[JURIST] Russian President Vladimir Putin [official profile] signed into law [press release] Monday a bill moving the Russian Constitutional Court [RIN backgrounder] from its current Moscow location to St. Petersburg. The bill received final parliamentary approval last month with a 147-2 vote [JURIST report] in Russia's Federation Council [official website.

The bill allows the Court to hold visiting sessions anywhere in the Russian Federation and the Court is also authorized to maintain a Moscow office "to ensure cooperation with the federal authorities," a provision seen as allowing some perhaps-recalcitrant judges [Kommersant backgrounder] to continue working from a Moscow base. Putin, a St. Petersburg native, has previously said that the Court is expected to begin operations in St. Petersburg in late 2007 or early 2008. AP has more.