On February 22, the Federation Council re-appointed Valery Zorkin to the position of Chairman of Russia's Constitutional Court. He has been a judge of the Constitutional Court since its inception in 1991 and has been elected to the post of chairman three times.

President Dmitry Medvedev nominated Zorkin, and Presidential Envoy Alexander Kotenkov presented the candidate to the members of the Federation Council on Wednesday.

Zorkin was elected after receiving 141 votes, no votes against and one abstention. Photo: Senators Alexander Torshin, Yegor Stroyev and Chairman of the Constitutional Court Valery Zorkin.

Nikolai Fyodorov, chairman of the Council's Committee on Constitutional Legislation, said that Zorkin enjoys unquestioned authority, thanks to his “long-term loyalty to the letter and spirit of the Constitution and public championing of the principles of the Constitution – particularly in the context of the European Court of Human Rights.”

Speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko called Zorkin the “moral standard for Russian society.”

Under new legislation, the Chairman of the Constitutional Court in the Federation Council will be nominated by the President and elected for a term of six years. Previously, the chairman was elected by a secret ballot of judges and the term of office was limited to three years.