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Mr Putin and Mr Zorkin discussed the Constitutional Court’s work.

Summing up the court’s work over 2005, Mr Zorkin said that protection of citizens’ constitutional rights and liberties and defence of the constitutional order remained the principle areas of the court’s activity.

Mr Zorkin named the decision confirming the constitutionality of the new procedures for electing regional governors as one of the court’s most important decisions. This decision did come in for some public criticism, though the Council of Europe and the Venice Commission gave an overall positive evaluation of the election law, Mr Zorkin said.

Mr Zorkin noted that the Constitutional Court is examining a large number of cases regarding how laws are applied. It is in this area that citizens often encounter infringements of their rights. Mr Zorkin said this situation is linked to the low level of legal culture in society and to the lack of access to the sources of law.

Mr Putin plans to instruct the government to increase public access to official information.