Constitutional Law of the Russian Federation and Central Asian Countries: The Unique and the Universal

The article is devoted to the study of the constitutional law of Russia and Central Asian countries (traditionally this refers to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan), which is predetermined by our close cooperation with each other and little knowledge of this geographic community: Central Asia's laws are not subjected to a detailed analysis; meanwhile, its states are closest to the Russian Federation, interaction with them can lead to positive results in the field of state and legal construction, which is undoubtedly relevant. The aim of this study is to identify common features between Russian constitutional and legal norms and the unique constitutional experience of the countries of Central Asia. The analysis is based on the theoretical works of K. V. Aranovsky, V. G. Vishnyakov, E. I. Kolyushin, N. A. Mikhaleva, A. V. Nechkin, V. E. Chirkin and other prominent scholars, as well as regulatory documents, including the Constitutions of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan. The main methods of the study were formal legal (used to study the texts of the basic laws of the states) and comparative legal (used to identify the common and the specific). Undoubtedly, the objective proximity of Russia with the countries of Central Asia and their integration policy based on tolerance form a favorable basis for constitutional and legal universalization ensured, in turn, by internationalization and reception of constitutional law. In the research, the following manifestations of constitutional and legal universalization were identified: (1) a break with the constitutional legal experience of the Soviet past; (2) a fundamental renewal of the foundations of the constitutional order; (3) a noticeable influence of generally recognized principles and norms of international law; (4) reception of advanced foreign constitutional experience. At the same time, it was discovered that each state takes into account its natural-geographical, historical, national-cultural, internal political and other features in the basic laws. As a result, the authors came to the conclusion that, despite the fundamental commonality of the constitutional law of Russia and Central Asian countries, there are many differences in sources, institutions, rates of development and content of specific norms, which allows grouping constitutional and legal differences not only by typical reason-main institutions-but also according to the temporal criterion. It was also found that institutions that are regulated not only by constitutional, but also by international law, do not have any special distinctions. The most heterogeneous is the regulation of the organization and activities of government bodies, but, by virtue of mutual reception, it also begins to acquire universal features.