11I centuries);

5) Muslim, when the throne is inherited, in essence, not by a certain person, but by a "noble" ruling family (part of the dynasty), which itself decides which of the closest relatives of the late king (not necessarily a son) will take the vacated throne (Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, etc.). The same family, with the participation of senior priests and Muslim scholars (ulema), dismisses the king and replaces him with another family member (this was the case, for example, in Saudi Arabia due to the king's accusation of insufficient piety);

6) tribal, when the king is regarded as the chief leader of the tribe, and his heir is determined by the tribal council from among the numerous sons of the deceased. In Swaziland, this is done by the Likoko tribal council, headed by the Queen Mother, which reflects the remnants of matriarchy. He last elected a king in 1982 from among more than 150 sons of the deceased.

After the succession to the throne, a special coronation ceremony is envisaged. Coronation means the final accession of the monarch. This kind of head of state is least susceptible to the influence of opportunistic changes in the alignment of forces; its formation is not associated with the holding of elections.

Despite the high degree of adaptability, the monarchy in the modern world is increasingly losing its position. The preservation of the monarch as the sole head of state in a significant part of the world is due to specific historical reasons. Historical traditions, peculiarities of national culture and national legal consciousness play a very important role in the preservation of this institution of sole and hereditary rule. In this case, we are talking about adherence not so much to a certain person, often the person of the monarch herself may not be very popular, but about adherence to an institution, which is considered as one of the attributes of national statehood. An important role is also played by the fact that the monarch is often viewed by public opinion as a politically neutral figure, standing above the clashes of various political forces, or even as a kind of arbiter in conflicts between the legislative and executive authorities. The political elite also shows a certain interest in preserving the institution of the monarch, especially in those cases when this makes it possible to exclude the risk of political struggle and political surprises when replacing the institution of the head of state. At the same time, the prevailing trend in the development of the institution of the head of state is the reduction in the number of monarchies and the increase in the number of countries with a republican form of government.

2.2. President as head of state

Nowadays, in 143 countries, presidents act as heads of state in the world. If monarchs become heads of state by inheritance or are elected for life, often regardless of their personal qualities, then presidents are elected for a specific term (three years in Latvia, four years in the USA, five in Brazil, six in Egypt, seven in France) ... There have been, however, “presidents for life,” as well as presidents who have held office in ways other than elections. The world's first president in the modern sense was elected in the United States in 1789.

There are various ways to elect a president:

1. Voting in parliament (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Turkey, Albania, etc.). A president elected by parliament is usually, although not always, a "weak" president: he receives his powers not directly from the voters, but from a representative body and cannot oppose himself to him.

2. Voting of electors. Voters vote for the electors, and the latter, without getting together, elect the president from among the candidates nominated by the parties (Argentina, the USA, Finland before the 90s). With this method, the results of the elections become known before the voting of the electors, as soon as their party affiliation is calculated: the president will be the one who has the majority of the electors behind him.

3. Election of the President by a special electoral collegium (Federal Assembly in Germany, consisting of members of the lower house and the same number of representatives of the states, a collegium consisting of members of both houses of parliament and delegates of regional councils in Italy, a collegium of elected members of both chambers of parliament in India and state legislatures).

4. Election directly by voters (Mexico, Ukraine, France, etc.).

According to many constitutions, the president enjoys immunity, he cannot be brought to administrative responsibility, and criminal punishment is possible only after the president is removed from office (usually by impeachment). However, a president who voluntarily resigns, as a rule, seeks the adoption of a law or an agreement on its non-responsibility. In many countries, a civil action can be brought against the president. Civil lawsuits against the state can also be brought against the president as a representative of the state.

The president has certain privileges: his own residence, special transport, including airplanes, guards, his own standard - the flag, which is a symbol of presidential power. In many countries there is a special address to the president - "Your Excellency". The pay for the president is set by parliamentary law and is usually the highest among officials.

INTRODUCTION 3

Chapter 1 THE PRESIDENT AS THE HEAD OF STATE IN THE SYSTEM OF STATE AUTHORITIES ... 6

1.1 The legal nature of presidential power. 6

1.2 The place of the head of state in the system of power. eleven

Chapter 2 FEATURES OF THE INSTITUTE OF THE HEAD OF STATE IN THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS, THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION AND UKRAINE. 16

2.1 The institution of the presidency in the Republic of Belarus. 16

2.2 The President and his legal status in the Russian Federation. twenty

2.3 Place and role of the head of state in Ukraine. 23

CONCLUSION. 28

LIST OF USED SOURCES .. 31

Fragment of work:

A comparative analysis of the institutions of the heads of state of the Republic of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine made it possible to identify their distinctive features. Thus, the President of the Republic of Belarus, occupying an independent position in the system of government bodies, largely gravitates towards the branch of the executive branch. Essentially the supreme magistrate, the head of state has powers that no other branch of government has - neither the legislative, nor the executive, nor the judiciary. As if towering over them, the head of state, interacting with them and being a powerful arbiter, occupies a dominant position befitting him among other branches of government, being the first, main and highest branch of government ...



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