Interparliamentary Associations of the Subjects of the Russian Federation in the 1990s: the formation of the institutional foundations of "horizontal federalism"

Shirko Tatiana Ivanovna PhD in History Associate Professor of Tomsk State University 634050, Russia, Tomsk region, Tomsk, Lenin Ave., 36 strelk-s@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction One of the system-forming features of a federal state is the presence of stable organizational forms of interaction between the subjects of the Federation, the mechanisms of formation and activities of which, as a rule, are not a priority of state-building.

Therefore, the formation of institutional forms of cooperation between the state authorities of the subjects of the Federation is a consequence of the natural processes of their self-organization. The positive role of such associations is known: their activity gives dynamics to the development of the federal system, contributes to the rapid adaptation of the subjects of the Federation to changing internal and external conditions and reduces the likelihood of centrifugal tendencies ^{[1, p. 5; 2, p. 39]}. Various institutional forms of interparliamentary cooperation of the subjects of the Federation are known to the world practice, such as assemblies, associations, conferences, forums, unions, meetings, councils, etc. which are formed on a contractual basis, have the status of consultative and advisory bodies, whose decisions are advisory in nature for their participants ^{[3, p. 6]}. The organizational form and scope of the implemented functions of such entities depends on the historical conditions and features of the development of the federation, the method of establishment and the target problems requiring joint solutions ^{[4, p. 18]}. There is a pattern that the more organizationally and meaningfully independent of the executive power or the federal center the subjects of interparliamentary cooperation, the more diverse the internal structure of associations, the more prestigious the status of membership, the wider the coverage of the issues discussed and the higher the degree of responsibility for the decisions taken.

In the 1990s, in the Russian Federation, in the context of the processes of political and economic decentralization, a number of associations of inter-parliamentary cooperation emerged, initiated and participated in by the legislative authorities of the regions. During this period, the process of establishing inter-parliamentary cooperation between the subjects of the Federation was of a natural and progressive nature, the specifics of which were determined by the willingness of parliaments to act independently of the executive and the federal center, their socio-economic and political maturity. Therefore, it is important to generalize the organizational practice of interparliamentary cooperation of the subjects of the Russian Federation that developed during this period, reflecting, taking into account the specifics of parliamentary activity, the state of horizontal integration processes between the subjects of the Federation, as well as the level of maturity and effectiveness of the current federal model.

       Conditions for the formation of inter-parliamentary associations The conditions of the political and institutional environment that developed in the 1990s had a significant impact on the nature, intensity and parameters of the formation of inter-parliamentary associations and the organization of cooperation between the subjects of the Federation as a whole.

In 1993, on a new constitutional basis, the principles of federalism and separation of powers were enshrined as the key principles of Russian statehood. The territories, regions, republics and autonomous entities received the status of a subject of the Federation, and their legislative bodies were endowed with legislative functions. The definition of common organizational grounds for the parliaments of the constituent entities of the Federation created conditions for their interaction in the legislative process, and the endowment of the authorities of the constituent entities of the Federation with their own competence, through the definition of their subjects of competence and powers, created opportunities for their meaningful interaction.

This period is characterized by the presence of multidirectional strategies of the center and the regions in regulating a single legislative process. The federal authorities focused on the development of legislation within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Russian Federation, and the regions focused on the subjects of their own jurisdiction. Therefore, rule-making within the joint jurisdiction and powers of the center and the regions lagged behind the development of the other two directions and the subjects of the Federation independently adopted laws in the field of joint competence ^{[5, p. 175]}. The competence of "advanced rule-making" was confirmed by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, which recognized such a practice as constitutional in the absence of an appropriate federal law on joint conduct (Resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation No. 16-P of November 30, 1995 "In the case of Checking the Constitutionality of Articles 23 and 24 of the Provisional Regulations on Ensuring the Activities of Deputies of the Kaliningrad Regional Duma, approved by the Resolution of the Kaliningrad Regional Duma of July 8, 1994" // Collection of Legislation of the Russian Federation. – 1995. – No. 50. – Article 4969.).

