Impeachment is the removal from power of any official

Impeachment is a legal procedure for expressing political mistrust of a higher official because of the latter's failure to fulfill his direct duties. A direct consequence of such actions is the removal from the post and in some cases the opening of the prosecution. In parliamentary democracies, impeachment is also a court of parliament. A similar procedure is provided, for example, by the legislative systems of the United Kingdom and the United States.

And not only the president ...

In our public opinion for some reason it is considered that there is only impeachment of the president. However, this is far from the case - we are talking about high officials, to which the Prime Ministers are also included. In Japan, such a scenario is quite real in the sense that the prime minister de facto is the head of state. As for the US, the famous "Watergate scandal" clearly demonstrated how the American judicial and political machine works. But here we need to clarify that, according to American laws, impeachment is a direct suspension of any official. Therefore, it does not matter which place an official or politician occupies in the system of state power. The main thing is that he works in the legal field, and his bureaucratic activity was not conditioned by personal or business interests.

Impeachment procedure in American style

Note also that this procedure applies only to civilians. There is a system of military tribunals in the army . So, the procedure of removal is initiated and conducted by the House of Representatives. Motivation is "serious offenses", the content of which is detailed in each individual case. The culprit is charged with the consequences of his unlawful actions. If the guilt is proven, then a vote is taken, with an absolute majority of votes an official is dismissed from his post. However, an agreement between the parliamentary majority and the opposition is also possible. Then a decision is made on impeachment and new elections are appointed. Then there are hearings in the Senate, where a minimum of 2/3 votes are collected. If they are received, the bureaucrat loses the right to hold any state post. But before this case rarely comes. The same Richard Nixon resigned in 1974, without waiting for the decision of the Senate. And in the case of B. Clinton, the Senate refused to support the initiative of the House of Representatives.

Impeachment procedure in Russian

According to the Russian Constitution, impeachment is the removal of the president from power in case of accusations of unlawful actions against him. The very procedure for dismissal is initiated by the State Duma, and the Federation Council decides whether to leave the head of state in office or not. Prerequisite - sane crimes or other offenses must be proven by the Supreme Court. After that, the voting procedure in both houses of parliament is already underway: there should be at least 2/3 of the votes cast in both places. Moreover, voting in the Federation Council should take place within 2 months after the commencement of the impeachment procedure. Otherwise, it is considered that all charges against the president have been dropped.