Termination of citizenship as a measure of constitutional and legal liability

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to identify the constitutional meaning of the rules establishing responsibility in the sphere of citizenship of the Russian Federation. In constitutional law, there are sanctions such as cancellation of the decision on granting citizenship, termination of citizenship, deprivation of citizenship. The Constitution of the Russian Federation prohibits deprivation of citizenship. Nevertheless, the current legal regulation allows for the application of constitutional sanctions that interrupt the political and legal connection with the Russian Federation. The Federal Law of 2023 “On Citizenship of the Russian Federation” provides for the institution of termination of citizenship, which involves the loss of a person’s legal connection with the state both voluntarily (renouncing citizenship of the Russian Federation of his own free will) and involuntarily — regardless of the person’s wishes. It seems that forcible termination of citizenship should be considered as one of the measures of the constitutional responsibility of an individual. The basis for this liability is the commission of a constitutional offense incompatible with the high status of a Russian citizen. The law provides for two groups of grounds for compulsory termination of citizenship: ex ante grounds — which occurred before the decision on admission to citizenship was made; ex post grounds — which occurred after the decision to grant citizenship was made.

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