A significant role in regulating the processes of formation of federal relations is assigned to the federal and regional policy implemented by the state. In general, the 1990s were characterized by the refusal of the federal center to strictly regulate federal relations and focus on contractual relations with the regions. Therefore, the 1990s are described in the literature as a period of decentralization and increasing asymmetry in relations between the center and the regions, the main characteristics of which are the loss of the center's influence on regional political processes, as well as the active participation of regional elites in all-Russian political and economic processes ^{[6, p. 169; 7, p. 38]}.

Thus, in the 1990s, the factors of the political and legal environment, the specifics of the development of federal relations, as well as the peculiarities of the development of rule-making created favorable conditions for the organization of cooperation of regional parliaments with common goals and interests in resolving issues related to the provision and organization of legislative activity, solving the problems of the division of powers between the center and the regions.

Organizational forms of inter-parliamentary cooperation

The search for a form of organization of interparliamentary cooperation between the subjects of the Federation began after the model of the Coordination Council for Interaction between the Chambers of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and the legislative (representative) authorities of the subjects of the Russian Federation established on June 10, 1994 (the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation: an encyclopedic reference book) was recognized as inappropriate for these purposes. URL: http://www.council.gov.ru/services/reference/9775/). The regional deputies were not satisfied with the lecture format of the meetings, the emphasis on problematic issues only on subjects of joint management, as well as limited opportunities for organizing discussions between all interested participants (The initiative of the Legislative Assembly of the Vologda Region on the formation of the North-Western Parliamentary Association (NWPA). URL: https://www.vologdazso.ru/upload/iblock/e30/e30159fb5a14ae25d9bd3bb46b9ce3eb.pdf). However, it was at the meetings of the Council that deputies had the opportunity to identify common positions, update requests for consulting assistance in the organization and content of legislative activity based on common approaches and standards of regional legislation, discuss legislative initiatives on subjects of joint and own jurisdiction of the subjects of the Federation, as well as realize the need to form a common position of the subjects of the Federation on topical economic and political issues.

The desire to solve the identified problems in the short term was the reason for the development in the summer of 1994 by regional deputies of their own projects for organizing interparliamentary activities, excluding the mediation of the federal center. The first two options provided for the organization of joint activities only of the heads of regional parliaments, in one case, through parliamentary councils at interregional associations of economic cooperation (Russian Federation. - 1994. – No. 6. – p. 17), in another case – by creating an All-Russian Parliamentary Association uniting 89 subjects of the Federation (the Russian Federation. – 1994. – No. 7. – p. 24). However, both projects did not meet with the support of parliaments interested in cooperation, as they limited the possibility of a broad collective discussion of specific problems of regional law-making, which was noted by the deputies themselves, for example, during the formation of the North-Western Parliamentary Association (Initiative of the Legislative Assembly of the Vologda Region on the formation of the North-Western Parliamentary Association (NWPA) URL: https://www.vologdazso.ru/upload/iblock/e30/e30159fb5a14ae25d9bd3bb46b9ce3eb.pdf ).

Therefore, during the search for the optimal form of coordination activity, the deputies drew attention to the experience of forming inter-parliamentary associations in other states, as well as regional associations of economic cooperation in Russia itself ^{[8, p. 61]}. Thus, the third draft summarized all the substantive priorities of regional legislators, and the choice was made in favor of creating associations that provided an opportunity to act organizationally and financially independently of the chambers of the Federal Assembly or executive authorities and provided for participation in meetings of delegations (Russian Federation. – 1994. – No. 7. – p. 25). The basic integrating conditions for the parliaments of the constituent entities of the Federation were the already existing experience of joint activities with other constituent entities of the Federation in various fields and taking into account the territorial, geographical and economic specifics of the location of the constituent entity of the Federation in the corresponding macro-region. As a result, taking advantage of inter–parliamentary cooperation turned out to be relevant for the most active participants in the negotiations - the subjects of the Federation of the North-West of Russia, as well as the Far East and Transbaikalia, traditionally distinguished by a high level of regional self-identification ^{[7, p. 48; 9, p. 93]}.

