Teacher of the Year 2017 in Russia guided open Constitution Lesson in the Presidential Library

Open Constitution Lesson was held in the Presidential Library shortly before Constitution Day. The event, timed to the 250th anniversary of convocation of the All-Russian Legislative Commission of 1767, took place in the course of the “Public video lecturing — to school” project.

Open lesson for the 10-grade school students of the St. Petersburg and the Tyumen Oblast was held by the absolute champion of the “Teacher of the Year 2017 in Russia” All-Russian Contest, Advisor to the Minister of Education and Science of Russia, deputy director of Gymnasium № 116 of Primorsky District of St. Petersburg, a teacher of History, Law and Social Studies Ilya Demakov.

Participants of the event have learned some details about the Commission’s work in 1767, its connection with the Constitution of the Russian Federation; discussed many important topics on the history of constitutional ideas in Russia; they got familiar with rare documents from the Presidential Library stock, such as Nakaz or Instruction of Catherine the Great and an extract from the Council Code of the XVII century.

Electronic Museum of the Constitutional History of Russia on the Presidential Library website may spark interest of many. This project in an interactive form, using the cutting edge technologies, tells about the constitutional history and development of the right from the Consolidations of Anna Ioannovna, the manifesto of Alexander the First, the Decembrists’ constitutional projects and the ideas of Mikhail Speransky to the constitutional reform of 1905—1906 and the constitutions of the Soviet era. The fundamental law adopted in 1993 in a nationwide referendum is presented to the maximum extent. Video, photo and film materials relating to a groundwork of the 1993-year Constitution from private archives of lawyers and politicians, as well as from the collection of the Presidential Library are collected in the virtual museum.

Here, taking online sightseeing 3D-tour, the museum’s guests can virtually visit the Constitution Hall, which is located in the building of the Presidential Library. Its permanent exposition tells about the constitutions of Russia of the XX century. Selected documents, photographs, newsreels are dedicated to the “Basic State Laws” of the Russian Empire, the Constitution of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic of 1918, the Constitutions of the USSR of 1924, 1936 and 1977. The stages of creation and adoption of the Constitution of the Russian Federation of 1993 are exposed. There is a special exhibit in the hall — the only duplicate of the inaugural copy of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, handed by the President D. A. Medvedev on the opening day May 27, 2009, of the Presidential Library.

The visitor of the virtual exhibition can brows through the digital copies of documents with the personal notes of the highest official of the country, watch videos of the inauguration ceremonies of the President of the Russian Federation from the different years, as well as with digital copies of signature lists of approval that the heads of state filled out after taking the oath.

In addition, there are such electronic collections as the Constitution — the Basic Law, which includes the texts of the constitutions of the Russian State of various historical epochs, as well as the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Year 1993 on the Presidential Library website. Current selection contains documents demonstrating a direct participation of the President in the work on the draft, the work of the Constitutional Conference, which opened in the Kremlin on June 5, 1993. The process of coordination by the state bodies of the Russian Federation and the constitutional entities of the Russian Federation, people’s deputies, local governments, experts, public organizations, the business community of the draft of Constitution, materials related to the popular vote on the draft Constitution on December 12, 1993, are also demonstrated here.