Политико-правовые ценности конституционных судей сквозь призму особых мнений: психологический подход

Закон. 2020. № 12. С. 101–117.

Evseev A.

The  article deals with the  psychological aspects of constitutional 
litiagation in Russia and worldwide. The  author tries to find out 
how the  political and legal philosophy of judges of constitutional 
and equivalent courts manifests itself in judicial dissent. Factors 
arising as the  case progresses and potentially affecting the  initial 
ideas of constitutional judges are analysed. Legalistic, attitude and 
strategic approaches, which are three main methods to assess 
judicial behaviour recognised in Western psychological science, are 
highlighted. The concept of psychological attitude is introduced as it 
applies to court proceedings, and its role in court decision making is 
demonstrated through concrete examples. With the help of the analysis 
of judicial dissent, the author reveals stable nature of the legal views 
of judges of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, which 
approximately allows to predict their position in similar cases. At 
the same time, the values and specificity of the arguments laid down 
in the dissenting opinions and the stylistics of their presentation are 
taken into account. The conclusion is made that, under the current 
circumstances, judicial dissent is a suitable opportunity for judges to 
express their views publicly in relation to a specific case which has 
caused discrepancies within the panel.

Keywords: Constitutional Court of Russia, Конституционный Суд Российской Федерации, attitude, institution «dissenting opinion of the judge», институт «особое мнение судьи», установка личности