On November 17, 1994 in Vologda, representatives of parliamentary delegations from 10 subjects of the Federation – Arkhangelsk, Vologda, Kaliningrad, Leningrad, Novgorod, Pskov, Yaroslavl regions, the Republics of Karelia and Komi, Nenets Autonomous Okrug signed an agreement on the establishment of the North-Western Parliamentary Association (NWPA) [Agreement on the formation of the North-Western Parliamentary Association. URL: https://www.vologdazso.ru/interaction/paszr/pravopaszr.php?ID=141888 ], its charter and provisional regulations were adopted, which were supposed to be finalized taking into account the specific experience of its activities (1 Conference (constituent). November 17, 1994, the Legislative Assembly of the Vologda region. Minutes of the meeting. URL: https://www.vologdazso.ru/upload/iblock/30f/30fec648a163ce9a7bf738a7d6c081b0.pdf). Association of Legislative (Representative) Public Authorities of the Far East and Transbaikalia (Parliamentary Association "Far East and Transbaikalia") It was created by representatives of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories, Amur, Magadan, Chita, Sakhalin Regions, as well as the Jewish Autonomous Region, Aginsky Buryat and Chukotka Autonomous Districts at the second meeting of the association, which took place in Blagoveshchensk on April 11-12, 1995. Its participants signed the founding agreement, approved the Charter, Regulations, as well as two provisions – on a sample of a standard regulatory act and on the Secretariat of the Association (Parliamentary Association "Far East and Transbaikalia". The history of the Association. URL: https://www.pa-dv.ru/about/history/).

The final composition of the NWPA association was determined only in 1995, when, having been convinced of the effectiveness of the associations' activities, the legislative bodies of St. Petersburg and the Murmansk Region expressed a desire to participate in the activities of the association and the Yaroslavl Regional Duma terminated its membership (3rd Conference. December 7-8, 1995, Pskov Regional Duma. Minutes of the meeting. URL: https://www.vologdazso.ru/upload/iblock/da2/da264a8911f7f13186d38dd0adef197c.pdf). The Far Eastern Association was joined in 1996 by the Legislative Assembly of the Kamchatka Territory (Parliamentary Association "Far East and Transbaikalia". The history of the Association. URL: https://www.pa-dv.ru/about/history/).

Both associations were created with the aim of implementing advisory, coordination and advisory functions between the legislative bodies of the subjects of the Federation, the priority of which were: coordination of activities to solve common law-making tasks in the field of subjects of their own jurisdiction of the subjects of the Federation; development of coordinated approaches to reforms, organization of joint promotion and support of legislative initiatives in the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation; conducting coordinated budget, economic and social policy, exchange of information and legislative experience; development of "model acts".

Despite the fact that in other regions of the country the legislative bodies failed to agree on the creation of inter-parliamentary associations, the very idea of cooperation and cooperation of regional parliamentarians in the field of legislative activity continued to be relevant. This is evidenced by the extensive practice of concluding bilateral agreements between parliaments, which allowed coordinating the formation of uniform approaches to legislative activity ^{[10, p. 52]}.

