Immigration Law in Russia

This chapter addresses the process of regulatory development in Russia over migration and the assumption of social and legal responsibility by the State towards migrants. An analysis of the main stages of development of the Russian immigration legislation is given and peculiarities of the legal regulation of migration relations in the Russian Federation are studied. Borrowings of foreign legal norms and their implementation into national legislation, institutions, and principles are also discussed. The chapter reveals certain shortcomings of the current Russian migration normative acts: contradictions between laws, duplication of norms, gaps and collisions between norms. It is argued that the main drawback is the fragmentation of elements in the system of migration laws. Existing norms are not clear enough and are insufficiently unified. Some theoretical issues are also raised, namely the location of migration laws within the overall national legal system of the Russian Federation, as well as the codification of migration laws. Finally, issues concerning further developments of interstate (transnational) integration and the exit of constitutionalism beyond the framework of national states are also considered.