Senators Klishas and Mizulina reproached deputies for indecision

Chairman of the Committee of the Federation Council (SF) on constitutional legislation and state building Andrei Klishas and member of this committee Elena Mizulina are outraged by the slowness of the State Duma deputies when considering a number of bills initiated by senators. In particular, Klishas reproached the lower house of parliament for the fact that the initiative of a group of senators led by First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Andrey Turchak to introduce criminal liability for the implementation of Western sanctions in Russia has not yet been considered in the first reading.

The bill was submitted to the State Duma on April 7, 2022. The head of the Federation Council committee on constitutional legislation drew attention to this when the committee considered the government law adopted by the State Duma on the criminalization of assistance in the execution of decisions of international organizations in which Russia does not participate, as well as life imprisonment for treason and increased liability for terrorism.

“The Duma has not even considered them (the amendments to the criminal legislation introduced by the senators. – Vedomosti) in the first reading. That is, as I understand it, we consider calls for the implementation of sanctions on the territory of the Russian Federation and assistance to various kinds of interstate associations in this part to be extremely dangerous,” Klishas said. While “to punish those who enforce these sanctions on the territory of the Russian Federation” for some reason, the Duma is “afraid”, he added.

State Secretary-Deputy Minister of Justice Andrei Loginov noted that the Cabinet of Ministers did not give a negative response to this initiative, but “work on the bill has been suspended in the State Duma.” Senator Klishas said he would ask his colleagues in the State Duma why this happened.

Yelena Mizulina was dissatisfied with the delay in the consideration in the first reading of her bill concerning the “traditional, natural family.” It was introduced in July 2022. “Today it seems obvious that this kind of law should be supported, but it is also not even submitted for a long time to the first reading, although those international acts that provided for and considered the family as a threat to the child and much more , today actually on the territory of the Russian Federation [не действуют]or we have withdrawn from these treaties, although, perhaps, the legislation has not yet been harmonized,” the senator said.

The Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building eventually supported a government law criminalizing assistance in the execution of decisions of international organizations in which Russia does not participate, and toughening punishment under a number of articles of the Criminal Code against the foundations of the constitutional order. Committee member Lyudmila Narusova did not take part in the voting.