Common interests in inter-parliamentary activities were actualized in 1997 when preparing legislative support for the implementation of socio-economic reforms. In order to prepare the reform, in July 1997 meetings of the associations of economic cooperation of the subjects of the Federation were held, at which issues of joint management of the Federation and its subjects were discussed with the Deputy Prime Ministers and ministers of the Government of Russia - the development of programs for socio–economic development of the subjects of the Federation until 2000 and economic integration of the subjects of the Federation within one macro-region. The subjects of the Federation of the Ural region and the North Caucasus expressed interest in coordinating legislative support for the reform on the basis of uniform standards by forming councils. Council for the Coordination of the Activities of the Legislative Bodies of state Power of the Subjects of the Russian Federation of the Ural Region (Ural Parliamentary Center (UOC)) It was established on July 22, 1997 in Yekaterinburg, its members were nine legislative bodies of the subjects of the Federation – the Republic of Udmurtia and Bashkortostan, as well as Kurgan, Orenburg, Perm, Sverdlovsk, Tyumen, Chelyabinsk regions and Komi-Permyak Autonomous Okrug (Agreement on the establishment of the Ural Parliamentary Center of July 22, 1997 URL:  https://2110.ru/upload/site1/document_file/¹5fy03ppax.pdf). On July 25, 1997, the Interparliamentary Council of the three republics of the North Caucasus – Adygea, Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia was formed in Nalchik (see Kondratenko V. This is a step towards stability and peace not only in the North Caucasus, but also in Russia // Soviet Adygea. - 1997. – July 29. – ¹148.) .

In accordance with their charters, the Councils defined themselves as organizations: the UOC was declared a regional public organization, and the Interparliamentary Council was defined as an "independent, self-governing, voluntary organization", but the functional of the councils was narrow and limited to advisory functions (the Agreement on the Formation of the Interparliamentary Council of the Republic of Adygea, Kabardino-Balkarian Republic and Karachay-Cherkess Republic dated July 25, 1997 // Collection of Laws of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic (1995-1999), Part I). These functions included: coordination of recommendations and decisions on socio-economic reforms, implementation of a consolidated legislative initiative in the Federal Assembly and establishment of effective cooperation in the preparation and adoption of federal laws on subjects of joint jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and its subjects.

Such a contradiction between the form and the declared functions is explained, first of all, by the fact that during this period, the focus on vertical contractual relations with the federal center becomes a priority for the subjects of the Federation – some subjects of the Federation have already concluded bilateral agreements on the delimitation of subjects of competence and mutual delegation of powers with the federal center, and some were actively preparing for the conclusion^{[11, p. 110]}. This is reflected in the activities of the Soviets, which, in general, cannot be called productive. The Interparliamentary Council of the three Republics began its work quite actively, having held three sessions in two years. In 1999, after the election of the president of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic and against this background of the aggravation of interethnic relations, the council suspended its activities and never resumed its work ^{[12, p. 14]}. The activities of the Ural Parliamentary Center also had an irregular character and in fact its only full-fledged meeting was held only in 1999, when its Charter was adopted (Nezavisimaya Gazeta. – 1999. – January 21.).

As a result, at the initial stage of the formation of inter-parliamentary cooperation in 1994, the association turned out to be the most preferred choice as its organizational form, functionally providing an opportunity for delegations to participate in its meetings, a broad discussion of legislative problems defined by the Constitution within its own jurisdiction and powers of the subjects of the Federation. The parliaments of the constituent entities of the Federation, located in the same macro-region and having experience of cooperation within the framework of economic districts and associations of economic interaction, became participants in the associative cooperation. In 1997, in the conditions of increasing asymmetric relations between the center and the regions, in which the subjects of the Federation focused on building individual relationships with the federal center on a contractual basis, the main form of organization of interparliamentary activity became the council, whose participants were the heads of legislative bodies of the subjects of the Federation. The main function of the council became advisory functions related to the implementation of economic reforms and the streamlining of legislation in one macro-region on a single conceptual basis.

          Internal organizational structure of inter-parliamentary associations, legal status, structure, membership and sources of funding

All inter-parliamentary associations of the 1990s – two associations and two councils to streamline joint activities formed governing bodies, created legal, organizational and communication mechanisms of interaction between all participants in cooperation and the bodies they create to achieve their goals ^{[13, p. 128]}.

