Russia's Federal Assembly

The Federal Assembly is the national legislature of Russia according to the Constitution of the Russian Federation (1993). It was preceded by the Supreme Soviet.

It consists of the State Duma, which is the lower house, and the Federation Council, which is the upper house. Both Houses are located in Moscow. The Chairman of the Federation Council is the third most important position after the President and Prime Minister. In the case that both the President and Prime Minister are incapacitated, the chairman of the upper house of the Russian Federal Assembly becomes Acting President of Russia.

The jurisdiction of the State Duma includes: consent to the appointment of the Chairman of the Government (Prime Minister), deciding the issue of confidence in the Government, appointment and dismissal of the Chairman of the Central Bank, appointment and dismissal of the Chairman and half of the Auditors of the Accounting Chamber, appointment and dismissal of the Commissioner of Human Rights, proclamation of amnesty, advancing of charges against the President for his impeachment and others.

Meanwhile, the jurisdiction of the Council of the Federation includes: approval of changes in borders between subjects of the Russian Federation, approval of the decree of the President on the introduction of martial law or on the introduction of state of emergency, deciding on the possibility of using the Armed Forces of Russia outside the territory of Russia, appointment of elections of the President, impeachment of the President, appointment of judges of higher courts of Russia, appointment and dismissal of the Procurator-General of the Russian Federation (Attorney General), appointment and dismissal of Deputy Chairman and half of the Auditors of the Accounting Chamber.

As the Russian legislature, all laws must be voted in the Federation Assembly before they are signed into law. All bills, even those proposed by the Federation Council, must first be considered by the State Duma. Upon adoption by a majority of the full State Duma members, a draft law is considered by the Federation Council, which has fourteen days to place the bill on its calendar. The Federation Council cannot make changes in bills passed by the Duma and can either approve or reject them. If the Federation Council rejects a bill passed by the Duma, the two chambers can form a Conciliation Commission to work out a compromise version of the legislation. If the two chambers cannot reach a compromise, or the Duma insists on passing the bill as is, the veto of the Federation Council can be overriden, if two-thirds of the Duma's constitutional composition vote in favor of the bill.

The State Duma and the Federation Council usually meet separately. Joint sessions are assembled when:

• President of Russia delivers his annual address to the Federation Assembly;
• For hearing of addresses of the Constitutional Court of Russia;
• To hear speeches of leaders of foreign states.

In the midst of 2000s it was suggested that the Parliamentary center of the State Duma and Federation Council be combined into one building. In 2012, the idea was supported by President Dmitry Medvedev. Reasons cited for the construction of a new building included the cramped nature of parliament members' current offices, the remote locations of these offices split across ten locations in Moscow, and the desire of the Government to move the bodies away from the city center to reduce traffic congestion.

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