Soldiers to be deprived of foreign passports right at the border – Kommersant

The bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB will be able to confiscate passports from military personnel, and the border service will be able to do this right when crossing the border. This follows from the amendments adopted by the State Duma. Restrictions for military personnel on leaving the country with the possible “transfer” of a passport for temporary storage are mentioned in the 1996 edition of the law, but now, if a citizen still left the document with him, it will be invalidated and confiscated. Earlier, the State Duma had already adopted amendments that prevent citizens from leaving the country from the moment digital summonses are issued. The amendments apply to both recruits and mobilized citizens, according to lawyers interviewed by Kommersant.

The draft amendments to the law “On the procedure for leaving the Russian Federation and entering the Russian Federation” were submitted to the State Duma in August 2021 by the government of the Russian Federation. The document, in particular, describes a new article 8.1 on the grounds for invalidating passports. Among them is the “non-delivery without good reason” of a foreign passport to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (or to another body that issued it, for example, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) if a citizen is denied exit from the country. It is explained that we are talking about military personnel and persons with access to classified information. The amendments stipulate that in this case the passport is subject to seizure by the state agency that issued it or the FSB border service (with the preparation of a document on seizure). On May 23, the amendments were adopted by the State Duma in the third reading.

Initially, the White House proposed to recognize the passport as invalid on 12 grounds, including its loss, expiration, death of the owner, termination of citizenship. The bill was adopted by the State Duma in the first reading in November 2021. In April 2023, the list of grounds was expanded. In the document, in particular, there was a seizure of documents from the “secretaries” and military personnel who are not allowed to leave the country.

It should be noted that in the law “On the procedure for leaving the Russian Federation and entering the Russian Federation”, restrictions for military personnel were mentioned starting from the first edition of the document in 1996. So, in Art. 15 of the document spoke of the right to restrict the exit of a citizen from the country if he was “called up for military service or sent to alternative civilian service.” And in Art. 18, it was emphasized that in this case, his passport “is to be transferred for storage until the expiration of the temporary restriction.” The explanatory note to the government bill speaks of “legal uncertainty due to the absence at the legislative level of grounds for the invalidity of a passport,” which the amendments eliminate.

We also recall that in April 2023, the State Duma adopted a package of amendments to seven federal laws, which provide for the creation of a digital register of military registration and an integrated register of summonses sent to citizens. The package stipulates that citizens will be able to be called to the military registration and enlistment office through the public services portal, prohibiting them from leaving the country until they appear at the military registration and enlistment office. Dodgers may be prohibited from driving a car, entering into real estate transactions, obtaining bank loans and registering individual entrepreneurs. According to the document, the digital agenda “is considered delivered from the moment it is posted in the personal account” (regardless of whether the addressee noticed it). At the same time, in Art. 15.1 of the law on the procedure for leaving the Russian Federation emphasizes that the border is blocked by citizens “subject to conscription for military service” from the moment they are served with a summons to the military registration and enlistment office. However, in the current government amendments, direct references to Art. 15.1 no.

Lyubov Shebanova, head of the criminal and administrative law practice at Amuleks.ru, says that earlier the law did not provide for cases of seizure of passports from military personnel. Now, if a citizen is restricted from leaving the country due to admission to state secrets, conscription for military service or assignment to alternative service, work in the FSB, then “the authorities will keep the passport for this period.” Artem Yablokov, a partner at the Yablokov Brothers law firm, says the amendments set specific deadlines within which the passport must be handed over to the issuing authority—five working days.

At the same time, both lawyers believe that both conscripts and mobilized citizens may fall under the amendments. “The law refers to persons called up for military service. It is possible to be called up for military service and as part of mobilization. The law does not specify in this case who exactly will have to hand over the passport, so the interpretation of the law, I think, is expected to be broad, ”says Mr. Yablokov. “In relation to the mobilized, most likely, the withdrawal will be issued upon familiarization with the order on conscription for mobilization,” Lyubov Shebanova believes.

When asked whether the amendments allow for the withdrawal of a foreign passport from a citizen called up for military service when visiting a Russian consulate abroad, Ms. Shebanova answered as follows: “This does not follow directly from the changes in the law and is unlikely to be required, taking into account the existing features of conscription.” Mr. Yablokov specifies that this is possible only if a citizen is a defendant in a criminal case, in the presence of enforcement proceedings and if he is declared bankrupt.

Lyubov Shebanova stressed that there is no liability in the legislation for failure to hand over a passport. However, Mr. Yablokov suggests that the offender may be brought under Art. 19.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation on disobedience to a lawful order (fine up to 4 thousand rubles, administrative arrest for up to 15 days or compulsory work for up to 120 hours).

Alexander Voronov, Anna Zanina