The highest body of the North-Western Association was a conference consisting of plenary and sectional meetings, and the Association of the Far East and Transbaikalia was a regional meeting. The frequency of their meetings was determined at least twice a year, and was carried out in accordance with pre-formed plans. It was also envisaged to convene extraordinary meetings, in both associations the initiative of at least three members of the association was necessary for this. The competence of the meetings was determined in different ways - in the Association of the Far East and Transbaikalia, the presence of more than half of the delegations was sufficient, in the Association of the Far East and Transbaikalia – at least 2/3 of the members. Decisions, as a rule, were made on the basis of consensus, each delegation from the subject of the Federation was given 1 vote when voting.

The organization of the activities of the supreme governing bodies of associations was carried out by the Soviets. In the North-Western Association, it consisted of the heads of parliamentary delegations, in the Far Eastern Association, the council consisted of five plenipotentiary representatives of the legislative bodies of the participants, who were elected at a regional meeting, with a rotating term of one year. The councils met at least once a quarter and were competent if there were at least half of the members.

Associations and councils were headed by their chairmen, who were elected by a majority vote by open voting at meetings of associations. The competence of the chairman of the Council of the North-Western Association was determined before the next conference, but after a year of the association's work, amendments were made to the Charter, extending the chairman's term of office by one year (2nd Conference of the NWPA. 22-24.06 1995, St. Petersburg, NWPA Regulations. URL:  https://www.vologdazso.ru/upload/iblock/691/6919f3e2fe5678950a015ec2a3645e85.pdf). In the Association of the Far East and Transbaikalia, the annual term of the chairman was determined initially. The functions of the chairmen included, among other things, conducting meetings of meetings, signing documents adopted by associations – decisions, recommendations, resolutions, appeals adopted by associations that had a recommendatory nature.

In order to consider substantive issues in the structure of the Northwest Association, it was provided for the creation of permanent and temporary committees that carried out preliminary consideration and preparation of issues submitted to the conference. Each committee was assigned a coordinator – one of the legislative bodies of the members of the association. Deputies delegated by members of the association worked in the committees. So, in 1994-1995 there were 4 committees in the NWPA, in 1997 there were already 7 and their number was constantly increasing depending on the relevance of the topic under discussion. The more developed the structure of the committees became, the more the organizing role of the Council decreased. As a result, at the X Conference of the NWPA, held on December 5, 1997, amendments and additions were made to the Association's Charter, which changed the scope of the Council's powers in favor of the committees. Now the Association Council was engaged in the formation of the agenda, and the preparation of meetings was transferred to the competence of the relevant committee – depending on the proposed topic (10 Conference of the NWPA. December 5, 1997, Arkhangelsk, Arkhangelsk Regional Assembly of Deputies. Minutes of the meeting. URL:  https://www.vologdazso.ru/upload/iblock/671/671bb308eca7a5d5789b72e975eb986e.pdf). Also, the provisions that the Council must meet at least twice a quarter were removed from the Charter, now it could meet as needed, which effectively stopped its work. Also, subcommittees could be created under the committees when the issue was of a specialized nature and advisory councils. All committees operated on the basis of approved regulations and submitted reports on their activities every year. Coordinating councils emerged as working bodies in the Far Eastern Association.

With the acquisition of experience in joint activities and cooperation, in 1999, the Coordinating Council of Heads of Legislative (representative) state authorities of the Russian Federation - members of the North–Western Parliamentary Association began its work in the structure of the North-Western Association, which performed the functions of interaction with the offices of the chambers of the Federation Council, coordination of the work of the legislative assemblies, summarized the experience activities. Also in December 1999, a meeting of the heads of legal services of the constituent entities of the Federation included in the NWPA was held (17th NWPA Conference. October 15, 1999, St. Petersburg, Legislative Assembly of the Leningrad region. Minutes of the meeting. URL: https://www.vologdazso.ru/upload/iblock/513/51399c7e1be993c5c79c72ef51d90fd2.pdf).

The parliamentary associations of the North-West and the Far East and Transbaikalia, initially, by analogy with the associations of economic cooperation, were planned to be formed as non-profit organizations, which implied the implementation of activities on the basis of membership fees. Nevertheless, only the associations of the Far East and Transbaikalia showed perseverance in this matter, having registered as a legal entity in Khabarovsk. Being a non-profit organization, the Parliamentary Association of the Far East and Transbaikalia also formed an audit commission that carried out internal financial control of activities and a secretariat engaged in organizational activities ^{[14, p. 127]}.

In turn, the North-Western Association, from the very beginning, announced the financing of its activities on a voluntary basis, having decided to hold conferences in the subjects of the Federation of the North-Western region in turn and in this case to impose financial costs on the receiving party. Having stated the failure in the issue of the formation of a legal entity, at the end of 1997, the association made amendments and additions to the Charter and removed the relevant articles from it (10). December 5, 1997, Arkhangelsk Regional Assembly of Deputies. Minutes of the meeting. URL: https://www.vologdazso.ru/upload/iblock/671/671bb308eca7a5d5789b72e975eb986e.pdf).Membership in the associations was determined by the location of the legislative body of the subject of the Federation according to the geographical principle – in the corresponding macro-region, which signed the agreement and sent its delegation, which received one vote when voting.

Nevertheless, the associations did not demonstrate commitment to the closeness of their associations and, on the contrary, called for other subjects of the Federation to join the associations. The charter of the NWPA provided for the status of a participant with an associate membership.

Taking into account the active communication between all participants of inter-parliamentary cooperation and the exchange of information materials, some of the inter-parliamentary associations have launched extensive information and analytical activities. Since 1995, the Association of the North-West has regularly published collections of conference materials. By 1999, the NWPA began preparing the creation of a "Consolidated list of laws of the constituent entities of the Federation – members of the North-Western Parliamentary Association", which is an electronic data bank with the texts of laws and bills. All the constituent entities of the Federation-members of the Association were recommended to send the adopted legislative acts to the Legal Affairs Committee for posting in the database. Both associations clearly positioned their legal personality (15th NWPA Conference. March 18, 1999, Veliky Novgorod, Novgorod Regional Duma. Minutes of the meeting. URL: https://www.vologdazso.ru/upload/iblock/5cc/5ccc20e047f2f4f5fdd5910895fc39d5.pdf). The Far Eastern Association, as a non-profit organization, had a seal, stamps and personal letterheads. In 1998, the NWPA also has its own approved symbols, stamp and name forms (12 NWPA Conference. May 22, 1998, Vologda, the Legislative Assembly of the Vologda region. Minutes of the meeting. URL: https://www.vologdazso.ru/upload/iblock/46e/46ea80ab7a0888a45a4ebb938e0df7a0.pdf). The Legislative Assembly of the Vologda Region was designated as the depositary of the agreement and all documents accepted by the associations of the North-West, and in the Association of the Far East and Transbaikalia, the entire archive was stored at the legal address of the association in Khabarovsk.

In total, during the period from 1994 to 1999, the Association of the North-West held 17 meetings, the most active were 1997-1999, when 3-4 meetings were held per year. The Far Eastern Association held 9 meetings during the same period.

