Galina Kostyuk, 64, pensioner

Frankly, it's difficult to answer your question about the sacredness of this document. But I always tell my grandson that, several years ago on Dec. 12, the Constitution was adopted. I want him to know about the rights of children and adults in this country and, moreover, to respect the law. I'm not a deputy, and I don't know whether it's necessary to make any additions or alterations to the Constitution. Thank God, there aren't any clauses that forbid anything I think should be permitted.

Mikhail Fishkin, 18, student

In theory, the Constitution is a sacred thing for the government and for citizens. But this is an ideal; in practice, it is the opposite. Like the Bible, most of us haven't even read it. At least, I've never seen it. As far as I know, American children study their constitution at school, so for them it's definitely a sacred thing. As for our Constitution, perhaps only those who wrote it know what it says.

Olga Lange, 34, economist

Every state ought to have one general set of laws and abide by them. Those laws are what we call a constitution. If amendments haven't been made for a long time, it doesn't mean that constitution is a sacred document and was adopted once and for all. Sometimes, additions or alterations must be made to make it more relevant. Life always changes and new people come into power. These things should affect future regulations and laws.

Roman Morgulchik, 24, lawyer

The constitution is the most important document of every civilized state. Those who break its laws should be forcefully chastised according to the law. In principle, if any of its articles have become obsolete, it's time to make amendments. A constitution becomes sacred when it is no longer just a bunch of words on a piece of paper, but actually works. For example, many respectable lawyers consider the 1936 Constitution of Josef Stalin one of the best. But it didn't work.

Svyetlana Myasnikova, 28, housewife

I don't know whether the Constitution is a sacred thing – for me personally, for the government or for other people. It's up to them to decide. To be honest, I've never heard of such a question before. And, really, I pretty much don't care whether it exists or not. I didn't even celebrate Constitution Day, and I think that the Constitution doesn't much affect my life. If politicians want to amend it, I suppose someone should check to make sure that the original authors are satisfied with the changes.

Dmitry Kruglov, 18, student

For me, the Constitution isn't a sacred thing at all. I haven't even read the Bible, and there is no doubt that this book is a sacred thing for millions of people all over the world. So, I can't compare. On the whole, I'm sure that people don't know much about this document because they haven't read it. They probably haven't bothered because they think it doesn't work, or simply don't think about it at all because there are plenty of other everyday problems. /P>