Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation is a high court empowered to rule on whether laws or presidential decrees conflict with the Constitution of Russia. It can strike down federal and regional laws, review international treaties before ratification, and resolve disputes over the competence of government bodies. Its decisions are final and carry direct legal force superior to any federal law.
The Constitutional Court of the RSFSR Act was adopted on the 12th of July 1991, and the court began functioning in October 1991 after the Fifth Congress of People's Deputies elected 13 judges. It was suspended by presidential decree on the 7th of October 1993 and reconstituted under a new act in July 1994, resuming operations in February 1995.
The proposal to relocate the court from Moscow to Saint Petersburg was put forward by Federation Council Chairman Sergei Mironov in October 2005. Federal Constitutional Law No. 2-FKZ, signed on the 5th of February 2007, formally changed the court's permanent location, and the move was completed by 2008. The court now occupies the former Senate and Synod Building.
Valery Zorkin has served as president of the Constitutional Court since 2003. He also held the position from 1991 to 1993. Zorkin was born in 1943 and trained at Moscow State University, where he worked as a university professor before his first appointment to the court.
Yes. A private citizen may submit a claim to the Constitutional Court challenging the constitutionality of a specific law, but only if that law was applied in a case involving that citizen and violated their rights. The court cannot act on its own initiative; a submission from an eligible party is required.
In October 2009, the court forced Judge Vladimir Yaroslavtsev to resign from the Council of Judges after he gave an interview to El Pais claiming that the presidential executive office and security services had undermined judicial independence. Judge Anatoly Kononov, who publicly supported Yaroslavtsev, was forced to leave the court entirely on the 1st of January 2010, seven years before his term was due to end.