The Soviets demonstrate a different configuration of the internal organizational structure. The supreme governing body of the UOC was the general Assembly, which was headed by its chairman (Agreement on the establishment of the Ural Parliamentary Center of July 22, 1997 URL: //http://www.http://duma.midural.ru/files/dc_250387.pdf ), in the Interparliamentary Council of Adygea, Karachay-Cherkessia and Kabardino-Balkaria, these functions were performed by the session (Charter of the Interparliamentary Council of the Republic of Adygea, Kabardino-Balkarian Republic of Karachay-Circassian Republic // Collection of legislation of the Republic of Adygea. – 1997. – ¹ 5). The participants of the UOC were the heads of the legislative bodies of the constituent entities of the Federation, the interparliamentary Council – plenipotentiary representatives, which were delegations from each member of the Council consisting of 9 deputies. According to the charter, the general meeting of the Ural Council met once a quarter, the frequency of meetings of the sessions of the interparliamentary Council of the three republics was not stipulated and depended on the decisions of the Presidium, which organized the activities of the council. The members of the Presidium were the Chairman of the Parliament of each of the three parties, their deputies and one representative from the parliamentary delegation.

The Charter of the UOC stipulated that the parties have equal rights and one vote, and the council can create its own working bodies. In the interparliamentary council of the three Caucasian republics, decisions were made by a majority of votes from each delegation. The Chairman of the Parliament of the host party presided over the meetings of the Interparliamentary Council, and decisions were prepared in the office of the legislative body of the host party.

The Interparliamentary Council of the three Caucasian Republics was originally planned to be formed as a legal entity, by analogy with the associations of economic cooperation, but later it abandoned this idea. Both councils, as well as associations, were open entities, and formally proclaimed the possibility of other subjects of the Federation joining their activities. On November 20, 1998, at the III session of the Interparliamentary Council of Adygea, Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia, it was decided to issue its own newspaper [Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Adygea No. 92 dated 03/29/1999 // Collection of Legislation of the Republic of Adygea. – 1999. – ¹ 3].

Thus, the organizational basis of the associations was an extensive internal structure. Directly working bodies of associations were committees, commissions or councils that conduct operational work and coordinate interaction between parliaments. A flexible and convenient mechanism for communication and information support of inter-parliamentary activities was formed by the North-Western Parliamentary Association, where legal services and heads of regional parliaments' offices were included in the relations of cooperation and coordination. In turn, in the councils, all the main activities for the preparation of council decisions were assigned to the offices of the parliaments of the host republics.

 Conclusion

 It can be concluded that the formation of organizational forms of inter-parliamentary cooperation was carried out in 1990 in two stages. In 1994-1995, two associations "The Far East and Transbaikalia" and the North-Western Parliamentary Association were established, which was due to the conscious need of regional parliaments to coordinate and cooperate joint activities. The associations were created as consultative and advisory bodies with the coordinating function of legislative activity, mainly within their own jurisdiction in order to create legal unity of economically and politically connected subjects of the Federation of one macroregion. The associations formed developed internal organizational structures of interparliamentary bodies – councils, committees, commissions that ensure their activities, standing and streamlining the multifactorial legislative process. At the same time, the dynamics of the development of information and analytical support for the details of the association, the deepening of cooperation between the heads of the apparatus and legal services of parliaments, and in general, the approval of their legal personality are traced. At the second stage, in 1997, the creation of two councils – the Interparliamentary Council of the Republic of Adygea, the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic and the Karachay-Cherkess Republic and the Council for Coordinating the Activities of Legislative Bodies of state Power of the Subjects of the Russian Federation of the Ural region (Ural Parliamentary Center (UOC)), pursued narrower objectives – the creation of interparliamentary associations of cooperation in order to development of legislative initiatives within the joint jurisdiction of the center and the regions concerning the implementation of economic reform. Their activities were carried out sporadically, the main functions of managing the affairs of the councils were performed by the apparatus of the legislative bodies of the host country. Their participants – the subjects of the Federation, while positioning associations as organizations, nevertheless, focused not on fruitful work, but on the priority of relations with the federal center "vertically".

In general, the analysis and generalization of the experience of interparliamentary cooperation associations in the 1990s in Russia shows that it was the associative form of interparliamentary cooperation that contributed to the formation of stable integrative interaction between the legislative bodies of the subjects of the Federation, influencing the development of a complex process of forming the institutional foundations of horizontal federal relations.

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