Already in the very concept of “legislative power” lies one of the main functions - legislative. In addition to this task, the legislative branch performs financial and control functions. Let's consider each function in more detail.
Legislative function
Only parliament has the exclusive right to create laws - legal normative acts, which after the Constitution have great legal force. No other state body of the Russian Federation has such a right, only the legislative branch. Within the powers of the state or its subjects, any issues and any sphere of public relations can be settled. It is regulated by the general rules of the law, and not just resolved in a particular case. Legislative power in Russia is represented by the Federal Assembly, which consists of the State Duma and the Federation Council, that is, of the lower and upper houses, respectively. Article 94 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation speaks of the representative and legislative nature of this body.
Financial function
It consists in the adoption of the state budget and control over its implementation. The Federal Assembly establishes the scope of expenditures and income levels, adopts the budget and approves the budget execution report. The financial function stands between lawmaking and control: budget adoption is lawmaking, and budget adoption and control over its implementation is one of the types of regulation of the executive branch.
Control function
This is a system of checks and balances, the object of which is the executive branch. Parliamentary control over the executive branch does not allow it to “impose” its own methods of governing the state and ignore the activities and activities of democratic organizations and institutions. Exercise of control is not only a check of the work of state bodies and imposition of sanctions for violations, but also the right to participate in the process of formation and organization of the highest bodies of state power. The sanctions imposed by the legislature consist in the expression of censure, a vote of no confidence or impeachment. The effectiveness of control and the level of authority depends on:
- forms of government - in Russia, the principle of separation of powers works when all branches of government function independently;
- the presence of opposition - if the government and the parliamentary majority are members of the same party, then the effectiveness of control is noticeably reduced;
- constitutional traditions.
At the control stage, it is important to interact with the judicial authorities, which is subject only to the Constitution of Russia and federal law: the legislative branch, in particular the Federation Council, appoints judges of the highest instance, and the Constitutional Court, in turn, decides on the constitutional compliance of laws and regulations . Normative legal acts and laws or their separate provisions shall be considered invalid if the Constitutional Court has decided that the law, normative legal act or their separate provisions are contrary to the Constitution.
Legislative power is one of the branches of state power delegated by the people, which develops and adopts laws and regulatory legal acts regulating all spheres of public life, and carries out financial and control functions. The functions of the legislative power are enshrined in the Constitution of Russia at different levels, but this does not mean that some of them are basic - all functions are related, and their combined performance gives an idea of what role the legislative power plays among other branches of government.