1. The Constitution of the Russian Federation shall have supreme legal force, direct effect and shall be applicable on the entire territory of the Russian Federation. Laws and other legal acts, which are adopted in the Russian Federation, must not contradict the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

2. State government bodies, local self-government bodies, officials, citizens and their associations shall be obliged to observe the Constitution of the Russian Federation and laws.

3. Laws must be officially published. Unpublished laws shall not have force. Any normative legal acts concerning human and civil rights, freedoms and obligations shall not have force unless they have been officially published for the information of the general public.

4. Universally recognized principles and norms of international law as well as international agreements of the Russian Federation should be an integral part of its legal system. If an international agreement of the Russian Federation establishes rules, which differ from those stipulated by law, then the rules of the international agreement shall be applied.

Article 16

1. The provisions of this Chapter of the Constitution shall constitute the fundamental principles of the constitutional order of the Russian Federation and may not be changed except in accordance with the procedure established by this Constitution.

2. No other provisions of this Constitution may conflict with the fundamental principles of the constitutional order of the Russian Federation.

CHAPTER 2. HUMAN AND CIVIL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS

Article 17

1. In the Russian Federation human and civil rights and freedoms shall be recognized and guaranteed according to the universally recognized principles and norms of international law and this Constitution.

2. Basic human rights and freedoms shall be inalienable and shall be enjoyed by everyone from birth.

3. The exercise of human and civil rights and freedoms must not violate the rights and freedoms of other people.

Article 18

Human and civil rights and freedoms shall have direct force. They shall determine the meaning, content and implementation of laws, the functioning of legislative and executive authority and of local self-government, and shall be guaranteed by law.

Article 19

1. All persons shall be equal before the law and the court.

2. The State guarantees the equality of human and civil rights and freedoms regardless of sex, race, nationality, language, origin, material and official status, place of residence, attitude to religion, convictions, membership of public associations, or of other circumstances. All forms of limitations of human rights on social, racial, national, language or religious grounds shall be prohibited.

3. Men and women shall enjoy equal rights and freedoms and equal opportunities to exercise them.

Article 20

1. Everyone shall have the right to life.

2. Capital punishment until its complete abolition may be established by federal law as an exclusive form of punishment for particularly grave crimes against life, and the accused shall be granted the right to have his case examined by a court with the participation of a jury.

Article 21

1. Human dignity shall be protected by the State. Nothing may serve as a basis for its derogation.

2. Nobody should be subjected to torture, violence, or other severe or humiliating treatment or punishment. Nobody may be subjected to medical, scientific or other experiments without voluntary consent.

Article 22

1. Everyone shall have the right to freedom and personal inviolability.

2. Arrest, detention and keeping in custody shall be permissible only under a court order. A person may not be detained for more than 48 hours without a court order.

Article 23

1. Everyone shall have the right to the inviolability of his (her) private life, personal and family privacy, and protection of his (her) honour and good name.

2. Everyone shall have the right to privacy of correspondence, of telephone conversations and of postal, telegraph and other communications. This right may be limited only on the basis of a court order.

Article 24

1. Collecting, keeping, using and disseminating information about the private life of a person shall not be permitted without his (her) consent.

2. State government bodies and local self-government bodies and their officials shall be obliged to provide everyone with access to documents and materials directly affecting his (her) rights and freedoms, unless otherwise envisaged by law.