Senator Klishas called the bill on the termination of citizenship by birth unconstitutional

Andrey Klishas, ​​head of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building, commented bill, which, in particular, proposes to provide for the possibility of termination of citizenship of the Russian Federation by birth. Mr Klishas stated in Telegramthat the initiative is contrary to the Constitution of Russia and noted that for the authors of the bill, this is a reason to think about whether they can hold their office.

“I have already expressed my position on this issue and I want to emphasize once again that if a federal politician, including a senator of the Russian Federation, introduces a law that contradicts the Constitution, the foundations of the constitutional system, then for such a politician this is a serious reason to think about whether he can hold his office,” the senator wrote.

Mr. Klishas also published the text of the sixth article of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which, in particular, states that a Russian citizen cannot be deprived of his citizenship or the right to change it. In addition, according to the text of the article, citizenship of the Russian Federation is acquired and terminated in accordance with federal law, is uniform and equal, regardless of the grounds for acquisition.

Earlier today, on July 21, a group of senators submitted to the State Duma a bill amending the law on citizenship. In particular, they proposed extending the possibility of terminating Russian citizenship to those who received it by birth or recognition. In the latter case, we are talking, for example, about residents of Crimea who were recognized as citizens of the Russian Federation on the basis of the Federal Constitutional Law of June 11, 2021.

As grounds for termination of citizenship, senators propose to consider the commission of crimes and actions that pose a threat to national security. Among them, in particular, are desertion, discrediting the Armed Forces and calls for extremism.

The authors of the bill were senators Sergei Tsekov (from the Republic of Crimea), Ekaterina Altabaeva (Sevastopol), Olga Bas (Luhansk People’s Republic) and Sergei Kolbin (Sevastopol).

On April 28, 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the law “On Citizenship of the Russian Federation”, which allowed the citizenship of naturalized persons to be terminated. During the discussion of the April bill in the Federation Council, Mr. Tsekov said: “Those who by birth can commit any crime and will not be deprived of citizenship. And we (Crimeans.— “b”), who, in fact, are also citizens of the Russian Federation, can be subject to this punishment. There is no equality here. And I’m all for equality.” In response, Andrei Klishas explained that the commission of actions that lead to the termination of citizenship is considered as a violation of the oath given by naturalized Russians. Depriving a person of citizenship “by birth” is not provided for by the Basic Law.

More details – in the material “Kommersant” “The Senators stood their ground”.

Erdni Kagaltynov