The Rules of the Government of the Russian Federation were approved by Resolution #260 of the Government of the Russian Federation of June 1, 2004 and have been amended over the years. This act establishes the rules for the procedures of the Russian Federation Government in exercising its authority, the procedures for planning Government meetings, their preparation and conduct, and the procedures for drafting laws. The Rules also establish the procedures for the preparation and discussion of the acts of the Government, the formalization of the decisions taken at meetings of the Government of the Russian Federation.
The Chairman (Prime Minister) of the Government organizes the work of the Government, conducts the meetings of the Government, regularly confers with the Government members, the heads of state bodies and organizations under the Government to review progress in the fulfillment of Government programmes and plans, the directives of the President of the Russian Federation to the Government, and makes decisions on current issues. The Government Chairman (Prime Minister) determines the guidelines for the activities of the Government and regularly briefs the President of the Russian Federation on the work of the Government.
The main areas of the work of the Government of the Russian Federation are ensuring compliance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the Federal Laws, the enactments of the President of the Russian Federation, international treaties of the Russian Federation, the issue of resolutions and executive orders of the Government of the Russian Federation, reviewing draft federal laws, decrees and executive orders of the President of the Russian Federation.
Government members may be present at and address the meetings of the houses of the Federal Assembly, their committees and commissions in accordance with the house rules:
To ensure Government effectiveness and the coordination of activities in the legislative process and to ensure that the houses of the Federal Assembly have respectively the Plenipotentiary Representative of the Government of the Russian Federation at the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and the Plenipotentiary Representative of the Government of the Russian Federation at the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.
To represent the position of the Russian Government at the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and the Higher Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation, the Russian Government appoints its Plenipotentiary Representative to the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and the Higher Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation. The Plenipotentiary Representative coordinates the activities of other representatives of the Government of Russia in said courts.
The Government within its scope of authority processes citizen petitions for consideration, makes rulings on them and ensures timely replies to the petitioner. To this end the Government organizes receptions for citizens by members of the Government and other officials and processes their written petitions.