Impeachment is a legal procedure for expressing political distrust of a senior official as a result of failure by the latter to fulfill his direct duties. The direct consequence of such actions is the removal from office and, in some cases, the opening of prosecution. In parliamentary democracies, impeachment is also a court of parliament. A similar procedure is provided, for example, by the legislative systems of Great Britain and the USA.
And not just the president …
For some reason, it is generally accepted in our public opinion that only the impeachment of the president exists. However, this is far from the case - it is a question generally of senior officials, which include prime ministers. In Japan, this scenario is quite real in the sense that the local prime minister is de facto the head of state. As for the United States, the famous Watergate Scandal clearly demonstrated how the American judicial and political machinery works. But here it is necessary to clarify that, according to American laws, impeachment is the direct removal of any official. Therefore, it does not matter what place an official or politician occupies in the system of state power. The main thing is that he works in the legal field, and his bureaucratic activity was not determined by personal or business interests.
American impeachment procedure
We also note that this procedure applies only to civilians. The army has a system of military tribunals. So, the removal procedure is initiated and conducted by the House of Representatives. Motivation - “serious offenses”, the contents of which are detailed in each individual case. The culprit is charged with arising from his unlawful actions. If guilt is proved, then a vote passes, with an absolute majority of votes the official is relieved of his post. However, an agreement between the parliamentary majority and the opposition is also possible. Then a decision is made on impeachment and new elections are called. Then there are hearings in the Senate, where at least 2/3 of the votes are gathered. If they are received, then the bureaucrat loses the right to occupy any public office. But this rarely comes to this. The same Richard Nixon resigned in 1974, without waiting for the decision of the Senate. And in the case of B. Clinton, the Senate refused to support the initiative of the House of Representatives.
Impeachment procedure in Russian
According to the Russian constitution, impeachment is the removal of the president from power in the event of charges against him of unlawful actions. The very process of removal from office is initiated by the State Duma, and the Federation Council decides whether to leave the head of state at his post or not. Precondition - alleged crimes or other offenses must be proved by the Supreme Court. After which the voting procedure is already underway in both houses of parliament: both there and there must be at least 2/3 of the votes cast. Moreover, voting in the Federation Council should take place within 2 months after the impeachment procedure begins. Otherwise, it is believed that all charges against the president have been dropped.
