[JURIST] The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation [official website, in Russian; RIN backgrounder] began work at its new location in St. Petersburg Monday. The move from the Court's former home in Moscow began in February and is expected to be completed by May 21, with the Court's first session in its new home to take place the following day. RIA Novosti has more.

The legislation authorizing the move was signed into law [JURIST report] by then-Russian President Vladimir Putin in February 2007. The law allows the Court to hold visiting sessions anywhere in the Russian Federation and authorizes the Court to maintain a Moscow office "to ensure cooperation with federal authorities," a provision seen as allowing many judges who were against relocation [Kommersant backgrounder] to continue working from a Moscow base.