Charter of Saint Petersburg (Russian: Устав Санкт-Петербурга) is the basic law of the federal city of Saint Petersburg. It was adopted by the Legislative Assembly of Saint Petersburg, the city's unicameral parliament, on January 14, 1998.
Charter of Saint Petersburg was developed and adopted by deputies of the Legislative Assembly of the first convocation (1994-1998). The document was adopted in the second vote by qualified majority in the minimum number of votes - 34 of 50 ( 8 votes against and 3 abstentions). Since the Charter in this edition significantly infringe upon the authority of the Governor of St. Petersburg and gave a certain imbalance in favor of the legislative branch power, the then Governor Vladimir Yakovlev, refused to sign it, which led to a serious political crisis. As a result of negotiation and compromise is January 28, 1998 has adopted a package of amendments in favor of the executive.
St. Petersburg Charter consists of a preamble and 12 chapters: